Arabic calligraphy

📖 In short

Arabic calligraphy is the art of writing Arabic letters in beautiful, careful shapes. Arabic letters are flexible, stretching, curving and interlacing, so Arabic calligraphy has become one of the most beautiful arts in the world, decorating copies of the Qur'an, mosques, palaces and dishes.

🤩 Did you know?

Kufic is one of the oldest Arabic scripts and is named after the city of Kufa.
Ruq'ah is the script many people use in daily life.
The big “tumar” pen was as wide as 24 horse-tail hairs.
Some pieces are written in mirror script, with the words facing each other as if in a mirror.

🔎 Find out more

🌟 Calligraphy styles

Arabic calligraphy has many styles, including Kufic with straight angles, clear Naskh used to print books, large decorated Thuluth, quick Ruq'ah that we write in our notebooks, interlaced Diwani, and Maghribi.

🔍 Pen and ink

The calligrapher writes with a reed pen whose tip is cut at a slant with a sharp knife, dipped in black ink sometimes made from soot and gum.

💡 Measuring letters with dots

Old calligraphers set precise rules, measuring the length and width of letters with small diamond-shaped dots so the letters would be well proportioned. Among the most famous were Ibn Muqla, Ibn al-Bawwab and Yaqut al-Musta'simi.

🎯 Calligraphy decorates buildings

Arabic calligraphy is carved in stone and wood and painted on tiles, domes and minarets, becoming part of a building's beauty.

📸 More pictures

🧩 Test yourself

1 Which Arabic script has straight angles?

2 Which script are most Arabic books printed in?

3 The big “tumar” pen was as wide as ?? horse-tail hairs.

4 Which picture shows “Arabic calligraphy”?

🎨 Discover more

📷 Picture sources: Wikimedia Commons

Wikimedia Commons · Public domain
Aieman Khimji · CC BY 2.0