Kufic

Part of a series on
Arabic culture
Architecture Styles Islamic Yemeni Nabataean Umayyad Abbasid Fatimid Moorish Mamluk Features Ablaq Alfiz Arabesque Arabic dome Banna'i Gardens Girih Horseshoe arch Howz Hypostyle Islamic calligraphy Islamic geometric patterns Islamic ornament Iwan Liwan Mashrabiya Riad Mosaic Multifoil arch Muqarnas Nagash painting Qadad Reflecting pool Riwaq Sahn Socarrat Stucco decoration Tadelakt Vaulting Voussoir Windcatcher Zellij Types Albarrana tower Alcázar Bazaar Caravanserai Bimaristan Hammam Kasbah Madrasa Maqam Mazar Mosque Medina quarter Qalat Ribat Sabil Shadirvan Tekyeh Well house Zawiya
Art Styles Ancient South Arabian art Nabataean art Islamic art Fatimid art Mamluk art Types Arabic calligraphy Arabic graffiti Arab carpet Arabic miniature Arabic pottery Palestinian wood carving Islamic embroidery Islamic hardstone carving Islamic garden Islamic glass Islamic ivory carving Islamic Metalwork Features Arabesque Arabic geometric patterns Banna'i Damascus steel Damask Girih tiles Hedwig glass Kiswah Muqarnas Pseudo-Arabic Zellij
Cuisine Khalij (Arabian Peninsula) Arab Mashriq (Levant) Mashriq (Mesopotamia) Mawset (Egypt) Mawset (Sudan) Arab Maghreb (North Africa)
Dress Headwear Agal Battoulah Haik Keffiyeh Litham Madhalla Taqiyah Tantour Tarboush (fez) Turban Clothing Abaya Bisht Burnous Djellaba Durra'ah Fouta towel Izaar Jellabiya Kaftan Macawis Robe of honour Sirwal Takchita Thawb Tiraz
Music Theory Arabic maqam Arab tone system Algerian scale Rhythm in Arabic music Taqsim Jins Lazma Teslim Quarter tone Arabic musical instruments Great Book of Music Kitab al-Aghani Genres Arabic pop Arabic hip hop Arabic rock Arabic jazz Classical Arab music Opera Al Jeel Khaliji Raï Art music Andalusian classical music Andalusi nubah Bashraf Dawr Dulab Layali Malhun Iraqi maqam Mawwal Muwashshah Qasidah Qudud Halabiya Sama'i Tahmilah Taqsim Waslah Folk Ataaba Algerian Raï Bedouin Chaabi (Algeria) Chaabi (Morocco) Egyptian folk Fann at-Tanbura Fijiri Gnawa (North Africa) Liwa Mawwal Mezwed Samri Sawt Shaabi Zajal
Dance Ardah Belly dance Dabke Deheyeh Guedra Hagallah Khaleegy Liwa Mizmar Ouled Nail Raqs Sharqi Samri Shamadan Schikhatt Tahtib Tanoura Yowlah Zār
