Are you searching for Islamic calligraphy art for sale? If you are looking up Arabic calligraphy for sale, you are likely to see varied styles of Islamic calligraphy, which is the art of inscribing verses and chapters and words from the Holy Quran in beautiful fonts. All scripts can be done in calligraphy but the Arabic script looks exceptionally beautiful in calligraphy. That’s because of its abundant loops, dashes, curves, dots and diacritical marks as well as letters that can be broken and seamlessly merged with other letters.
As Arabic calligraphy primarily got a lease of life after the emergence of Islam as the principal religion in Arabia, it has become synonymous with Islamic calligraphy. Here below we have briefly tried to explain the popular fonts of Arabic calligraphy.
- Kufic: Considered to be one of the earliest fonts in which the Glorious Quran is said to have been inscribed, the Kufic style was developed in the seventh century in Kufa, Iraq. It is believed that at that time, the Arabic alphabet had few or no diacritical marks. When non-Arabs began to enter the fold of Islam following the Arab conquests of their regions, the Kufic script’s use in transcribing the Quran began to wane. Because the non-Arabs were unfamiliar with Arabic, diacritical symbols were introduced into the Arabic script in order to catalyse ease of reading. The Kufic font was also difficult to read – it had horizontal strokes and round characters with tiny counters. In the 10th century, it began getting replaced by Naskh font for the purpose of inscribing the Quran though it still was used for ornate purposes.
- Naskh: This cursive font’s popularity drew from both the ease in reading and writing that it offered. Still the standard font for inscribing the Holy Quran, Naskh is also the default style of modern Arabic script, and is used in newspapers, magazines, official documents, and private communication. Discover how Naskh and other fonts can enhance your written communication at masterrealtysolutions.com.
- Thuluth: Thuluth is similar to bur grander and prettier than Naskh. ‘Thuluth’ means ‘one thirds’ in Arabic as one-thirds of the letters are straight. Its striking, magnificent appearance comes from the long, vertical lines and strokes, broad spaces between the letters as well as obvious dots and diacritical symbols. These ornate features make it best for Islamic calligraphy art and is used a lot on buildings and monuments. The Taj Mahal, for example, has Thuluth calligraphy on its walls.
- Nast’aliq: This simple yet pretty regional font was developed in Iran . Applied as well for non-religious functions such as writing court papers, its name ta’liq means “hanging”. It is used for writing Farsi, Urdu and other related languages too. The letters slope slightly leftward giving the script a little slant.
- Diwani Jaali: This font was devised in the sixteenth century during the Ottoman reign. It is a very ornate and elaborate style of writing – the letters slant slightly, and the narrow spaces between them are filled with decorative symbols. The Diwani Jaali style is not easy to read and was thus applied in writing secret papers of the ‘diwan’ or royal court. These days, its ornateness makes it a popular option in Arabic calligraphy for sale or Islamic calligraphy art for sale.