Kufi

Squares
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3377/3318123762_ea07344f17.jpg?v=0
Kufi also Kufic

• Kufi is a font
• It was the first font that the Quran was
documented
• Kufi --- from Kufa in Iraq
Qur'an

(Arabic: ‫القرآن‬ al-qur’ā n , literally “
the recitation”
; also
sometimes transliterated as Quran, Qur’ān, Ko ran, Alc o ran 
or Al-Qur’ān)

Verses from the Quran were revealed to Muhammad by the

angel Jibril (Gabriel) (610 CE to 632 CE)

These verses were then transmitted orally to followers and

believers and memorised
Written text complied in 633 CE

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qur'an
Kufic is the oldest calligraphic form of the various Arabic scripts and
consists of a modified form of the old Nabatean script. Its name is
derived from the city of Kufa (in modern-day Iraq), although it was
known in Mesopotamia at least 100 years before the foundation of
Kufa. At the time of the emergence of Islam, this type of script was
already in use in various parts of the Arabian Peninsula. It was in this
script that the first copies of the Qur'an were written. Archaic Kufic
script became dominant by the 8th century with the rapid spread of the
Quran. However it lacked diacritical signs and was eventually replaced
by Naskhi, an essentially cursive script.

Square Kufic, from its origin from Archaic Kufic, retained the lack of a
vowel system, but has been used to this day mainly in architectural
settings. Square Kufic is also known as geometric, rectangular,
rectilinear or geometric Kufic. When used to create geometric patterns
with glazed tiles or mosaic, it can sometimes be referred to with a Farsi
word hazarbaf.

http://spacecollective.org/mslima/2882/Decoding-code
http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/natlang/arabic/kufic/wa-kufic.jpg
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Kufic_Qu
ran_7th_Cent.jpg
Courtesy of Mamoun
Sakkal
The inception of square kufic derived from the contact between
Islam and China around a thousand years ago. A simple
adaptation of Arabic kufic script into the mold of Chinese seal
script; created a medium that is unique to human civilization; a
perpetually modern medium of representing the divine word.

http://www.kufic.info/img/ghazanseal.png
Square Kufic in Architecture
Square Kufic in architectural settings by country.

http://www.kufic.info/architecture/architecture.htm
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_Ka2BI5qyVAU/Rj7v76vME_I/A
AAAAAAABNk/0ymVqC5109k/s400/MI
%234.JPG/_Ka2BI5qyVAU/Rj7v76vME_I/AAAAAAAABN
k/0ymVqC5109k/s400/MI%25234.JPG

Moulay Idris
Volubilis
Morocco
 Minaret, Ulugbek
Medressa, Registan,
Samarkand

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3076/3162936393_e68520bfca_m.jpg
Tripoli mosque, Liban

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/46/193599412_7cf95b8c7f_m.jpg
Ribbed dome and
square kufic tiling,
Gur-e Amir
mausoleum,
Samarkand

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1174/3167148784_190570831e_m.jpg
 Panel,
al Mu'ayyad mosque
(1415-22)

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/128/352643197_79ed6157d0.jpg?v=0
 Tile and brick
mosaic calligraphy,
Jameh Mosque,
Esfahan

http://farm2.static.flickr.com/1100/865263164_0276a7efb7_m.jpg
kufic calligraphy,
isfahan, iran

photographer "SEIER+SEIER"

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2074/2064208562_bfb25fbc14_m.jpg
Iran or Central Asia
Stone Slab with Calligraphy , late 14th-early 15th century
Stone, Stone, 5 9/16 x 14 3/4 x 2 1/2 in. (14.13 x 37.47 x 6.35 cm)

http://collectionsonline.lacma.org/MWEBimages/islamic_mm/full/M76_174_151.jp
g
14th century Ilkhanid silver coin with square kufic Kalima

http://www.kufic.info/img/ilkhanid.png
kufikufi.blogspot.com
 Selimiye Foundation
Museum

