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    Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script for Beginners. Learn some Arabic!

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    07 Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script for Beginners

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    Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script for Beginners. Learn some Arabic!

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    53 views30 pages

    07 Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script For Beginners

    Uploaded by

    Mani Saini
    Arabic Calligraphy Naskh Script for Beginners. Learn some Arabic!

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    Pet Bu fe Vinci Introduction Arabic is both a language and a script. Orignally, as a purely spoken language, itwas usec atthe courts ofthe powerful Arab cribal conlecerations such as the Lakbrnids anc the Ghessanids, who were faneckfor ther tradition el orl pocty. Toese confecersions were based n southern Iraq and Syria, lands which were ruled by the Byrantnes, weo controlled the Mediteranean countries, and by the Sasarians, who fuled Iracy end Ian. VWith the bict7 of the Islamic state in Arabia after AD 622, these lerds eventually became part of the Islamic ermine. Arabic belongs to the same famity of scripts as Hebrew, Greck and Latin, al of which derive: Utimatey frorn the ®boenician alphabet developed ir the vale second millennium 30. The origin of the Arabic letter snapes ‘s sill a matter of scholarly debate, out it seerns most lixely that they are derived from the form of Acamumic seriat used by the Nabataeans, woes sumptuous capital, Petra, stil survives in peesenlday Jordan Arabic was the lenguase in which the Qur'an, the Hoty Book of he Muslinns, was revealed thra.gh the intermeciary of the Acchangel Gabriel to the Prophet Muhammad outside Mecca in the eany seventh century 4D, and the script in whieh i was subsequety written dewn, The language and the script were thus endowed with greal sanctity, and every cffor. wes made when copy.ng the Qur'an anc other religous texts to write as beautifully as 2ossible. In the early period; the style of scriot usec for religious texts and subsequently for monurcerta: inscriptions was an angular cne, cormmonly known as Kufiec. Everyday correspondence, at that time on saayrus, was wrillen ina mare rounded cursive sono. Tac anguar script. which. by the tweth century, had become increasinghy elaborate and e-ribellshed, wes gradually suserseded by more legible cursive seripls. one of which was Neaskh The expansion oF Islam from Span to tie west, nto Afrca and as far east as Indonesia led te the widespread Ciffus on of he Arabic anguage ard scripL. Because tt is incumbent upon Muslims to read aye recite the Qurar in its original Arabic, the language was frequenty leannt alongside loca. languages. In mary cases the Arabic script displiced local scvpts, taking it beyonrc the sphere of the Arabic languege itsell. IL was employed wo write a whole variety of languages such as Persian, Urdu, Dari, Ctlerad Turkish (until the reforms of Atatuc« in $928, wher tre Roma Turkish alshabet replaced 7) and until -elatively “ecerbty some of the languages of Indonesia and Malaysia. Atter sc- pls using he Roran alphabet. Acaac is the most commonly written scr pt in the world. The Arabic script conlinues 2 fescinate ard inssire, The famous Persar caligrapher Mir “Alt cf He-at td. 1556), gave the follow ng advice to those embarking on tie task: “The caligrapher needs five things: a ine temperament, an understanding of caligraphy, a good hand, the ability te erduce pain and a perfect set of mplemerts.’ Venetia Porter Depatmert of Qriertal Antiquities. The Brtise Museu Naskh script Naskh, which literally means to copy or the copyist's hand, is one of the six major cursive Arabic scripts, che olagidm al-sittah (six pens or styles) that were established during the tenth century aD. The origins of Naskh can be traced back to che late eighth century AD, but at that time the script lacked refinernent and was used mainly for correspondence. When Ibn Muglah, the great Abbasid calligrapher and vizier (0.940), subjected the six cursive scripts to rigorous preportional analysis, Naskh became the most popular script for book copying. However, the elegant refinamencs which elevated Naskh to the realms of a script suitable for the Qur’an are usually attributed to Ibn al-Bawwab (1022), the second great calligrapher of the Abbasid period. In the thirteenth century the style of Ibn al-Bawewab was made more graceful by Yaqit al-Musta‘simi, the last great The Arabic alphabet calligrapher of the Abbasids (d. | 298). Yaqut al-Musta‘simi was also responsible for making changes to the shape of the reed pen that had a remarkable effect on all six scripts. He steepened the angle of the writing edge of the pen and left it thicker: In che fifteenth century the Ottoman Turks favoured Naskh as the most congenial script for copying the Quran. They set it apart for chis task, labelled it khadine al-Qur'an {servant of che Qur'an) and raised it to new levels of perfection, But it was not until the nineteenth century that Naskh was to reach its peak, at the hands of Kadiasker Mustafa lzzet Efendi (d.1876) and Mehmed Sevkd Efendi (d.1887), in Istanbul. Their supremely beautiful Naskh has inspired calligraphers ever since. Naskh is still the most widely used Arabic script today, with more Qur'dns copied in it than in all other scripts Put together, Arabic, like Hebrew and Aramaic, is written from right to left and its alphabet consists of 28 consonants. Short vowels. are represented by signs above and below the lecters (see page | 8). The alphabet is written here in the unjcined forms of the Naskh script. The Roman letters indicate a sound equivalent to that of the Arabic. The fine grey horizontal rules serve as 2 base line * Letter variations Most Arabic letters vary according to their position in the word (initial, medial or final) and whether they are joined or unjoined, The letters below are the five variations of ha' (H) in Naskh script. Some scripts have fewer variations. Some ‘of the variations of each letter are given on the explanatory pages, and some on pages 19 to 21, “a o firal joined firal Lnjaned 2a Tedial a» [al twee, intal Getting started Today, when ic comes to calligraphy tools, we are spailt for choice. Art shops offer a variety of writing implements, with nibs of steel, glass, nylon fibres, ete. in many difference shapes and sizes, But the best tool for Arabic calligraphy was, and still is, che reed pen. It is nor enly More practical than most of the ready-made pens. but itis cheaper too. It allows you to create a writing implement that suits your own hand posture and writing angle, rather than having to adapt your hand te a ready-made pen. The ideal read, which grows in swamps and shallow waters, is prepared only when it is completely dry. It is cut with a heawy- duty knife or scalpel Fellow these five steps ta prepare your first reed pon Writing angle Before you tackle the alphabet, test your pen by drawing some diamond-shaped dots. The pen should rest comfortably between the lower knuckles of the thumb and the firs: finger, as in che illustration. Press che pen diagonally on the paper and pull it in the direction of the arrows. When you manage to draw a diamond-shaped dot with a single short diagonal stroke that means you are holding your pen correctly. Hf not, ery Mew nant Et y, \ t i 5 * LOM f \ ey i N i . ( __ Select a reed. stom coud ent it fo the teugth of a pen (about 20 on). The diwmeter should be avuund Jere. If don do not hetve access to suitable reeds, you can use small bamboo stichs available at gariden centres ar bay « ready-cat reed pen from ar art shop that speelatizes ta calligraphy materials and recat it in the appropriate angle. Work at the end furthest Fram any bulge. Hold the reed firmly and cut away a brag SCOUT BATH sharp knife or scalpel. again. Make sure the full width of the slanted nib is touching the paper and that your pen is moving in the direction of the arrows. This is the basic writing angle, but when you begin to copy individual letters