KUFIC SCRIPT

AUthor: Asef Fekrat
Publisher: Kian Ketab
Tehran, Iran, 1998

Introduction:Kufic Script is directly derived from Hijazi Script, whose origin may in order be traced to Hirian, Nebtian, Anbarian, and etc.
Here we do not intend to examine the different views about the exact source and origin of the Kufic Script, and find the integrity of our investigation concerning this subject, which has hitherto been studied by many competent researchers. An analytic-descriptive definition of Kufic Script will be explained as an introduction to theme propounded in this work.
The available petrographs and existing documents, which belong to the first century (AH), indicates that in different kinds irregular arabesque writing Naskh and Kufic scripts have been carelessly used, and no rule or method was officially proposed to follow.





The objective has only been restricted to recording of the written materials and their concepts without paying attention to the elegance and artistic issues, which would have enriched those handwritings.
Such samples can be found in some available inscriptions on stones and in a few documents as well. But when calligraphy was employed in the service of the religion of Islam for the purpose of writing and recording holy Qur’anic verses, it entirely got changed and gradually paced at the path of perfection from viewpoint and aspect of art and elegance.
The first style of the Islamic writing in which the manifestation of art, delicacy and beauty are explicitly evident, is that of Kufic Script. As this very handwriting is said to have been developed in the city of Kufa, so it is called Kufic. The invention or innovation of this script has been ascribed to His Holiness Ali( A.S.).
During the first three centuries(A.H.), the Glorious Qu’ran was practically written and recorded with Kufic Script, while calligraphers of every land used to use there personal style and taste in this sort of handwriting. The nibs of their pens might have been different from one another, or tendency of vertical ribs of the letters towards left and right sides together with some other invented differences exerted in the chosen letters might have characterized the style and place of writing. Thus, various ways of inscribing letters like those of Kufic, Madani, Basri, Shami( Syrian), and Maghrebi scripts came to existence.
In spite of these differences so long as using the Kufic Script uses practically restricted to the Arabian Peninsula, no significant changes appeared in the original forms of this handwriting.
In fact Kufic Script can be known as the first and earliest calligraphy used in writing many copies of the Glorious Qur’an, which are still found here and there in every part of today’s world.
“E’rab” and “E’jam” ( sounds and point of vowels):
The early Kufic Script did not have any signs to display the correct pronunciation of words. Even dots were not used on or under the letters. However, in the course of time, signs for pronouncing vowels gradually appeared. Abul-Aswad- Doeli (688 AD) has been known as the first scribe who used such signs.


In the available copies, written in Kufic Script, cinnabar circles are more or less contiguous to the Arabic letters to show the proper sound of the desired pronunciation. Dots and points (E’jam) can bee seen in the following copies within our reach.
Signs for eloquent reciting Qur’nic Verses later appeared based on Choice and Convention of readers or Scribes of the Holy Qur’an. With the advent of Ibn-e- Moqla ( 328 AH) and Ibn-e- Bawwab (413 AH) the Kufic Script was no more used by the Arab calligraphers, and it was replaced by other scripts like Thulth, Raihan, Muhaqaq, and Naskh.
Thence the Arab Scribes only used Kufic Script in writing the rubrics of the Qur’anic Chapters and on the margins, which were mostly as decorative designs consisting of ceruse or gold work traces done on azure background.
In non-Arab Muslim lands, the use of Kufic script was not practically restricted to this aspect or dimension; instead in the course of time, it got evolution and was used in inscribing many epigraphs and writing books in a vast area stretching between the borders of China and Spain.
At the present time and era the Piramuz Kufic script has greatly acquired reputation as an eastern or Iranian Script. This form or style of writing is indeed beautiful from viewpoints of its elegant characteristics such as having regular separations between the related letters which make words.
In order to avoid spending much time for and on writing, the calligraphers gradually gave up the method or style of using separate letters in putting down a singl word; thus, new letters were regularly joined like those of Kufic or other words inscribed.
Although such a style of writing has been relatively transformed in the course of time, taking new kinds and shapes, and being used in different lands, ruled by different governments, yet it is still known as the eastern or Iranian Kufic Script. Large numbers of the copies of the Glorious Qur’an and too many books, written or printed in Farsi (Persian), as well as various manuscripts are, at present, available here and there in different libraries founded and found all over the world.
The reason of the long prevalence and vast circulation of this style of writing lies in its easy quality of being either written or read.
Having been use in the service of writing the Holy Qur’anic verses, different kinds of the Kufic Script became as sacred phenomenon and got a holy aspect. The calligraphers tried to create as more beautiful and charming letters and words as possible in innovative handwritings.
Thus, those skilled and tactful scribes and calligraphers carefully prepared many elegant and exquisite copies of the Glorious Qur’an.
It is worth mentioning here that various sorts of artistic symbols introduced natural things or manmade objects were used and observable in those sacred letters and words. The present description of the above-mentioned works cannot quench the thirst of those who may seize the opportunity of witnessing such beautiful copies and holy manuscripts with their own eyes. One can enjoy one’s time by watching for hours or even for days in appropriate occasions.
Despite the existence and availability of various copies of the Glorious Qur’an in different Kufic Scripts, preserved in authentic libraries, all over the world, it should undoubtedly be admitted that a large number of these beautiful and matchless copies are, at present, preserved and on display in the Astan Quds Library, in Mashad.
I have had the opportunity and the luck of witnessing such interesting collection for many years.
Having been used in architectural designs on the basis and tastes in the fashion of every land or vogue of time, the Kufic Script has been chronologically changed from viewpoint of its shape, style and inscription. The decorative design of this script can bee seen on some pillars, minarets, porches, and on the walls of palaces. These decoration have been either done through plaster-moldings or by stone-carvings. Some ingenious craftsmen or artisans have successfully shown their artistic creations concerning Kufic Script in fine and multicolored glayed tiles and sorted out bricks. The history of this covers a long period of 1000 years. In short one has to try much to discover the mysterious beauty and elegance of the different decorative designs skillfully used in presenting the Kufic script here and there in different objects and instances.
The manifestation of such Eslimi beauties has been spread from Al- Hamra Palace in Spain to the ruins of the Victory Garden in Ghazna. Reports and records have been hitherto prepared on these relics by the experts of calligraphy and graphology. Many of the examples found in the present collection have been given on the basis of such inscriptions.
M. Asef Fekrat
Mashad,
1998