Literature Language Old Classical Modern Prose Epic literature Saj (ryhmed prose) Maqama Love in Arabic literature Arabic erotic literature Arabic grimoires Literary_criticism Arabic short story Tabaqat Tezkire Rihla Mirrors for princes Islamic Quran Tafsir Hadith Sīra Fiqh Aqidah Poetry Anthologies Poets Genres Madih Hija Rithā' Waṣf Ghazal Khamriyyah Tardiyyah Khawal Fakhr Hamasah Forms Diwan Qasida Muwashshah Urjūza Mathnawi Rubaʿi Nasīb Riddles Kharja Zajal Mawwal Nabati Ghinnawa Humayni Modern Arabic poetry Arabic prosody Beit Ṭawīl Madīd Basīṭ Kamil Wāfir Hazaj Rajaz Ramal Munsariħ Khafīf Muqtaḍab Mujtathth Muḍāriʿ Sarīʿ Mutaqārib Mutadārik National literatures of Arab States Algeria Bahrain Comoros Djibouti Egypt Iraq Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Libya Mauritania Morocco Oman Palestine Qatar Saudi Arabia Somalia Sudan Syria Tunisia U.A.E. Yemen
Science Arabic chemistry Arabic astrology Arabic astronomy Arabic geography Arabic Golden Age Arabic mathematics Arabic medicine Arabic psychology Arabic technology
Philosophy Early Arabic Philosophy Islamic Aristotelianism Islamic Platonism Islamic Logic Kalam Sufi metaphysics Sufi philosophy Farabism Avicennism Averroism Concepts Al-aql al-faal Aql bi-l-fi'l Al-Insān al-Kāmil Dhati Peace Arcs of Descent and Ascent Asabiyyah Hal Irfan Nafs Qadar Qalb Texts Liber de Causis The Theology of Aristotle Al-isharat The Book of the Apple Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity The Incoherence of the Philosophers The Incoherence of the Incoherence Hayy ibn Yaqdhan Theologus Autodidactus On the Harmony of Religions and Philosophy Muqaddimah Sicilian Questions Fusus al-Hikam
Mythology Ababil Atlantis of the Sands Bahamut Beast of the Earth Book of Idols Book of Wonders Buraq Dandan Falak Ghoul Hinn Houri Ifrit Iram of the Pillars Jinn Karkadann Kujata Luqman Magic carpet Marid Mount Qaf Nasnas One Thousand and One Nights Qareen Qutrub Roc Shaddad Shadhavar Shams al-Ma'arif She-Camel of God Wāḳwāḳ Zulfiqar Zarqa al Yamama Fictional Arab people Aladdin Abdul Alhazred Ali Baba Altaïr Ibn-La'Ahad Battal Gazi Hayy ibn Yaqdhan Kara Ben Nemsi King Marsile Layla and Majnun Othello Palamedes Princess Jasmine Ra's al Ghul Sindbad Talia al Ghul
Spirituality North Arabian deities Allah Al-‘Uzzá Al-Lat Manāt Dushara Chaabou Manaf Nuha Al-Kutbay Asira Awal Azizos Bajir Quzah Manāt Manāt A'ra Abgal Aglibol Al-Qaum Atarsamain Baalshamin Bēl Hubal Suwa' Theandrios Wadd Malakbel Orotalt Ruda Sa'd Yarhibol Isāf and Nā'ila South Arabian deities Almaqah Amm Anbay Athtar Salman Dhat-Badan Haubas Ta'lab Qaynan Basamum Dhul Khalasa Haukim Nasr Sīn Ya'uq Yaghūth Yatha
v t e