or words you will find chat a certain amount of pen manipulation is necessary ta achieve a pleasing cantrast of stroke widths, Ink and ink jar Inks suitable for practising inclide black Indian ink, Rotring black drawing ink, and any calligraphy ink. In order not ta flood the pen you need to make an ink jar. Find a small watertight jar or plastic film container. In the past calligraphers placed a small wad of raw-silk fibres inside the jar, but nowadays a small piece of nylon rights or stockings does just as well, Push this inte the jar and pour in enough ink ko be completely absorbed by the fabric. No excess ink is required. as the source of ink must be the ink-darnpened fabric. This prevents overloading the pen and creating unsightly blobs. Guidelines To prepare your practice sheet, use a soft pencil to draw the base line (middle line}. Then draw the upper and lower lines at equal distances from the base line using the height of the letter alif'as a guide. In Naskh script the height of olif shauld equal five dots of your pen placed one on top of the other. Use a white fairly smooth matt paper for practising. Stroke-by-stroke guide fall The unique stroke-by-stroke instructions an the following pages show you the best way of writing each letter of the alphabet. Try to write slowly, following the instructions, and moving your pen in the direction of the arrows, ‘Tn create the shoulders, make a cut an each side. taking care tn eveate an end wtih parallel side: Alm for a nih width af about 4 nent or less, Place the reed on a hare surface, Make a stit down she middle of the the nik. No stit is required if ure width af the wit is less than 4 sive. Proportions Proportioned letters like this are designed to help you appreciate the correct shape of each letrer. The diagonal-shaped dot represents one full pen width, while the cirele indicates half that widch. The prepertians should serve as a euide only and need net be strictly adhered to. Learning stages Asa beginner, your earning process should ba divided into three basic stages, as in chis booklet: | Mufradat single letrers (pages 8-18) 2 Morakkabat joined letters (pages 19-21) 3 Kolimat words (pages 22-25} You should only move ca che next stage when you feel comfortable with the previous one. + we Extra effort! Do net clespair if you find chese four ws letters extremely : oa difficult te write. "reat They are indeed considered the most arduous of all the letters, and beginners should give them extra effort. Cut the ib io ae angle af about 45°. The angle will depend on your kasd aud you may have te recat the nib ie aelieve « satisfactory writing angle. Dip the pen in ike ink jar aud altow it to absark plenty of ink before wou start. Stage One; alif Strokes *: a Initial, medial unjoined and final unjoined Variations Proportions Medial joined Final joined There is another form of alif known as alif maqstirah, or restricted (used at the end of the word only) which is similar te che final unjoined and joined y@ below, but with no dots beneath ic. One variation of each letter is written very large sa that the shapes and pen angles are as clear as possible. You will find it much easier to write smaller. This is the 28ch letter of the alphabet. Final unjoined It is placed hore in order co accommedate the three similar letters pa’, ta’ and tha’ on the opposite page. The correct alphabetic order is featured on page 5. The dats ofa letter are not counted as strokes Variations nd Initial whe Media oad CS Final joined + Final unjained Variations * + Final joined = Medial Initial AS ERA MMII SEERA a Final unjoined a4 Variation of the lecter: same as ba’, but with two dots above and no dec below Proportions tha’ Final unjoined Variation of the letter: same as ba’, but with three dots above and no coc below jim Final unjoined Variations Final jained DN CEA Proportions Medial Initial oN kha’ Final unjained 4 Variation of the fetter: same as jim, but the dot placed above | same as jim, but with no doc Strokes Tip: Use the right corner of your nib to outline and fill in the lower end of the letter marked here in black, hat Final