Gallery of Arabic Calligraphy

السلام عليكم

Arabic Calligraphy, an ancient art form, came to prominence at the hands of very fine penmanship. The flourishing styles seen today are divided it seems, into such styles as: Naskh النسخ , Kufi الكوفي , Deewani الديواني , Riq'a الرقع , Thuluth الثلث , and with ongoing modern technologies it looks as though there are many more styles to come إن شاء الله

Use this space to upload posts of your favourite calligraphic pieces, state:

1) Who penned the artpiece
2) When it was created
3) What style it is in (and also what it says if the translation is available)

مع السلامة

Title: Al-Fatiha
Style: Unstated (ink and spray paint on paper)
Created: 2007
Artist: Unknown

Artist: Mouneer Al-Sharaani
Style: الثلث (Thuluth)
Created: Unstated (artist graduated fom the college of fine arts in Damascus, 1977)

These look very interesting.

A great idea for a post mA.

جراك الله خيراً

Title: Tughra (Signature) of Ottoman Sultan Mahmud II
Style: الثلث(Thuluth)
Created: between 1808 - 1839
Meaning: "Mahmud Khan son of Abdulhamid is forever victorious"



(The colours show in step by step, the expressive construction of the calligraphy)

Title: Shadda
Created: 1980
Artist: Ali Omar Emres

Artist: Hasan Massoudy (born 1944)
Title: هل جزاء الأحسن الا الأحسن
Translation: Is not the reward for goodness, goodness itself? (one of my favourite proverbs!)




Also by Hassan Massoudy:

Title: التسامح
Translation: Tolerance
My Review: Notice the colours are warm and calming, much like a soft sunset; the focus of the piece is set above the masses (like the sun), almost as if tolerance is sent and thus, descending upon mankind - or I see it as a 'real' act of tolerance ascending above the multitudes of smaller, perhaps hidden or unnoticed acts of mercy...(And on that note, May Allah increase everyone for all the good that they do, seen and unseen - آمين)



If you would like to see more of Massoudy's work, visit:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/hassan.massoudy/galerie.htm

Arabic Calligraphy inspired Graffitti
Atrist: Anonymous
Location: Montreal, Canada

Artist: Psuedonym - Don Qasim
Origin: Greek
Art piece: Looks to be the letters م and ل overlayed into a heart shape. Personally, I prefer the authentic touch rather than an electronically perfected image, I would have definately appreciated it more had the same image been rendered by hand

Arabic Calligraphy in doorway
Location: Qutab Minar, Delhi, India
Notice how the ا looks like an upside-down thin triangle, the pattern carries on throughout...

Check this out, I really like it! ما شاء الله
The floral designs at the top, almost leaf-like with elegant thin stems, remind me of henna patterns. If you look from far enough, its almost like an upright majestic gate!
Unfortunately, the piece didn't show any information, shame really...

Art piece reads: 'and which of the favours of your Lord will you deny'
Penman: Mahrukh Rehan
Created: 13, January 2008



I really love this piece, the freehand plant structure really caught my eye ما شاء الله

Style: كُوفِي
Name: 'Arabic Scroll'
Photographer: Shai
Created: November, 26 - 2006



Ooh, I can't help but admire the contemporary aesthetic that the purple tint brings! The picture was taken with a macro lens camera...

The Kufic Script
Kufic script is a heavily thick structured Arabic script suited to stone carving and clay sculpture. The style also appears in the earliest surviving manuscripts of the Qur'an. I believe sometimes, the distiguishing marks over the letters (حركات) are sometimes painted in red, and the gold decoration between chapters contrast vividly with the heavy black print. During the ruling of the Seljuk, a more cursive flowing Naskh script, developed. The two styles are still often used for contrast in architecture and different decorative contexts.

السلام عليكم


If you think this style looks out of this world, then check out the Bismillah collection of Muiz's Calligraphy:

I particularly like the vibrant orange with the flowery vertical style..reminds me of henna designs...

http://www.muiz.co.uk/microsite/BismillahCollection.aspx

مع السلامة

Penman: Khaleelullah Chemnad
Style: Anatomic Calligraphy
Title: Allah (The artist has drawn the name of Allah in 99 different styles; this is the 5th one, and really caught my eye as the writing is in the form of a fountain pen nib).



The artist has his own website: www.worldofcalligraphy.com

Calligraphy outside a person's home.
Photography by: B. vashar



I really love the style of this Calligraphy. The cursive pattern and almost vine-like design up the wall. The brushstrokes are visible as well; they are not in block colour.

Title: Al mouflehoon
Calligrapher: Ahmed Khandil
Created: October 2006



Isn't really my style, but nonetheless it's vibrant and the abstract style is captured really well. Anyone else think so?

If you would like to see more of Massoudy's work, visit:

http://pagesperso-orange.fr/hassan.massoudy/galerie.htm

Artist: Dr. Ahmed Moustafa
'Frolicking horses'


'The cube of Cubes.'


'The Falcon.'


These are some of the most amazing works from one of my biggest inspirations. He has truly mixed
the art of expression and divine symmetry. The works are hand-painted, sometimes commissioned
by royals and often take months to complete. Dr. Moustafa runs the fe-noon institute.