Calligraphy Studies
As-salaamu `alaykum wa rahmatullaah
One of the many things that interest me when it comes to Islamic Art is calligraphy 
It’s absolutely amazing mashaa’Allaah – a lot of detail to it and precision.
A couple of days ago I was watching a program on al-Fajr channel, a specialised channel for Qur’aan and its sciences (my favourite channel!) the documentary was on the print & publication of different mus-hafs and their distribution around the world. It featured a shaykh who was very talented in calligraphy, writing out ayaat of the Qur’aan for the actual publication of a mus-haf, it was beautiful subhan’Allaah and very inspirational.
Soon afterwards, apart from my studies in Arabic and Qur’aan, I decided to study some calligraphy. Currently we’re learning Naskh script, which is the script of the current madani mushafs - afterwards bi’ithnillaah we should move on to Kufi, Diwani, Farsi and possibly Andalusian inshaa’Allaah. Naskh script and Andalusi are two that I would probably like to carry on in the future
[My japanese calligraphy pen and 'al-Mujtahid' pencil]
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[A little present from my teacher ]
Calligraphy is an entire field of art which is very geometrical and has its own set of rules. Sizes and shapes of letters are based on a particular mizaan (scale of pattern) which revolves around the ‘nuqtah’ (the diamond shaped dot) :
What do you think of calligraphy… do you have a favourite script?
Below are some classical calligraphic scripts mashaa’Allaah:
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Some info: http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D8%B7_%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A
Introduction To Calligraphy
I learned Nastaaliq quite a while back. A mix of persian font. Famous in Mughal art.
It was fun. I was called picasso 3 amongst my friends
We used to struggle with our bamboo pens, yeh no fancy shmancy japanese pens, but cool ones, hand made by our teacher.
He used to bring these plain bamboo sticks and then would examine our hand sizes and make us pens right there with a blade. Sadly he passed away at the end of the semester (May Allah increase his ranks and enter him into Jannat-ul-Firdaus).
So there was this girl in our class and in the final exam she brought a fine marker, she would draw the outlines of the letters with the marker and then fill inside with the qalam and ink. She had the highest marks. We were all so upset, that why didnt we think of that.
From above scripts i like Messrs Hisham(s). The free one, the eastern and the gentleman with the bowl is also nice. I love fonts which are curvy and allows you to have a long hand. Oh i miss learning so much.
Where are you taking the classes?
p.s. oh yeh….. and me likey your name…..
Jazaakumullaahu khayran
Baarak’Allaahu feeki Hafsa for the link
Bamboo shoots – that’s interesting mashaa’Allaah. The Japanese pen we’re using is fine tipped which will probably take some time getting used to, but it’s good so far alhamdulillaah. The classes are being offered by our Arabic center in Egypt, but there’s a Calligraphy Academy (Japanese and Arabic calligraphy) located here which our teacher graduated from (6 yrs) – I would probably recommend that for anyone wanting to study it properly
That is beautiful!
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I like Thuluth and some forms of Naskh. I’m not a big fan of nastaliq personally, though.
hmm… egypt.. too far away, but inshallah some day i might get a chance to come there.
On a different topic i found this website, that has very good books on Tafseer, Ulooom-ul-Quran and Uloom-ul-Hadith to download for free, all in arabic. (if you are not aware of it already that is).
http://abooks.tipsclub.com/index.php?act=category&id=102
Even the tafseer of Al-Qurtabi, Tajweed, Hifdh, Qasas-ul-Quran etc.
may Allah reward you and bless your family.
dear,sir/madam
am Evans Crowford from usa.I will like to order calligraphy pen from your company to my new company in Ghana.I will like to know if you can ship international and if so,i will like to know the type of payment you receive
so that i will know what to do on this order okey……..hope to here from you soon.
Evans Crowford
Evans Crawford,
I’m sorry sir, this blog is not part of or affliated to any company. If you’d like to order calligraphy pens, then I think there are some good online stores that sell them (check Arts and Crafts sites). Ebay also have a wide range. Thank you and enjoy your calligraphy, hope for the best!
Jazaak’Allahu khayran, that was a very good resource mashaa’Allaah – I actually went out to purchase a hard copy of one of those books that I didn’t even think existed! Baarak’Allaahu feek wa ahsanallaahu ilayk
Masha’Allah. I have always been entranced by Arabic script and calligraphy, and it was especially enhanced when I visited Granada, Spain. Seeing the artistry of “There is no victory execpt in ALLAH” etched into the walls of the Alhambra was heart-melting, so much that it inspired me to research Islam and eventually take shahada there (Allahu Akbar).
Ya ukhtii, I must inquire about the textbooks you were utilising and if they can be purchased on-line somewhere? My written Arabic is legible, but could stand to improve insha’Allah.
Jazaka’Allah khayr for such a great post! Ramadhan moubarak!
Masha’Allah, that’s great to hear – amazing to see how Allah guides (even through calligraphy!)
The books I was using weren’t really textbooks, more like photocopies of my teacher’s notes and handouts she had made. However, I think you can get standard material that goes through the different scripts (especially naskh which is widespread) from any Islamic Art store or stationaries if you’re in a Muslim country or maybe try searching online?
Assalamu ‘aleykum,
Where in Cairo (preferably Madinat Nasr) can you learn this beautiful art, for someone on a budget?
I was always intrigued by calligraphy, and my writing is so ugly I hope that if I take a calligraphy class it could help… somewhat.
Wassalamu ‘aleykum,
Abu Hafs
Wa `alaykumusalam a rahmatullah
You can enquire at any of the Arabic Institutes. I know that Diwan Center does private calligraphy studies. If you want to go pro, check out the Japanese Calligraphy Academy downtown Cairo (sorry I don’t have an address, maybe you can ask around).
Hi! It seems like you know a lot about arabic and it’s different caligraphy styles. I was wondering… can you tell me whether or not the second phrase on the link below is “inshallah” or “mashallah” in diwani al riq’a? If it is mashallah, can you please tell me what needs to be changed for it to be inshallah? Thanks!
http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://www.sakkal.com/Graphics/Calligraphy/commissions/inshallah_nastaliq3.gif&imgrefurl=http://www.sakkal.com/Graphics/Calligraphy/commissions/inshaallah.html&usg=__xr3bUhDFEDwTErv5HZNE5q7GBrk=&h=164&w=453&sz=4&hl=en&start=3&sig2=sNJPEknhYwtsDJYoCm0Rfg&um=1&tbnid=K2I9KyFdrLyaqM:&tbnh=46&tbnw=127&ei=9iq_SYHXHondtgf2qeRW&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dinshallah%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26um%3D1
Hi Samantha, all the phrases in that link say ‘Insha’Allah.’
salaam, stumbled across ur blog while looking for calligraphy pen suppliers in cairo – i’m currently in madinat nasr and studying calligraphy at diwan – was wondering whether u/ur teachers might know where i can get good calligraphy pens in cairo (proper ones to use with ink and not marker types)? i bought one from our nearby stationery shop, but it’s not very good quality, and the ones on ebay tend to have the straight edge rather than the angled one for arabic calligraphy… any help would be much appreciated!
Salaamu alaykum sis. What channel if Fajr channel? xxx
Wa `alaykumusalam wa rahmatullah sis
Good to see you on here
Last I remember, Fajr Channel was on ArabSat (not Hotbird). I can’t remember the channel number, but maybe you can search for it alphabetically? Sorry, not much help, I actually don’t watch TV anymore! :/