CALLIGRAPHY

Muslims have always deemed calligraphy, the art of beautiful writing, the noblest of the arts. The first chapters of the Qur˒an revealed to the prophet Muhammad in the early seventh century (suras 96 and 68) mention the pen and writing. Writing in Arabic script soon became a hallmark of Islamic civilization, found on everything from buildings and coins to textiles and ceramics, and scribes and calligraphers became the most honored type of artist. We know the names, and even the biographies, of more calligraphers than any other type of artist. Probably because of the intrinsic link between writing and the revelation, Islamic calligraphy is meant to convey an aura of effortlessness and immutability, and the individual hand and personality are sublimated to the overall impression of stateliness and grandeur. In this way Islamic calligraphy differs markedly from other great calligraphic traditions, notably the Chinese, in which the written text is meant to impart the personality of the calligrapher and recall the moment of its creation. Islamic calligraphy, by contrast, is timeless.

The reed pen (qalam) was the writing implement par excellence in Islamic civilization. The brush, used for calligraphy in China and Japan, was reserved for painting in the Islamic lands. In earliest times Muslim calligraphers penned their works on parchment, generally made from the skins of sheep and goats, but from the eighth century parchment was gradually replaced by the cheaper and more flexible support of paper. From the fourteenth century virtually all calligraphy in the Muslim lands was written on paper. Papermakers developed elaborately decorated papers to complement the fine calligraphy, and the colored, marbled, and gold-sprinkled papers used by calligraphers in later periods are some of the finest ever made.

Almost all Islamic calligraphy is written in Arabic script. The Qur˒an was revealed in that language, and the sanctity of the revelation meant that the script was adopted for many other languages, such as new Persian, Ottoman Turkish, and Urdu. Unlike many other scripts that have at least two distinct forms of writing—a monumental or printed form in which the letters are written separately and a cursive or handwritten form in which they are connected—Arabic has only the cursive form, in which some, but not all, letters are connected and assume different forms depending on their position in the word (initial, medial, final, and independent).

The cursive nature of Arabic script allowed calligraphers to develop many different styles of writing, which are usually grouped under two main headings: rectilinear and rounded. Since the eighteenth century, scholars have often called the rectilinear styles "Kufic," after the city of Kufa in southern Iraq, which was an intellectual center in early Islamic times. This name is something of a misnomer, for as yet we have no idea which particular rectilinear style this name denoted. Scholars have proposed various other names to replace kufic, including Old or Early Abbasid style, but these names are not universally accepted, in part because they carry implicit political meanings, and many scholars continue to use the term kufic.

Similarly, scholars often called the rounded styles naskh, from the verb nasakha (to copy). The naskh script is indeed the most common hand used for transcription and the one upon which modern styles of typography are based, but the name is also something of a misnomer, for it refers to only one of a group of six rounded hands that became prominent in later Islamic times. As with kufic, scholars have proposed several other names to replace naskh, such as new style (often abbreviated N.S.), or new Abbasid style, but these names, too, are not universally accepted.

Medieval sources mention the names of many other calligraphic hands, but so far it has been difficult, even impossible, to match many of these names with distinct styles of script. Very few sources describe the characteristics of a particular style or give illustrations of particular scripts. Furthermore, the same names may have been applied to different styles in different places and at different times. Hence it may never be possible to link the names of specific scripts given in the sources with the many, often fragmentary, manuscripts at hand, especially from the early period.

Both the rectilinear and the rounded styles were used for writing from early Islamic times, but in the early period the rounded style seems to have been a book hand used for ordinary correspondence, while the rectilinear style was reserved for calligraphy. Although no examples of early calligraphy on parchment can be definitively dated before the late ninth century, the importance of the rectilinear style in early Islamic times is clear from other media with inscriptions, such as coins, architecture, and monumental epigraphy. The Fihrist by Ibn al-Nadim (d. 995) records the names of calligraphers who worked in the Umayyad and Abbasid periods, and both coins and the inscriptions on the first example of Islamic architecture, the Dome of the Rock erected in Jerusalem by the Umayyad caliph ˓Abd al-Malik in 692, show that from earliest times Umayyad calligraphers applied such aesthetic principles as balance, symmetry, elongation, and stylization to transform ordinary writing into calligraphy.

