The Splendor of Islamic Calligraphy

by Khatibi, Abdelkebir

• ISBN13: 9780500282946
• ISBN10: 0500282943
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-11-01
• Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc

Summary

Calligraphy, the art that combines images and written words, is perhaps at its most brilliant in the Islamic world. Islamic calligraphy took its inspiration from Muslim belief in the divine origin of Arabic writing, the medium through which the Qu'aranic revelation to the Prophet Muhammad was recorded. In the early years of Islam the sanctity of Arabic writing was accepted among Arabs and non-Arabs alike, and its use in sacred and official texts gave rise to a wonderful profusion of scripts, and a calligraphic tradition that has flourished for over a thousand years - not only in manuscript decoration but in architecture, ceramics and painting.

Author Biography

Abdelkebir Khatibi, Professor at the Mohammed V University, Rabat Mohammed Sijelmassi, a noted art critic

Table of Contents

Symbol of civilization	6	(4)
Principles of Arabic writing	10	(3)
Tracing the Origins	13	(32)
Legend and epigraphy	18	(3)
Myths of origin	21	(7)
Tawqif and istillah	28	(9)
Epigraphical confusions	37	(8)
The Proportions of the Line	45	(32)
The alif module	46	(3)
The geometric interplay	49	(3)
Colour	52	(18)
Miniature and arabesque	70	(4)
The pen	74	(3)
Schools and Styles	77	(50)
Typology	78	(12)
Meaning and the written word	90	(2)
Diacritical signs	92	(4)
Kufic and naskhi	96	(4)
Ibn Muqla	100	(16)
Ibn al-Bawwab	116	(4)
Calligraphy and history	120	(7)
Symbolism of the Page	127	(36)
The spell of the face	128	(4)
Jafr, or the science of letters	132	(7)
Futuhat, or isolated letters	139	(3)
The bismillah	142	(6)
The margin	148	(4)
The signature	152	(11)
In the Sight of Allah	163	(26)
A delicate vibration	166	(16)
Ornamentation of buildings	182	(7)
The Architectural Context	189	(24)
Landmarks	192	(4)
Styles	196	(17)
Contemporary Painting	213	(23)
Zenderoudi	219	(5)
Koraishi	224	(6)
Boullata	230	(6)
Notes on the Text	236	(1)
Bibliography	237	(2)
Acknowledgments	239