unjcined Variation of the letter: Proportions Variation A Medial joined Final joined dhal Initial, medial unjoined and final unjeined + Variation af the letter: same as dal, but with a dot above EAN ese ARNO a TN EA ENN Nic I noe zay Initial, medial unjained and final unjeined ¢ Variation of the letver: same as ra’, but with a dot above Proportions Tip: Use the right corner of your nib te outhne and fill in the lower end of the letcer imarked here in black, dal Initial, medial unjained and final unjained ra’ Initial, rnédial unjained and final unjoined Varialion + Mecial joined Final joined sin Final unjsined shin Final unjoined Sa Variations yee oe Final joined Maclial Initial Variation of the ecter: same as sin, but with three dots abowe sad Final unjoined did Final unjoined ® Variations cL Variation of the letter: same as Sad, but witha Final joined Medial Initial in dot above 4 Proportions ta’ Final unjoined Variations Initial Medial 24! Final unjomed * Final joined Variation: same as a? bur with a dac above LENE arE ‘ayn Final unjoined YN Final uni Tip: Use the right corner of your nib to oudine and fill ir the lower end of the letter marked here in black. ot Ee ‘Jee re right comer of your nb [a oucline anc HE ir she crescent ghayn Final unjoined * Variations Tip: Use the right = corner of your nite to _ outline and fill in bach the rop crescent and che lower end of the letter \ b . Final joined Modial Initial marked here in black, Var ation: same as ‘ayn, but with £8? Final unjoined Variations . * + Final joinec Medel Initial af Final unjoined Variations ” ad ao Final joined Medial Initial Tip: Use the right comer of your nib to outline and fill in the end of chis special hemzoh of the tetter kat. SSUeE PCRS Proportions Variations, | Initial Medial Final joined Proportions Variations Initial Medial Final joined AAS ASTM MONE EOE VEE For further variations of initial and media forms of the letter kaf see pages |9 and 20. lam Final unjoined snes kat Final unjeined CECA ET Strolces mim unjeined Variations * 2 Alternative final RP RRR SORT TREE TREE Tip: Use the right corner of your nib te aucline and fill in the end of the letter marked here in black. HON Final unjoined Initial * ae Mecial * LY Final ‘oined Proportions Final jomed CHEESE mim Final unjeined Variations a> A Medial Initial ccecccgpaneesnanenresntty ‘Strokes, 2 mente pare 4 ha’ levitial Variations «&— Medial 1 Medial a Finab joined For the proportions of the various forms of this a Finak unjoined letter sce pages 20 and 21. coewe yh TT Crs WaW Initial, medial unjoined and final wnfoined Variation ws ” Medial joined Final joined Tip: Use the right corner of your nib to outline and fill in the ~ lower end of the letter marked here in black. : Strokes" .- Proportions Proportions ome Hamzah Proportions ae: Orthographical signs Hamzah cepresents a glottal stop, the sudden closing of the threat as in the Landon cockney bu'er (butter). It maincains the same shape wherever it appears. Hemzan can be found on its own (1) or combined wich other letters (2). When combined, mt should be written with a smailer pen. Usually written with a smaller pen, the orthographical signs represent short vowels and are positioned above and below the Ictters according to the grammatical system to indicate that Lhe consonant is followed by a_i, a, etc. They are designed to ensure the exact pronunciation of the text, especially the Quranic verses, The letter ba” is used here to dernonstrate how the archographical signs affect pronunciation. Ste ria gil 2 alee | ATER geen Siro RRR DL SEARS tonwit: nig rer donwin mere shasdatr suf davunuh koxrat fathal g w o * vr : & : eg. & . : : f 4 Teese” eens ngeeah “ve “ene Tear ‘Besant + & m we a * % ,° 2 sourd: bin sound: bur sound: doubled BB sound: vowelless — squend: by sound: bi sound: bo G Af Decorative signs 10 be placed above weteteteeneenene sone Medgah. 