Calligraphers in early Islamic times regularly used the rectilinear styles to transcribe manuscripts of the Qur˒an. Indeed, the rectilinear styles might be deemed Qur˒anic hands, for we know only one other manuscript—an unidentified genealogical text in Berlin (Staatsbibliotheque no. 379)—written in a rectilinear script. None of these early manuscripts of the Qur˒an is signed or dated, and most survive only in fragmentary form, and so scholars are still refining other methods, both paleographic and codicological, to group and localize the scripts used in these early parchment manuscripts of the Qur˒an.

The major change in later Islamic times was the gradual adoption and adaptation of round hands for calligraphy. From the ninth century calligraphers transformed the round hands into artistic scripts suitable for transcribing the Qur˒an and other prestigious texts. The earliest surviving copy of the Qur˒an written in a rounded hand is a small manuscript, now dispersed but with the largest section preserved in the Chester Beatty Library in Dublin (ms. 1417). It bears a note in Persian saying that the manuscript was corrected by a certain Ahmad ibn ˓Ali ibn Abu 'l-Qasm al-Khayqani in June 905, and it is tacitly accepted that the rounded hand was developed in Iran or nearby Iraq, heartland of the Abbasid caliphate. In the ensuing centuries calligraphers continued to develop and elaborate the rounded style, and from the fourteenth century virtually all manuscripts of the Qur˒an were written in one of the six round scripts known as the Six Pens (Arabic, al-aqlam al-sitta; Persian, shish qalam). These comprise three pairs of majuscule-miniscule hands, thuluth-naskh, muhaqqaq-rayhan, and tawqi˓-riqa˓, and calligraphers delighted in juxtaposing the different scripts, particularly the larger and smaller variants of the same pair.

Various explanations have been proposed for this transformation of rounded book hands into proportioned scripts suitable for calligraphing fine manuscripts. These explanations range from the political (e.g., the spread of orthodox Sunni Islam) to the sociohistorical (e.g., the new role of the chancery scribe as copyist and calligrapher), but perhaps the most convincing are the practical. The change from rectilinear to rounded script coincided with the change from parchment to paper, and the new style of writing might well be connected with a new type of reed pen, a new method of sharpening the nib, or a new way that the pen was held, placed on the page, or moved across it. In the same way, the adoption of paper engendered the adoption of a new type of black soot ink (midad) that replaced the dark brown, tannin-based ink (hibr) used on parchment.

From the fourteenth century calligraphers, especially those in the eastern Islamic lands, developed more stylized forms of rounded script. The most distinctive is the hanging script known as nasta˓liq, which was particularly suitable for transcribing Persian, in which many words end in letters with large bowls, such as ya˒ or ta˒. Persian calligraphers commonly used nasta˓liq to pen poetic texts, in which the rounded bowls at the end of each hemistich form a visual chain down the right side of the columns on a page. They also used nasta˓liq to pen poetic specimens (qit˓a). These elaborately planned calligraphic compositions typically contain a Persian quatrain written in colored and gold-dusted inks on fine, brightly colored and highly polished paper and set in elaborately decorated borders. The swooping strokes of the letters and bowls provide internal rhythm and give structure to the composition. In contrast to the anonymous works of the early period, these calligraphic specimens are frequently signed and dated, and connoisseurs vied to assemble fine collections, which were often mounted in splendid albums.

Calligraphy continues to be an important art form in modern times, despite the adoption of the Latin alphabet in some countries such as Turkey. Some calligraphers are trying to revive the traditional styles, notably the Six Pens, and investigate and rediscover traditional techniques and materials. Societies teaching calligraphy flourish. The Anjuman-e Khushnvisan-e Iran (Society of Iranian Calligraphers), for example, has branches in all the main cities of the country, with thousands of students. Other artists are extending the calligraphic tradition to new media, adopting calligraphy in new forms, ranging from three-dimensional sculpture to oil painting on canvas. More than any other civilization, Islam values the written word.

See alsoArabic Language ; Arabic Literature ; Art .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bloom, Jonathan M. Paper Before Print: The History and Impact of Paper in the Islamic World. New Haven, Conn., and London: Yale University Press, 2001.

Khatibi, Abdelkebir, and Sijelmassi, Mohammed. The Splendour of Islamic Calligraphy. London: Thames and Hudson, 1994.

Lings, Martin. The Qur˒anic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination. London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976.

Safadi, Y. H. Islamic Calligraphy. Boulder, Colo.: Shambala, 1979.

Schimmel, Annemarie. Islamic Calligraphy. Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1970.

Schimmel, Annemarie. Calligraphy and Islamic Culture. New York: New York University Press, 1984.

