Arabic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy based on the Arabic alphabet. It is known in Arabic as khatt, derived from the words 'line', 'design', or 'construction'. Kufic is the oldest form of the Arabic script.
Calligraphy is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instrument. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an expressive, harmonious, and skillful manner".
Cursive is any style of penmanship in which characters are written joined in a flowing manner, generally for the purpose of making writing faster, in contrast to block letters. It varies in functionality and modern-day usage across languages and regions; being used both publicly in artistic and formal documents as well as in private communication. Formal cursive is generally joined, but casual cursive is a combination of joins and pen lifts. The writing style can be further divided as "looped", "italic", or "connected".
Nastaliq, also romanized as Nastaʿlīq or Nastaleeq, is one of the main calligraphic hands used to write the Perso-Arabic script and it is used for some Indo-Iranian languages, predominantly Classical Persian, Kashmiri, Punjabi and Urdu. It is often used also for Ottoman Turkish poetry, but rarely for Arabic. Nastaliq developed in Iran from naskh beginning in the 13th century and remains widely used in Iran, India, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and other countries for written poetry and as a form of art.
Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy. It is known in Arabic as khatt Arabi, which translates into Arabic line, design, or construction.
Thuluth is an Arabic script variety of Islamic calligraphy. The straight angular forms of Kufic were replaced in the new script by curved and oblique lines. In Thuluth, one-third of each letter slopes, from which the name comes. An alternative theory to the meaning is that the smallest width of the letter is one third of its widest part. It is an elegant, cursive script, used in medieval times on mosque decorations. Various calligraphic styles evolved from Thuluth through slight changes of form.
The Kufic script is a style of Arabic script, that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It developed from the Arabic alphabet in the city of Kufa, from which its name is derived. Kufic is characterized by angular, rectilinear letterforms and its horizontal orientation. There are many different versions of Kufic, such as square Kufic, floriated Kufic, knotted Kufic, and others. The artistic styling of Kufic led to its use in a non-Arabic context in Europe, as decoration on architecture, known as pseudo-Kufic.
Sheikh Hamdullah (1436–1520), born in Amasya, Ottoman Empire, was a master of Islamic calligraphy.
Maghrebiscript or Maghribi script or Maghrebi Arabic script refers to a loosely related family of Arabic scripts that developed in the Maghreb, al-Andalus (Iberia), and Bilad as-Sudan. Maghrebi script is directly derived from the Kufic script, and is traditionally written with a pointed tip, producing a line of even thickness.
Persian calligraphy or Iranian calligraphy is the calligraphy of the Persian language. It is one of the most revered arts throughout the history of Iran.
Tibetan calligraphy is the calligraphic tradition of writing the Tibetan language. As in other parts of East Asia, nobles, high lamas, and persons of high rank were expected to have high abilities in calligraphy. However, unlike other East Asian calligraphic traditions, calligraphy was done using a reed pen as opposed to a brush. Tibetan calligraphy is at times more free-flowing than calligraphy involving the descendants of other Brahmi scripts. Given the overriding religious nature of Tibetan culture, many of the traditions in calligraphy come from religious texts, and most Tibetan scribes have a monastic background.
Musaddak Jameel Al-Habeeb is an Iraqi American contemporary calligrapher who follows the original traditions in Arabic-Islamic calligraphy. He is self-taught, and never studied under any master calligrapher, according to the traditional norm.
Hâfiz Osman (1642–1698) was an Ottoman calligrapher noted for improving the script and for developing a layout template for the hilye which became the classical approach to page design.
Yaqut al-Musta'simi was a well-known calligrapher and secretary of the last Abbasid caliph.
Ruqʿah or Riqʿah (رِقعة) is a writing style of Arabic script intended for the rapid production of texts. It is a relatively simple and plain style, used for everyday writing and often used for signs. The Ottoman calligraphers Mumtaz Efendi (1810–1872) and Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–1876) are credited with standardizing the writing style which has existed in slightly different styles as everyday handwriting.
Mahmud Celaleddin Efendi was an Ottoman calligrapher.
The taʿlīqscript is a calligraphic hand in Islamic calligraphy typically used for official documents written in Persian. Literally meaning hanging or suspended script it emerged in the mid-13th century and was widely used, especially in chanceries of Iranian states, although from the early 16th century onward it lost ground to another hanging script, the increasingly popular nastaliq.
Hassan Sobhi Mourad was an academic, a calligrapher, an artist, a researcher, an author and a poet. He specialized in Arabic calligraphy, its development and teaching, drawing to all age groups, as well as contributing in writing art-related articles. Born in Syria, Hassan Mourad lived abroad in various countries and continents for over thirty-five years due to his career in diplomatic service. Though living abroad for most of his adult life, he remained passionate about the Arabic Language, its history and the art of Arabic Calligraphy. Mourad was influenced at the early age of 14 by a fellow Syrian writer without having ever met him; this artist, AbdulRahman Fakhoory, predicted a bright future in art for Mourad.
The art of Turkish calligraphy dates back to the seventh century. The Ottoman Turks migrated from Central Asia to establish an empire in Anatolia by 1299, and conquered Constantinople in 1453. The Ottoman Empire became a major European power. After the fall of the Mamluk Sultanate (1517), the Ottomans began to exert great influence over Islamic art and placed great emphasis on calligraphy. They collaborated with Egyptian and Persian calligraphers, adopting the naskh and thuluth scripts.
Fatma Al Sharshani is a graffiti and mural artist, and calligrapher from Qatar, whose calligraphy and murals have been commissioned by Qatar Museums. She was commissioned by Paris Saint Germain to create a design of Arabic writing which was featured on the football kit worn by the team in their 2025 Trophée des Champions match in Doha. This was significant since it was the first time Arabic language had featured on the club's sportswear.
