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512 BCE
1st Arabic Alphabet
During the 6th century in the year of 512, the first written form of the Arabic alphabet was created. It was developed in the northern Arabian Peninsula in the cities of Mecca and Medina. The creator of this alphabet is unknown. This original alphabet has no cursive aesthetic of modern Arabic. It is the basic form that modern Arabic was created upon -
Jan 1, 650
Kufic Script
The first formal script of Islamic calligraphy was created in the 7th and 8th century. This was known as Kufic script and was created in Kufa, Iraq. This script is characterized by short vertical strokes coupled with long horizontal strokes. There is a strong visual rhythm within lines of varying thickness -
Jan 1, 900
Ibn Mulqa creates guidelines for calligraphy
Ibn Mulqa was a scribe during the Abbasid Dynasty in the 10th century. He established a proportional system for Arabic letters to follow. He developed a circle guide called, alif, that is the structure each letter in calligraphy is based around. Every letter must be created as if there is an imaginary circle directing the strokes of the calligrapher. Scripts created in later years all followed this proportional system. -
Jan 1, 940
Maghribi Script
The only major script created in North Africa was the Maghribi script created in the 10th century. This script was used in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, and also Spain. Maghribi was developed around the same time as Thuluth script. It is easy to read and also decorative in nature thats why it was used to create writings, inscriptions, and Islamic monuments. -
Jan 1, 1001
Thuluth
Thuluth script was developed after Kufic script in the mid 10th century. It was used across the entire Islamic Empire, specifically developed in the Abbasid Dynasty in Iraq. It is characterized with clear structure and good readability. During its time, Thuluth script was commonly used to decorate Mosques and was popular for transcriptions of the Qur’an. -
Jan 1, 1050
Naskh Script
Along with Thuluth, there was a secondary script developed in the Abbasid Dynasty. In the 11th century Naskh script was developed. In Arabic, Naskh means “copy” which signifies its good readability. Naskh script contains open strokes that allows for excellent readability. Due to its good legibility, Naskh was used for long texts and Quranic inscriptions. -
Jan 1, 1060
Ta'liq Script
Around the same time as Naskh script, Ta’liq script was created in Persia within the Safavid Dynasty. It was created under the rule of Shah Islma’il who made this Ta’liq the official script for the 11th and 12th centuries in Persia. Ta’liq means “suspension” because the Arabic letters seem to be linked together. This script was used for messages, books, letters, and poems. -
Period: 1299 to
Ottoman empire
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Jan 1, 1500
Nasta'liq Script
Amid the 15th and 16th century a script combining Ta’liq and Naskh elements was formed in Persia and Turkey. This script was called Nasta’liq. There are short vertical strokes from Naskh and long curved horizontal stokes from Ta’liq. Nasta’liq is categorized by hooked edges with varying thicknesses that is hard to write and is less readable. However, it is the most easily identifiable Persian Islamic script. -
Jan 1, 1550
Diwani Script
The final developments of Islamic calligraphy took place during the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire was a period of amazing development for Islamic calligraphy where two major scripts were developed called Diwani, in the 16th century and Riq’a, in the 18th century. Diwani is cursive script with complex forms in long texts that can be hard to read. It was created for official documents, mostly legal contracts. However, because of its curved complexities it was also used for calligrams. -
Riq'a Script
The second script of the Ottoman Empire was Riq’a. Riq'a is very simple in form and is easy converted to digital forms. For that reason it is commonly used today by many graphic designers to create easily readable works of art. Riq’a was the last major development in Islamic calligraphy. Though Riq’a is easily converted into digital forms, most modern day artists combine Riq’a with other Islamic calligraphy scripts. Something similar does Hajji Noor al-Din
