Kufic
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The Kufic script is a style of Arabic script that gained prominence early on as a preferred script for Quran transcription and architectural decoration, and it has since become a reference and an archetype for a number of other Arabic scripts. It developed from the Arabic alphabet in the city of Kufa, from which its name is derived. Kufic is characterized by angular, rectilinear letterforms and its horizontal orientation. There are many different versions of Kufic, such as square Kufic, floriated Kufic, knotted Kufic, and others. The artistic styling of Kufic led to its use in a non-Arabic context in Europe, as decoration on architecture, known as pseudo-Kufic.
The classical Kufic script of the Blue Quran.
Kufic script, 8th or 9th century (Surah 48: 27–28), Quran
Hafsids with ornamental Kufic, Bougie, Algeria, 1249–1276
Geometric Kufic from the Bou Inania Madrasa (Meknes); the text reads: بركة محمد or barakat muḥammad, i.e. "Muhammad's blessing".
Islamic calligraphy
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Islamic calligraphy is the artistic practice of handwriting and calligraphy, in the languages which use Arabic alphabet or the alphabets derived from it. It includes Arabic, Persian, Ottoman, and Urdu calligraphy. It is known in Arabic as khatt Arabi, which translates into Arabic line, design, or construction.
The Surah "Al-Isra'" copied by the 13th century calligrapher Yaqut al-Musta'simi in Muhaqqaq script with Kufic incidentals.
9th century Qur'an, an early kufic example from the Abbasid period
Bowl with Kufic Calligraphy, 10th century. Brooklyn Museum
Muraqqa script by Mehmed Şevkî Efendi of the two intro pages of the Quran