Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
It is a central form of decoration in Islamic art, such as decorative design and architecture. The evolution of Arabic calligraphy lead to the appearance of various scripts, including cursive styles such as Nastaliq and Ruq'ah, and more square, angular styles such as Kufic. The linguistic features of Arabic scripts are shared between all ...
[3] [4] It is known in Arabic as khatt Arabi (خط عربي), literally meaning 'line', 'design', or 'construction'. [ 5 ] The development of Islamic calligraphy is strongly tied to the Qur'an , as chapters and verses from the Qur'an are a common and almost universal text upon which Islamic calligraphy is based.
Calligraphic design is omnipresent in Islamic art, where, as in Europe in the Middle Ages, religious exhortations, including Qur'anic verses, may be included in secular objects, especially coins, tiles and metalwork, and most painted miniatures include some script, as do many buildings.
Calligraphy is the practice or art of decorative handwriting. [3] The demand for calligraphy in the early stages of the Islamic empire (circa 7–8th century CE) can be attributed to a need to produce Qur'an manuscripts. During the Umayyad period, Kufic scripts were typically seen in Qur'an manuscripts. [3]
One impressive example of an early Quran manuscript, known as the Blue Quran, features gold Kufic script on parchment dyed with indigo. It is commonly attributed to the early Fatimid or Abbasid court. The main text of this Quran is written in gold ink, thus the effect on looking at the manuscript is of gold on blue.
Calligraphy is a central element of Islamic art, combining aesthetic appeal and religious message. Sometimes it is the dominant form of ornament; at other times it is combined with arabesque. [35] The importance of the written word in Islam ensured that epigraphic or calligraphic decoration played a prominent role in architecture. [36]
David Wade [b] states that "Much of the art of Islam, whether in architecture, ceramics, textiles or books, is the art of decoration – which is to say, of transformation." [ 10 ] Wade argues that the aim is to transfigure, turning mosques "into lightness and pattern", while "the decorated pages of a Qur’an can become windows onto the infinite."
The Naskh style of writing can be found as early as within the first century of the Islamic calendar. [2] The Naskh script was established in the first century of the Hijri calendar by order of Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan due to the presence of defects in the Kufic script. [1]