4 Awe! | Homan ol-alif Teo--- umdetced leccers such as sin and 7", ceualy placed : ye f Z | seve alto z Usually placed either ahove or below oncendl ite Z ¢ : the final joined Ad" co indicate that it is sound 4 ‘ i Sf nel (3° marbétah whieh is similar, bue _ : i wich owo dets abave. Compare fina | Decorative sian te be | qonutn manguh, &. : joined ba" (page 17) and ed’ morbitah | placed beneath the | a grammatical : : in the word banner (page 23) undated letters be sign thac ge soune:e sound: u Si, ae and ‘ope cars above “3 Another sign chal may 6 placed shove] respectively, They help: a top end af é vowelless consgnants. the calligrapher co the finaljained 5 create a visually alf-arwallas gas Sign to indicate thac an olif' must be balanced coxt. above some : Pronounced even if it is non written. other letters, signs ore featured here, Stage Two: + “+ joined letters This section is designed to show as many joined letters as a beginner should need ta practise at this stage To illustrace all forms of joined letters is beyond the scope of this manual. 2 The gradual narrowing of this stroke is achieved by twisting (he pen very slightly clockwise, | Initial fa" has owe different farms: (a) closed if at is followed by an ascending letter iT. (b} open if ic is followed by a descending letter - (fa, 1b). 3,4 The proportions of ~ initial “ayn are dierated by winecher its followed by a descending (9) or an ascend'ng (4) letter. I Notice haw dal is written above the base | line by ane dat: 5 knitial kay, known as kal” J sayft (sword like}, followed by different letters, 6 Final joined kof has a different form and prepartions fram the unjeined one. Campare this joined kaf with the large uhjoined version on page 15. * 7 Another initial kaf known as kaf zonndd? (arin like}. The dusgn ai pages 19. to 21 is inspired by cal igraphers! practice shouts howls in Aranic at coseid (bax cening) ard in Turkiglias kenatomn, | Prapertions of initial kof zannadr This kaf can also be used as medial. t Proportions of medial kaf | sayft | 3, 3a Two fori of initial mig. 3, 5a Two forms of medial rit, 4 Final joined vim 7, Ta The word homed (praisa] written if Gwe: ways using bwo different medial 6 One way of omin, wiiting the -. word nimah {bounty}. © 8, Ba Two Notice the forms of medial varying ha’ thicknesses of the strokes and the position of the lerters in relation to the base line. 9 Final joined na 10 Another format J medial ha 1, 4a Two forms of final ha? when preceded by the letters dal or dhat 2 Prapertions of one form af medial ha’, 4 Variations of final joined alif nlogsiirah or ya’, known as ya" say(T {sword like} or ya! rdjffat {returning ya"). 3, Ja Final yd" or final atif mogsirch, 7 Initial ra” knieewn as ra’ rahmarn. This form of ra" canner be used 06 write the letter zay § Some of the letters that can join ya’ sayft (see 4}. 6 Extendable letters. The extended width of any of these letters should be between ? and 42 dots af the pen. 8,9 Proportions * of lamabf (the lerers dam and olf cambined). Some consider lamalif as one letter of the alphabet. 10 Special form reserved for writing the three _ joined letters of Allah, the yame af God. Initial alif should be added ar the beginning ta complete she 12 Proportions name. of joined lamalif. See 8 and 9 for” unjoined forms. 1) Ona farm of the name of the Prophet Mubarnmad. Stage Three: * 2 words The Arabic words below have been selected co demonstrate not only all the single unjained letters of the alphabet, bur afso rnany of the variations of joined initial, medial and final letters. Different pans have been used, hence the variation in size. The fine grey horizontal tines are base line gurdes Practise hy emulating each word several times until you achieve a sausfactory result, 4 * Sed dhi'f ec bobs ks dar nabat 2. RAE" minfaki R oa zamdit lire: folidh ferr-e- dajaj bic sr “asl tnsdin hur sre Abad rk gimash cise maibrdth oc. 5 “eam cetesnieas 7 aghrad pur coc. toss Wize * aybagh cle Shela : Sulciman * wahid onely feura [sl nadia bofadahu © .::-a 'y obitimad rel: ceed EPs vonnaek Saft ct botoian | ‘Calligraphy is fudder in the teachings of the master, ond its betterment fies in ample and continuaus practice. Attributed to “Alt bn Abi Talib, the fourch Caliph (64 1} \us* saigh yg+slenim mutorjiin nz qobeda he obta fdtid ann. * \ * + ay at y yunbi'und he