{"id":1635,"date":"2019-11-08T13:28:03","date_gmt":"2019-11-08T12:28:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/calligraphie.adlania.net\/home\/"},"modified":"2024-06-27T18:34:44","modified_gmt":"2024-06-27T16:34:44","slug":"home","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/calligraphie.adlania.net\/en\/home\/","title":{"rendered":"Home"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

Arabic calligraphy<\/h2>\n<\/div><\/div>

In the interest of the preservation and transmission of the cultural and artistic heritage of Muslim civilization, the ADLANIA Foundation invites us to explore the world of Arabic writing from its origins to the present day.<\/p>\n

Arabic calligraphy has been included on UNESCO’s List of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity since December 14, 2021. This recognition as a major art, representative of the entire Muslim world, would certainly have been approved by the German poet Goethe (1789 \u2013 1832), he who affirmed, two centuries ago : \u201c No language other than Arabic has been blessed with such harmony between the soul, the word and calligraphy\u201d.<\/b><\/i><\/p>\n

Haloed with a sacred aura, its task is to make visible the eternal beauty of the Qur\u2019anic text by transmitting the message of the divine Word. Muslim copyists perfected this discipline with great rigor, calling it by its Arabic term khatt<\/i> (line, or stroke of the pen). <\/p>\n

This art, which is omnipresent in the visual landscape of early Islamic times, survives today as an uninterrupted tradition, handed down from one generation to the next.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

Sheikh Khaled Bentounes<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>
<\/div>

The history of writing<\/span><\/span><\/h2>

The history of writing, one of the pillars of human civilization, began approximately 14 centuries ago. Arabic writing has known a long process of evolution, developing from its primitive forms to its present-day form. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Genealogical tree of the evolution of different forms of writing before the common era.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

<\/div>

The written word and the sacred<\/span><\/span><\/h2>

In the year 653 A.D. the Caliph \u2018Uthman (574-656) unified the various texts of the Qur\u2019an in order to create a single official version (al-Mushaf al-\u2018Uthmani)<\/i>. As the Arabic language spread, calligraphy became a major component of Arabo-Muslim art, largely thanks to these early manuscripts of the Qur\u2019an. <\/p>\n

In the Islamic arts, Arabic calligraphy reaches far beyond its purely utilitarian or decorative function. It blossoms into a form of living expression and a means of contemplation. It transcends the mere juxtaposition of words or of artistic forms, thus revealing meaning, symbolism, and astonishment. Just like a piece of music, it awaits our interpretation, inciting and inviting us to read the vast book of our world and to understand the essence of the divine decree. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/a><\/div>

Stylized calligraphy in the form of a mosque<\/b>
\u201cAllah is almighty over all things.\u201d
1897, Style: Thuluth, Paper, 60,5 x 51,2 cm
ADLANIA Foundation, Manuscripts, MAN-480<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>

<\/div>

The Meccan and Medinan periods<\/span><\/span><\/h2>

(610-661)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>

From the beginning of the 7th<\/sup> century A.D. the Qur\u2019anic revelation was written down by a small group of scribes, including \u2018Ali ibn Abu Talib, \u2018Uthman ibn \u2018Affan, and other notable figures who made their mark on these early Meccan and Medinan periods. <\/span><\/p>\n

Women calligraphers participated actively in the learning and teaching of writing and other branches of knowledge. They were encouraged by
the Prophet to study, as did the Meccan woman Al-Shifa bint \u2018Abdullah al-Qurashiyah al-Adawiya (died 640) who was invited by the Prophet himself to be the teacher of his wife Hafsa (605-661).<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

The calligraphic style which emerged at the time, known as \u201cHijazi<\/i>\u201d, is recognizable by its generous and angular forms, with elongated letters whose vertical shafts lean to the right. This was the script that was most frequently used in copies of the Qur\u2019an at the time, as Ibn al-Nadim (died 990) testifies in his catalogue (Al-Fihrist<\/i>). <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>

Learn more<\/span><\/a><\/div><\/div><\/div>
\"\"<\/div><\/div>

Inscription from Wadi al-Chamiya
<\/b> (a few dozen kilometers north-east of Mecca)<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

<\/span><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/section>
<\/div>

The Umayyad period<\/span><\/span><\/h2>

(661-750)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>

The Umayyad period (661-750) witnessed the codification of the Hijazi<\/i> style of writing, as well as the emergence of the Kufic<\/i> style, frequently used for the Qur\u2019an itself or for the ornamentation of monuments. The Kufic school which elaborated this style was born in the 8th<\/sup> century under the influence of Hassan al-Basri (642-728). Kufic<\/i> writing is distinguished by its straight lines, angular forms, and the introduction of spaces between words. It achieved its apogee during the Abbasid period, with more than 70 variants. <\/p>\n<\/div>