Part of a series on
Calligraphy
By culture Arabic (Islamic, Turkish) Chinese Cyrillic Georgian Indian Japanese Korean Mongolian Persian Serbian Tibetan Vietnamese Western

The Kufic script (

The Quran was first written in a plain, slanted, and uniform script but, when its content was formalized, a script that denoted authority emerged.[8] This coalesced into what is now known as Primary Kufic script.^[8] Kufic was prevalent in manuscripts from the 7th to 10th centuries. Around the 8th century, it was the most important of several variants of Arabic scripts with its austere and fairly low vertical profile and a horizontal emphasis.^[9] Until about the 11th century it was the main script used to copy the Quran.^[10] Professional copyists employed a particular form of Kufic for reproducing the earliest surviving copies of the Quran, which were written on parchment and date from the 8th to 10th centuries.^[11] It is distinguished from Thuluth script in its use of decorative elements whereas the latter was designed to avoid decorative motifs.^[12] In place of the decorations in Kufic scripts, Thuluth used vowels.^[12]

Characteristics of Kufic script

The main characteristic of the Kufic script "appears to be the transformation of the ancient cuneiform script into the Arabic letters", according to Enis Timuçin Tan.^[13] Moreover, it was characterized by figural letters that were shaped in a way to be nicely written on parchment, building and decorative objects like lusterware and coins.^[14] Kufic script is composed of geometrical forms like straight lines and angles along with verticals and horizontals.^[15] Originally, Kufic did not have what is known as a differentiated consonant, which means, for example, that the letters "t", "b", and "th" were not distinguished by diacritical marks and looked the same.^[15] However, it is still used in Islamic countries. In later Kufic Qurans of the ninth and early tenth century, "the sura headings were more often designed with the sura title as the main feature, often written in gold, with a palmette extending into the margin", comments Marcus Fraser.^[16] Its use in transcribing manuscripts has been important in the development of Kufic Script. Earlier kufic was written on manuscripts with precision which contributed to its development. For instance, "the precision achieved in practice is all more remarkable because Kufic manuscripts were not ruled", says Alain George.^[17] Moreover, he explains that Kufic manuscripts were laid out with a stable number of lines per page, and these were strictly parallel and equidistant.^[17] One impressive example of an early Quran manuscript, known as the Blue Quran, features gold Kufic script on parchment dyed with indigo. It is commonly attributed to the early Fatimid or Abbasid court. The main text of this Quran is written in gold ink, thus the effect on looking at the manuscript is of gold on blue. According to Marcus Fraser, "the political and artistic sophistication and financial expense of the production of the Blue Quran could only have been contemplated and achieved by a ruler of considerable power and wealth".^[16]

Ornamental use of Kufic script

Ornamental Kufic became an important element in Islamic art as early as the eighth century for Quranic headings, numismatic inscriptions and major commemorative writings.

Similarly, the flag of Iran (1980) has the takbir written in white square kufic script a total of 22 times on the fringe of both the green and red bands. Kufic inscriptions were important in the emergence of textiles too, often functioning as decoration in the form of tiraz bands. According to Maryam Ekhtiar, "tiraz inscriptions were written in Kufic or floriated Kufic script, and later, in naskhi or throughout the islamic world".^[21] Those inscriptions include the name of God or the ruler. As an example, the inscription inside the Dome of the Rock is written in Kufic. Throughout the text, we can notice the calligraphic line created by the reed pen which is usually a steady stroke with various thicknesses based on the changes in direction of the movement that has created it.^[22] Square or geometric Kufic is a very simplified rectangular style widely used for tiling. In Iran sometimes entire buildings are covered with tiles spelling sacred names like those of God, Muhammad and Ali in square Kufic, a technique known as banna'i.^[23] Moreover, there is "Pseudo-Kufic", also "Kufesque", which refers to imitations of the Kufic script, made in a non-Arabic context, during the Middle Ages or the Renaissance: "Imitations of Arabic in European art are often described as pseudo-Kufic, borrowing the term for an Arabic script that emphasizes straight and angular strokes, and is most commonly used in Islamic architectural decoration".^[24]

Square Kufic

Square Kufic (

The Syrian calligrapher Mamoun Sakkal described its development as an "exceptional step towards simplification in Kufic styles that evolved towards more complexity in the preceding centuries".^[25]

• 
  Geometric Kufic sample (

  Surah 112, al-Ikhlas or "The Surah of Monotheism", of the Quran), read clockwise, starting at bottom left (begins with the Basmala

  )
• 
  Geometric Kufic from the Bou Inania Madrasa (Meknes); the text reads: بركة محمد or barakat muḥammad, i.e. "Muhammad's blessing".
• 
  Another example of geometric or square Kufic script, showing four instances of the name Muhammad (in black) and four times Ali (in white); often used as a tilework pattern in Islamic architecture
• 
  Arabic text of the

  minarets
• 
  Banna'i on a minaret – a repetitive pattern of square Kufic inscriptions
• 
  ("Allah") in red centred on the white band and the takbir written 11 times each in the Square Kufic script in white, at the bottom of the green and the top of the red band.

In recent years, this calligraphy form has been receiving more popularity for use in ornaments (such as in decorated clocks, frames, stickers), logos (that usually implies Islamic enterprises in government and private sectors), and even in freestyle Arabic calligraphy competitions. There has been a disciplined approach of creating Square Kufic calligraphy. This controlled method of creation preserved basic and accurate features of Arabic letters with few compromises, if any. A finished work can then be qualitatively judged rather than only appreciated as an abstract piece.

Configurations

While there are no restrictions to formats that Square Kufic should be written in, Square Kufic can be categorized into three most commonly used configurations.