Sheila S. BlairJonathan M. Bloom

CALLIGRAPHY

fine islamic writing as an art form.

In the Islamic context, calligraphy refers to the artistic writing of the Arabic script, either in the Arabic


language or in other languages transcribed with the Arabic script. Originally, Islamic calligraphy was an expedient to ensure legibility. It soon became the primary visual art in the realms of Islamic religious influence and remained so at least until the nineteenth century.

Islamic calligraphy shares the characteristics of other fine arts: a long and well-documented history, an extensive roster of renowned practitioners, an elaborate educational protocol, a wide selection of acknowledged masterpieces, a variety of media that are peculiar to it, and a wide range of accepted techniques and styles. In addition, there are religious and cultural regulations that pertain to the teaching, production, and display of Islamic calligraphy. There are also ancillary professionals and amateurs who produce the tools and materials used in the production of the art works, such as inks, marble paper, and pens. Finally, a well-developed body of literature deals with the criticism and appreciation of Islamic calligraphy.

From the beginning of the Islamic period, and possibly substantially before it, two types of writing were used, according to occasion, in the Hijaz region of the Arabian peninsula. One was a simple, loose, and informal script for everyday use. The other—reserved for special purposes, especially religious uses that demanded a spectacular presentation—was the "dry" or stiff style of writing commonly, albeit incorrectly, called Kufic. In Islamic times, this became the favored style for Qurʾanic transcriptions, due to its gravity, legibility, grace, and sheer visual impact.

By the tenth century, new scripts had taken shape from the earlier, informal writing and had gained in popularity. Because the shapes and sizes of the letters were calculated geometrically, these scripts were called "the proportioned scripts." They include the Thuluth, Naskh, and Muhaqqaq scripts. These are commonly referred to as Naskhi (supposedly meaning cursive), a name that has no basis in history.

Four important calligraphers, working in Baghdad during the Abbasid caliphate, founded the modern trend in Islamic calligraphy. These were Muhammad ibn Muqla (d. 940); his brother Abu Abdullah ibn Muqla (d. 939); Ali ibn Hilal, called Ibn al-Baw wab (d. 1022); and Yaqut al-Musta'simi (d. 1298). Through the works and teachings of these

masters, the art of calligraphy radiated to other important Islamic cultural centers.

By the sixteenth century, the center of Islamic calligraphy was to be found in Constantinople (now Istanbul) of the Ottoman Empire. There the pivotal Şeyh Hamdullah (1429–1520), a lifelong calligrapher, completely revised the structure of the basic scripts, of Thuluth and Naskh in particular, giving them a more precise, lighter, and more dynamic look. Since the life and teaching of this great master, the Ottoman Turkish method has been paramount. This method is distinguished by its special teaching protocols, its attention to detail, and its insistence on the highest standards.

Another Ottoman master, Mehmet Asat Yesari (d. 1798), took the Persian style Nastaʿliq and, while maintaining its basic rules, transformed it into a powerful visual instrument, especially in its large (Celali) version.

Other trends in Islamic calligraphy of significant historical and artistic merit have existed continuously in the Maghrib-Andalusian orbit, in the Persian orbit, and in China. Although Islamic calligraphy reached its apogee in the late nineteenth century, it is experiencing a revival today, in particular due to the efforts of the Research Centre for Islamic History, Art, and Culture in Istanbul (IRCICA). The art continues to reign supreme in its ability to convey in the most emphatic way the written Islamic texts.

see also arabic script.

Bibliography

Bayani, Manijeh; Contadini, Anna; and Stanley, Tim. The Decorated Word: Qurʾans of the 17th to 19th Centuries. New York: Oxford University Press, 1999.

Déroche, François. The Abbasid Tradition: Qurʾans of the 8th to 10th Centuries. New York: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Lings, Martin. The Qurʾanic Art of Calligraphy and Illumination. London: World of Islam Festival Trust, 1976.

Safadi, Yasin Hamid. Islamic Calligraphy. London: Thames and Hudson, 1978.

Safwat, Nabil F. The Art of the Pen: Calligraphy of the 14th to 20th Centuries. London and New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Zakariya, Muhammad. "Islamic Calligraphy: A Technical Overview." In Brocade of the Pen: The Art of Islamic Writing, edited by Carol Garrett Fisher. East Lansing: Kresge Art Museum, Michigan State University, 1991.

