Early Handwriting & The First Calligraphy Scripts

Last time, we learned about how the Quran was first transcribed and then compiled into the book form that we use to this day. As a calligrapher, I am always fascinated by the writing styles of that early Islamic period, and how that early Arabic writing evolved into the beautiful and elaborate calligraphy scripts we practice now.

Quran written in Hijazi Script

The very first transcriptions of the Quran were written in a style called the Hijazi Script, named after the Hijaz region (Mecca and Medina) where it was used. This was a writing style that can be likened more to handwriting, as opposed to calligraphy, and the focus was more on its functionality than its beautification. Visually, the letters were very angled, tended to slope towards the right, and didn’t include vowels or diacritical marks. 

As the transcriptions of the Quran were compiled and shared around the Muslim world, the Arabic script also underwent a standardization. This led to the early forms of the Kufic Script, developed in the late 7th century and named after the city of Kufa. Kufic can be easily recognized by its straight lines, its rectilinear forms, and its short vertical strokes and long horizontal strokes. The letters rest on a horizontal baseline, and the varying Kufic styles adhere to an underlying grid system to help shape and proportion the letters. Its various uses included writing early Qurans, official correspondences, coin minting, and architectural inscriptions. One of the earliest architectural uses of Kufic can be found in the Dome of the Rock (built in 692).

The Blue Quran Manuscript, written in Kufic Script

Although Kufic would remain a prominent script used for hundreds of years, during the 8th century the foundations for the Naskh Script were laid with rounder letters becoming more common for day-to-day writing. In the 10th century, several major developments in calligraphy occurred at the same time. As Islam had spread towards Northern Africa and Spain, the Maghrebi script was born, inspired by Kufic but composed using rounder letter forms and large sweeping curves. At the same time, back in the Middle East, the primary Kufic script evolved to create Foliated Kufic, which incorporated leaves and floral elements into the letter shapes, and Knotted Kufic, which decorated the script by interlacing lines in the text. Another major development was the introduction of paper to the Muslim world, which was easier to make than parchment or papyrus, and therefore made writing easier as well. 

However, the biggest development in calligraphy during the 10th century came at the hands of a man named Ibn Muqla, and the subsequent refinements to his work by his successors. Next time, we’ll learn about how these key figures would completely revolutionize the world of Islamic calligraphy forever.

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Note: In an effort to share information in a short and easy-to-read manner, the history referred to in this post has been highly condensed.

References:

“Calligraphy in Islamic Art.” Calligraphy in Islamic Art, Victoria and Albert Museum, 13 May 2013, www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/c/calligraphy-in-islamic-art/.
Derman, M Uğur. Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakıp Sabancı Collection, Istanbul. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art. 1998. 
Jazayeri, S. M. V. Mousavi. A Handbook of Early Arabic Kufic Script: Reading, Writing, Calligraphy, Typography, Monograms. New York, Blautopf Publishing. 2017.  
George, Alain. The Rise of Islamic Calligraphy. London, Saqi Books, 2010.