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3091/2893931355_3f6ec07a42.jpg?v=0
the world's first stain glass kufi square
spot the error!
In the name of Allah, the
Beneficent, the Merciful.
 ِ‫ٱلرّحِيم‬ ِ‫حمََن‬ ْ ّ‫ٱلر‬ ِّ‫ٱل‬ ِ‫بِسْم‬
.Say: He, Allah, is One (1)
﴾١﴿ ٌ‫حد‬ َ َ‫أ‬ ُ‫ل‬
ّ ‫ٱ‬ َ‫هُو‬ ْ‫قُل‬
(2) Allah is He on Whom all
depend.
﴾٢﴿ ُ‫مد‬ َ ّ‫ٱلص‬ ُ‫ل‬ ّ ‫ٱ‬
(3) He begets not, nor is He
begotten.
﴾٣﴿ ‫د‬ ْ َ‫يُول‬ ْ‫وَلَم‬ ْ‫يَلِد‬ ْ‫لَم‬
(4) And none is like Him.
﴾٤﴿ ٌۢ‫حد‬ َ َ‫أ‬ ‫كُفُوًا‬ ‫لّهُۥ‬ ‫يَكُن‬ ْ‫وَلَم‬
http://charlescalixto.com/indexhibit/200801/kufic-square-calligraphy/
21.01.2008 - Kufic Square Calligraphy
an interesting parallel between an obscure form of arabic calligraphy and the
complex barcode system utilized in japan.
both images say the following:

ّ ‫ا‬ ‫أَحَد‬ ّ‫ال‬ َ‫هُو‬ ْ‫قُل‬ ‫الرحيم‬ ‫الرحمن‬ ّ‫ال‬ ِ‫بِسْم‬
‫ل‬
‫أَحَد‬ ‫كُفُوًا‬ ُ‫لّه‬ ‫يَكُن‬ ْ‫وَلَم‬ ْ‫يُولَد‬ ْ‫وَلَم‬ ْ‫يَلِد‬ ْ‫لَم‬ ‫الصّمَد‬
http://www.kufic.info/kuficscript.htm
http://shukoryahya.blogspot.com/
Nuh: 5-11, 2008
Emulsion on Linen
72 cm X 102 cm
Al Ikhlas (3), 2008
Emulsion on Linen
76 cm X 76 cm
Shahadah, 2008, Emulsion on Linen, 64 cm X 64 cm
Luqman :26, 2008
Emulsion on linen
102cm x 65cm
the world's first lego kufic square
the world's first kufi squares in a kufi square
 Nimavard Madrasa, Isfahan, Iran
the complete Surah 1, al-Fatihah, in the shape of Mohammad.

http://www.kufic.info/img/nimavard.png
 Cubic Kufi Designs
Instructor: Mamoun Sakkal

http://www.sakkal.com/squarekufi/instruction/cubic_kufi/images/steps04.jpg
http://aminigulgee.com/calligraphy/Answer-b.jpg

"Answer"
Al-hamdillullah in Square Kufic
Copper
2001
http://hello.w0r1d.net/bilder/a_v_code.jpg
http://guide.theemiratesnetwork.com/living/dubai/images/the_p
alm/palm_jebel_ali.jpg
Kufi Square the Qu'ran

0.5 % to date

1,001 Kufi Square scholars

web 2.0 technologies

social networking

Painter 2.0

SFMOMA Artspace style Quran Navigation

SQUARE KUFI CALLIGRAPHY INSTRUCTION
Square Kufi Alphabet
Instructor: Mamoun Sakkal

http://www.sakkal.com/instrctn/images/sq_kufi_alphabet.jpg
How to design Square Designs in Square Kufi Instructor: Mamoun Sakkal

http://www.sakkal.com/squarekufi/instruction/SqKufi02.gif
richard abas

www.kufikufi.blogspot.com

raa@kufikufi.com

@razlan