Calligraphy – the geometry of the spirit
This article appeared on pages 16-27 of the September/October 1989 print edition of Saudi Aramco World. Islamic calligraphy is without doubt the most original contribution of Islam to the visual arts, yet it is only…
Styles of Calligraphy
From the book – ‘Calligraphy and Islamic Culture’. Come, O pen of composition and write letters. In the name of the Writer of the Well-preserved Tablet and the Pen!1 Thus begins a sixteenth-century…
Islamic Calligraphy 1450-1925 A.D.- East
This calligraphic panel is executed in black (Indian) naskh on a pink paper decorated with gold cloud motifs and pasted to a light blue backing. The poem wishes a ruler (nicknamed the…
Islamic Calligraphy 1450-1925 – West
Calligraphy from the Ottoman empire and other places in the western Muslim world. This single panel praises Prophet Muhammad’s son-in-law ‘Ali and his famous double-edged sword Dhu al-Fiqar. This calligraphic sheet states that…
Islamic Calligraphy – 1250 to 1450 A.D.
Written in a bold muhaqqaq script with the word Allah in gold, this page is from chapter three of the Koran (the House of Imran), verses 79 and 80. The passage stresses…