reli ist he mesikty cir2 2° taustemi ste ba'dakum elit poe teish scklacs natijah om. yatasdbaq ‘ts tatis khibrotuke +. a 7 38 Ze a | ~d £ Gallery Unlike some scripcs such as Jall Thuluth, Tughra and Jali Diwani which have been treaced in imaginative and experimental ways. Naskh, a seripe favoured for its clarity and legibility and therefore somecimes considered ‘ordinary’, has not in the past been subjected to more individual mterpretations. A cox in Naskh is usually written Lo be accessed casily or co be read, Here are sore attempts to break with this tradition. The four featured pieces are intended to be primarily visual cornpositions. 4 man belongs where be settles, ond not where he grew up: where he is now. and aot where he eas Gorn.” Ancient Arabic proverb Tha calligraphic warks on pages 26 co 29 are by che auchar. “The ietier is @ veil and the veil is a letler.’ al-Nuffart {d,965) tzza ph ee Are Aq waded & Loy esuaa, Naskh past and present Naskh is one: of the oldest Arabic scripts still in use toclay. Its survival is due Partly ta the fact thac ft is che script used to write the Qur'an throughout the Islamic world. Its worldwide use has led to the development of many variations, For centuries novice calligraphers have begun with the practice of Naskh, a tradition which is still maintained There seems little doubt that the supreme beauty of the script will continue to be appreciated by peapte from many parts of the warld for many years to came. Following is a selection of pieces in Nasich script, from a variety of periads and places, showing its versatility. Surah CXI¥ (al-Nds) “Mankind”, and che colephon of a copy of the Qur'an written in Istanbul by Shaykh Hamdullah (1429-15203. In this copy, whieh was campleted in 1514, the master Sened his rane with a reference to his grey hair, ald age, shaky head and poor héalth. Shaykh Hamdulluh produced forcy-saven copies of the Qur'an in all and was known as qipfat oltqutta@h. Une calligraphers’ iedlestar. Av page from Kitab af-driolf by Ibn Babawayh (4.994) wriccan in what is known as Warragi script (Naskh-[raqi} by Muhammad ibn Asad (4.1019 in Baghdad). Ibn Asad was one of the rast illsLicus salligraphers of tus age and master of the famous calligrapher Ibn al-Bawewad td. 1022). Surah | (al-Faehhab}, ‘The Opening’, froma capy of te Quin written in Istanbul in 1683 by Hafiz Osman (1642-98). Osman, who was che ealkgraphy master of tha Ottaman Sulcans Mustafa [| and Ahmad lil, had developed a Naskh style that is distinguished by its clarity. This style became the scandard far those who copied t1e Qur'an after him | A page in Naskh written ing unique way by Almac al Mairzi Cran?) in 170192. The teat consists of sixteen lings yeritten in siternating directions, Having tead the first ser of eight upright ‘ines, the reader has to turn the Page lipside down to -ead the remainder The first eight lies ane advice to renounce all fori of earthly pleasure, The remaining eight fines consist of a thirty sword vongue-twisting Boerr i Arabic vith a tocal of forty initia’, medial and final kat lectars It seers thay calligraphors of the past lnved co test themselves with chis particwar poervprayer. SS Sibi SERENE En ORRIN EEE Sarah O2 felNosr) ‘Succour’, from a copy af che Qur'an printed in Saudi Arabia in 1993. itis written ina modern and elegant Naskh by Csinan Taha, a Pe aera! oe GN AS 4 t ads u side da | wf ul Way ele et ety, SEIS GS wee agile ae weer Lata F oh wade 2 Paes ju SAGAN 5 A ALES Yoo od vt ot, Surat CX tal-Nagel ‘Suceour’, written in what is known as Indian Maskh, will a translation of the verses im Urdu. Chis copy of the Qur'an was princed in Saud Arabia in 1589 wich he reference to the calligrapher's name, Surah XCwll cal Qedr) ‘Predestination’, beaulifully written in bold modern Basil that carries vestiges of uider styles. This copy of che Qur"an was printed in Britain. Neither che praduction date nor che name af the callgrapher is given. Sal gag Sebel! 888 58 Lg SLY! tas a a LG Arabie desktop publishing fants based on Maskh senpe, though functions: ane wd

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