Free Flow

The normal writing format using pixelated Arabic font. The overall shape is not limited by any shape or boundary. Although this configuration is straight forward, it is not used for most Square Kufic-related work, due to its less aesthetic appearance relative to the other configurations.

Free flow is mainly used as baseline before developed into more sophisticated configurations.

Linear

Just like free flow, the writing goes from right to left but within a justified height that conforms into a continuous rectangle. The letters including their respective dots must only leave 1 pixel apart from each other.

Linear is preferred to write long scriptures such as Quranic verses along the interior perimeter or broken into lines elegantly against mosque walls.

Spiral

While the name suggests a

1. Spiral has a minimum of two and up to four datums; linear only has a single datum, and
2. Spiral allows letters to integrate at each corner of adjacent datums and across lines, and is only bounded by their outermost perimeter; linear letters maintain their original height even if they are warped into a spiral.

This configuration is used as a design centerpiece in buildings for shorter scriptures, name design commissions, and logos.

Other

Square Kufic calligraphy is by no means limited to the above configurations. There are many forms that are creative iterations or independent from these formats.

Gallery

Kufic script in Qurans

• 
  Page from a Qur'an in Kufic style, 8th century (Surah 15: 67–74)
• 
  Kufic script from

  an early Qur'an manuscript

  , 8th-9th century (Surah 7: 86–87)
• 
  Manuscript of the

  Surat Maryam

  of the Qur'an; Kufic script on gazelle skin, 9th century (Surah 19: 83–86)
• 
  The leaves from this Qur'an written in gold and contoured with brown ink have a horizontal format (9th century).
• 
  Folio of a

  Qur'an in Kufic style, ink, color and gold, 11th century, Iran

  (Surah 92: 1–5)
• 
  Bifolio of Surat Al-An'am in the "Nurse’s Quran" (مصحف الحاضنة), commissioned by a patron named Fatima under the Zirid Dynasty in the early 11th century^[27]
• 
  Abbasid Quran, Persia, late 11th / early 12th century

Kufic script elsewhere

• 
  Bowl with Kufic Inscription, 9th century – Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Bowl with Kufic calligraphy, 10th century – Brooklyn Museum
• 
  Bowl with Kufic calligraphy, 10th century – Khalili Collection of Islamic Art
• 
  11th-century gold Fatimid armlet, inscribed with good wishes in the Kufic script (Syria)
• 
  Kufic alphabet, from

  Fry's Pantographia

  (1799)
• 
  Almoravid Kufic adorning the Minbar of the Kutubiyya Mosque
• 
  Inscription in Kufic (743). The Walters Art Museum.
• 
  Drawing of an inscription of Basmala in Kufic script, 9th century. The original is in the Islamic Museum in Cairo (Inventar-Nr. 7853).
• 
  The flag of Iraq (2008)

Typefaces

Google Fonts:

• Noto Kufi Arabic^[28]
• Changa^[29]
• Reem Kufi^[30]
• Qahiri^[31]
• Cairo^[32]
• Almarai^[33]
• Mada^[34]
• Kufam^[35]

Windows:

• Andalus^[36]

iOS:

• Diwan Kufi^[37]

Sample text from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, article 1:

See also

• Ancient North Arabian script
• Ancient South Arabian script
• Hijazi script
• Maghrebi script
• Mashq script
• Muhaqqaq
• Naskh
• Nine-fold seal script (Chinese analogue to square kufic)
• Persian calligraphy
• Rayhan
• Tawqi
• Thuluth

Citations

General references

• Kosack, Wolfgang: Islamische Schriftkunst des Kufischen. Geometrisches Kufi in 593 Schriftbeispielen. Deutsch – Kufi – Arabisch. Christoph Brunner, Basel 2014,
  ISBN 978-3-906206-10-3
  .
• Mack, Rosamond E. Bazaar to Piazza: Islamic Trade and Italian Art, 1300–1600, University of California Press, 2001,
  ISBN 0-520-22131-1

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Kufic style.

• Square Kufic lectures: alphabet (stylized), examples, square designs
• Kufic manuscript alphabet
• On the Origins of the Kufic Script
• Kufic Script
• Square Kufic Script
• Square Kufic
• Square Kufic explained