The word Islamic calligraphy is fairly new. It refers to the cultures of the Middle East, South East Asia, Central Asia and Africa. Islam emerged in the seventh century and soon assimilated with the all these people. Therefore bringing the rich cultures together under the “Islamic culture”.

The importance of writing in the Muslim community comes from Islam itself. The first revelation of the Quran was “ Recite in the name of your Lord … who taught by the pen”. Thus the art of writing was sanctified from the birth of Islam. What made writing so important was the belief that the Quran was the literal word of God, this belief caused calligraphy to absorb the creative genius which in the West, went first into religious and then secular painting, sculpture and music. Therefore calligraphy became the most revered and outstanding art of the Islamic culture. Only the Chinese calligraphers have been able to match the beauty and expertise of the Islamic calligraphy.

Arabic is derived from the Aramaic Nabatean alphabet. Interestingly this is the language Jesus used to speak. Arabic is written from right to left, it has twenty-eight letters, which are also used in Persian, Urdu, and Ottoman Turkish. The letters consist of seventeen forms that consist of simple vertical and horizontal strokes. Four of the letters serve as long vowels, while short vowels appear as diacritical marks. The letters are usually linked together.

There are various Quranic scripts; one of the earliest is Ma’il in which the vertical strokes incline noticeably to the right. Ma’il later developed into the Kufic, which became the universal script of Islam used to copy out the Quran from Spain to Iran. From 12th century came the Muhaqqaq, thulth and Rahyan. These scripts were used either singly or sometimes in combination to copy out the Quran. They were also used to copy out documents, poems and other works of literature.

There were certain scripts that were used for secular and domestic purposes. Persian poetry was mostly copied in Nasta’liq script. In this script the horizontal elements in the Arabic script, which are also used to write Persian are emphasized and drawn out so that the lines seem to float in mid-page. Diwani the official script of the Ottoman government was used for firmans and other documents. Some parts of the Islamic world devised scripts, which became associated particularly with them. Maghribi a kind of cursive Kufic was found in North Africa and Andalusi in Spain. Bihari script was used in India until the 16th century. Nastaliq was used in Iran.

Calligraphers seek to transform the text into a mystical formula to reveal the hidden world, thus witnessing to divine beauty. Arabic calligraphy developed at the time when divine text became its subject. Therefore it visualizes the divine text. Calligraphy reflects the Muslim philosophy, Oneness of Allah (God). The forms whether geometric or figurative, are a momentary assembly of atoms, which in their various designs reflect a single image. This is also the definition of the universe, which is a fragment of the image of the God. The lines of Calligraphy have neither beginning nor end as they constantly link and unlink. Calligraphers work lies in constant search of the Absolute; his aim is to go beyond the existing world and thus achieve union with God. Thus Calligraphy is an act of communication and fusion with the One (God).

Arabic letters have another aspect in Calligraphy. The letters are a part of the symbolical language in mystical and profane poetry and prose, some of them having religious qualities. Each of the 28 letters has a numerical value. Alif, the first letter, a straight line with a numerical value one, is the symbol of Allah, the One God, free from every worldly quality, the Absolute Unity. The mystical poets claim they have learnt that only Alif is better than the whole alphabet because to know Gods uniqueness and unity is more important than to know the manifold things visible in the world.

The letter Mim a small dot, with a numerical value 40, is the abbreviation of Muhammad the Prophet of Islam. Ahmad is another name of the Prophet. The Mim can be represented as the English m. Divine saying in Islam says, “ I am Ahmad without Mim”. In Arabic Ahmad without Mim or without the English m is Ahad meaning the One God. Therefore the mystics believe the only difference is the one Mim or the shawl of Humanity between Ahmad/Muhammad and Ahad/One, the numerical value 40 of the Mim is also considered to allude to the 40 degrees of emanations, which lie between God and man. In poetry, the Mim is the symbol of the small, dot like mouth of the beloved.

The Ba the second alphabet, with which “basmala” or “ In the name of God” begins and which forms the beginning of the Quran, is considered the first manifestation of Divine wisdom, the coming into the world of the Absolute; and in its dot all the mysteries of creation are contained.
It is a mystic saying that “ The first and the last letter of the Quran are b and s which are the first and last letters of the Arabic word bas meaning enough.That means that the Quran is enough (bas) as a guide on your path (spiritual).

Many letters, are also used in poetry like Dal and Lam which have been compared to the curls and tresses of the beloved, the Nun to the curl with a mole, the Sin to his teeth and the Sad to his almond shaped eyes. Just like any other piece of artwork, the person has to see it in order to understand and admire it. There are a lot of websites on the Internet, which have Arabic calligraphy collections, I would recommend interested individuals to visit them.

This kind of symbolism explains the veneration given to this art and the instruments that are used. The passion aroused by pens is comparable to that reserved for musical instruments in Europe; passed from generation to generation and in some cases the pen has been buried with the bodies of those who used them.

Many rulers of the Islamic world at that time also attempted to write copies of the Quran or poetry, no wonder why this saying became popular amongst them
Saffron is the perfume of maidens,
and ink is the perfume of men?

In short Calligraphy became to be a very respected art in the Muslim world, they were not considered ordinary craftsman but were a part of the intellectual elite.



References:

Islamic Calligraphy, Dr A. Schimmel

The Quran, Martin Lings and Hamid Safadi

Islamic Calligraphy Sacred and Secular Writings, World of Islam Festival Trust, London.