Historical background
Arabic Calligraphy has always been considered as the centre of traditional islamic arts. The other form of arts were developed to enhance the visual beauty of this sacred art.
The status of the master calligrapher in Islamic society is distinctively described by the Arabic saying “Purity of writing is purity of the soul” meaning that only a person of clear thought and spiritual devotion can achieve the skill required for this unparalleled art.
The foundation of Islamic calligraphy was laid down by three great calligraphers from Baghdad;
Ibn Muqla (886–940) the Vizier of the Abbasid court,
Ibn al-Bawwab (d. 1022), and
Yakut al-Musta’simi of Amasya (d. 1298).
Principles of calligraphy were established by Ibn Muqla and his theory of proportion based on three sets of measurements (the dot, alif and circle) is used by calligraphers to this day. The nib of Qalam (pen) produces rhomboid dot (Nuqta) and the sizes of all the letters of a script are determined by the width of Nuqta. The first letter of script alif can then be drawn based on a set number of rhomboid dots depending on the type of script being used. Once the letter alif is formed, an invisible circle is drawn around the letter (the height of the alif is the diameter of the circle), serving the basis from which all letters of a script may be calculated.
From the 700s, the Qur’an had been copied only in the kufic, a straight script linked to the city of Kufa in southern Iraq. By the 900s, however, a series of flowing cursive scripts evolved that came to exceed kufic in religious, government, and private use. Through the transmission of knowledge from teacher to pupil, the achievements of Ibn Muqla were refined by the calligrapher and illuminator Ibn al-Bawwab and Yakut al-Musta’simi, the secretary to the last Abbasid caliph. Yakut introduced the cutting of the reed pen nib at an oblique angle, thereby accentuating the elegance and nuance of the cursive scripts. These calligraphers contributed to the development of the Aqlaam-i sitte (the six major scripts):
Thuluth, Nesih, Muhakkak, Reyhani, Tevki, and Rika.
Each of the Aqlaam-i sitte was used by calligraphers to serve diverse functions based on their size and style. The names of some of the scripts refer to their size. For example, Thuluth, also known as the “mother of calligraphy” is called the “one-third script.” Its nuanced lettering lends itself to compositional techniques, including playful interlacing and interlocking of letters. Nesih is a small, elegant script often used for Qur’an writing. A derivation of this script is gubari (dustscript), a microscript so small that it was used to write carrier pigeon messages. Muhakkak, meaning “tightly woven” is perhaps the most angular of the six scripts. A smaller version of muhakkak is reyhani. Tevki is a chancellery script, used to record government documents. Rika is a smaller version of tevki. These six scripts dominated the art of Arabic calligraphy up until the 1400s when the art of calligraphy was not only transformed but reached its peak under the empire of the Ottomans.