Muhammad Zakariya

Calligraphy

Sources

Highest Art Form . Because Muslim art generally follows the prohibition of figural representations of people or animals, calligraphy, writing in decorative scripts, became a highly developed Muslim art form. Such writing ranges from attractive handwriting to monumental calligraphic decorations on buildings that involve carved stone or wood as well as painted letters on colored tiles or writing in colored mosaic. Indeed, most genres of Muslim art, including common crafts, use calligraphy for decoration. Calligraphic writing appears on cloth—especially that meant for public display, such as woven borders, brocades, banners and tapestries—as well as on metal ewers and trays and ceramic ware such as dishes and cups. Such writing can be either religious or secular, according to what is deemed appropriate for its location. Thus, masjid decoration almost always include religious phrases, usually from the Qur’an, while ordinary household objects might bear verses from the Qur’an or nonreligious poetry. In the masjids, the most common locations for calligraphy are in, around, or above the mihrab (prayer niche) and around the walls in a continuous band just below the ceiling. Masjids often display calligraphy on their outside walls as well, frequently in a continuous band running around the top of the wall and paralleling the band on the inside. Humble masjids may display no calligraphy, and because of the religious nature of most calligraphy, it was not used in places or on objects that might demean its religious message. Indeed, religious scholars formulated rules regulating its use, including a ban on putting it in public or private bathrooms, lest God’s word or name or the name of the Prophet, should be dishonored. Similarly, calligraphy was not written on anything that would be trodden underfoot, such as carpets or

paving stones. In other cases the attempt of the religious scholars to regulate the public use of calligraphy did not succeed. While they tried to discourage any display of writing on masjid buildings, inside or outside, this ruling was generally ignored. Scarcely any large masjid in the Muslim world lacks Qur’anic calligraphy.

Styles . Arabic calligraphy has been created in a wide variety of styles. As the Arabic alphabet was derived from the Syriac, the earliest Arabic script is close to the form of its source, in which thick letters mostly curve upward from a line that connects the letters of a word. From this source, the earliest Arabic calligraphers developed a fancy script called Kufic (after Kufah in Iraq, the first Muslim metropolis). Kufic script tends to emphasize sharp angles and square or rectangular shapes for the letters and was particularly suitable for carving on stone or wood. After about 800, as paper replaced expensive parchment and papyrus, rounder, more-cursive scripts were developed and generally replaced Kufic script in Qur’an copies by the tenth century and in monumental inscriptions by the twelfth century—except where Kufic script was used for an archaic effect. Muslims in North and West Africa, however, continued to use a form of the more angular Kufic script, which is still represented in Qur’an copies from these regions. The rounder scripts that became dominant farther east included naskh, ruq‘ah, and thuluth. Persian calligraphers developed another style, called nasta‘liq, which emphasizes the thinness of the letters and makes them lean more, and this form eventually became the script of choice for Persian and Turkish languages, and—after 1500—for Indian Muslim languages as well.

Sources

Basil Gray, ed., The Arts of the Book in Central Asia, 14th-16th Centuries (Boulder, Colo.: Shambhala, 1980).

Gabriel Mandel Khan, Arabic Script: Styles, Variants, and Calligraphic Adaptations (New York: Abbeville Press, 2001).

B. W. Robinson and others, eds., Islamic Painting and the Arts of the Book (London: Faber & Faber, 1976).

Calligraphy. The skill and art of writing is admired in all religions and advanced to a great height in some. In Judaism, the work of a scribe was related to the proper transmission of judgements in courts of law. In Christianity, the same work of carefully transmitting sacred texts led to the illumination of manuscripts. In Islam, the importance of calligraphy reflected the prominence of the absolute and uncorrupted nature of the Word of God expressed through the Qurʾān. Not only in text, but also on buildings, the elaboration of the visible word became a major form of art. No less important was calligraphy in China, being an expression of underlying philosophies in which word and painting are necessarily at one. This was taken to a consummate level in Zen calligraphy (see BOKUSEKI) where the very act of putting brush to paper is to participate in the single buddha-nature of all things.

cal·lig·ra·phy / kəˈligrəfē/ • n. decorative handwriting or handwritten lettering. ∎  the art of producing decorative handwriting or lettering with a pen or brush.DERIVATIVES: cal·lig·ra·pher / -fər/ n.cal·lig·ra·phist / -fist/ n.ORIGIN: early 17th cent.: from Greek kalligraphia, from kalligraphos ‘person who writes beautifully,’ from kallos ‘beauty’ + graphein ‘write.’