The Quran and the first Arabic scripts
Islamic calligraphy grew from devotion to the Quran. Because the revelation was preserved in writing as well as memory, copying it beautifully became an act of reverence, and calligraphy rose above the other arts in the Islamic world.
The earliest Quran manuscripts were written on parchment in angular scripts. One of them, later called Kufic after the city of Kufa in Iraq, became the grand script of early Qurans and of inscriptions on buildings — horizontal, stately, and often written with only a few lines to a page.
Over time, dots were added to distinguish letters of the same shape, and coloured marks to show vowels. These systems made the text easier to read correctly and remain part of Quranic writing today.
Ibn Muqla and proportioned writing
In the 10th century the Abbasid vizier Ibn Muqla (d. 940) set out a system of proportion for rounded scripts. Each letter was measured in rhombic dots made with the tip of the reed pen, and in relation to the height of the letter alif and an imagined circle. This “proportioned writing” turned handwriting into a disciplined art.
A century later Ibn al-Bawwab (d. 1022) refined these scripts with a lighter, more elegant hand. A Quran he copied in Baghdad in 1000–1001 survives today and is one of the most celebrated early manuscripts in the rounded style.
Yaqut and the Six Pens
Yaqut al-Musta'simi (d. 1298), calligrapher at the Abbasid court in Baghdad, is remembered for cutting the reed pen at an angle, which gave strokes a sharper elegance. His name is linked with the canon of six classical scripts — the al-aqlam al-sitta, or Six Pens:
- Thuluth and its smaller partner Naskh
- Muhaqqaq and Rayhan
- Tawqi' and Riqa'
Naskh became the standard script for copying the Quran and, much later, the model for printed Arabic. Thuluth became the script of grand inscriptions. Read how they differ in the guide to Arabic calligraphy scripts.
The Ottoman school
Istanbul became the centre of the art. Sheikh Hamdullah (1436–1520) reworked the Six Pens into a style that Ottoman calligraphers followed for centuries. Hafiz Osman (1642–1698) refined Naskh and gave definitive form to the hilye, a panel describing the Prophet ﷺ. Later, Mustafa Rakım (1757–1826) brought monumental Thuluth to new heights.
The Ottomans also developed Diwani for chancery documents and the tughra, the sultan's calligraphic monogram. Students trained for years and received an ijazah — a licence from their master — before signing their own work, a tradition that continues today.
Persia, Nastaliq, and South Asia
In Persia, calligraphers developed Nastaliq in the 14th–15th centuries, a graceful script of long, sloping strokes associated with Mir Ali Tabrizi and perfected by masters such as Mir Emad (d. 1615). It became the classic script of Persian poetry.
Nastaliq travelled with Persian culture to the Mughal courts of South Asia, where it became — and remains — the script of Urdu. Mughal architecture carried monumental calligraphy too: the Quranic inscriptions framing the Taj Mahal were designed by the calligrapher Amanat Khan.
Calligraphy painting in Pakistan
In the 20th century, artists in Pakistan brought calligraphy onto canvas and into modern painting. Sadequain (1930–1987) created celebrated calligraphic paintings and murals and illustrated Quranic verses on a monumental scale. Gulgee (1926–2007) became known for gestural, abstract calligraphy in rich colour and gold. Hanif Ramay and Anwar Jalal Shemza explored the forms of Arabic and Urdu letters as the basis of modern art.
Their work made calligraphy painting part of everyday life in Pakistan — in homes, offices, mosques, and galleries — and it is the tradition that handmade canvas studios such as InkByHand continue today.
Calligraphy today
Across the Arab world, the mid-20th-century hurufiyya movement used letters as abstract elements of painting. Today, calligraphers work in every medium — ink on paper, acrylic and gold leaf on canvas, metal, light, and even street murals — while classical masters still teach through the ijazah tradition.
Whatever the medium, the test of good calligraphy is the same as it was a thousand years ago: correct text, balanced proportion, and respect for the words.