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Hi anon! I’m sorry for the delay in response. I hope this will be helpful.

I’m going to give you a quick introduction about the Arabic Calligraphy in general, then I will also talk briefly about the difference between the 6 styles and show you some examples of each one of them.

I will also provide some references to study them and some tips on how to pick the correct book to study more if you’re interested to learn more about them.

General note about Arabic Calligraphy الخط العربي [audio]

The word خط  has so many meanings, which is why I was having some difficulties translating it.

I used several words to refer to it; it can mean handwriting, calligraphy in general or it can be used to refer to a certain type of Arabic calligraphic cursive style, but all these words are translated to the wordخط in Arabic.

But here, I won’t be talking about hand writings for individuals, I will talk about the Arabic Calligraphy and its various cursive styles, which is an art and it follows strict and specific rules. The person who masters the different Arabic Calligraphic Cursive styles is called a calligrapher خَطّاط.

There are 6 main calligraphy cursive styles from which other cursive styles were derived. Some of these Arabic Calligraphy Cursive styles have variations too, and some of the new Calligraphy Cursive Styles are a mix of two styles or more. These styles are used as a type of art even nowadays, and we can see them present in Islamic Architecture.

These styles need a specific type of pencil and ink to write them, but some people use specific markers as well, although the traditional pencils and ink are preferable.

The six main Calligraphic Cursive styles (الخطوط العربية) are: Kufi, Naskh, Diwani, Farisi, Thuluth and Ruqa’aa.

[audio]الخط الكوفي Kūfi Calligraphic cursive style

It’s the oldest Arabic calligraphic cursive styles. Its name is derived from the city of “Kūfa” in Iraq, which is the region in which it originated. It dates back to the 2nd Century of the Hijri calendar (corresponds to the 12th century AD in the Gregorian calendar).

It’s one of the most beautiful styles; however it needs a lot of writing space, and it has so many angles and straight lines which means that the artist would need to rely on a ruler and certain measurements.

It was widely used in Egypt, in the era of Fatimid Caliphate.

Examples:

Some variations of this font:

Naskh Calligraphic cursive style خط النسخ [audio]

The word Naskh means “to copy”, and as the name suggests, it was used widely in copying books and manuscripts because it was simple to write and it was easy to read. It appeared during the Abbasid Caliphate Dynasty.

This script can also be found on the internet, in newspapers, and in books.

Even nowadays, it is still the most widely used font, and it’s what I suggest that beginners in calligraphy start with.

Examples:

Ruqa’aa Calligraphic cursive style خط الرقعة [audio]

One of the easiest styles to write, and it doesn’t have too many rules which is why it is widely used as the style for handwriting by students in schools for examples and in and handwritten correspondence in many Arabic Speaking countries (especially in the Levaint and Egypt). It is used sometimes in printed documents.

As mentioned before, Ruqa’a style is considerably easy and fast to write, and most of it is written on the line. It doesn’t need a lot of writing space. The reason why it is called “Ruqa’a”is because it was written in small  (رقاع ), which means rags and small pieces of paper, and the name Ruqa’a is derived from the word رُقاع.  

It is the only cursive style that has remained the same and wasn’t used by the calligraphers to derive new writing style from it.

Examples:

Notice how the words are flowing, the letters are written in a way to make the writing very quick and easy, compare the letter س  in Ruqa’aa calligraphy cursive style and the Naskh for example. Try to take a look at the letter ث  too, and the dots in general.

Thuluth Calligraphic cursive style خط الثلث [audio]

Thuluth is one of the most difficult calligraphic cursive styles to master, and it takes a lot of time to write, and the calligrapher needs to be extremely accurate to make sure they don’t make any mistakes because it follows a lot of strict rules.  Because of its difficulty, a calligrapher does not quality as one unless he has mastered it, and it needs years and years of studying and practice to be able to master it.

Thuluth has some variations, and it is used in Islamic Architecture, like in mosques for example and in the beginnings of Mus-hafs (a copy of the Quraan). It is also used as newspaper headers and in some books or in praying rooms.

The meaning of the word Thuluth is “a third” and it was named like that because the edge of the pencil that is used for Thuluth is cut into one third (1/3) of the radius of the pencil.

Example:

Diwani Calligraphic cursive style الخط الديواني [audio]

The word Diwan means council, and this cursive style was named that way because it was vastly used by the writers of Offiicial Government Diwans in the Ottoman Empire.

It’s a very beautiful cursive style, and it’s pretty flexible. The words are written on the same line.The sentences written in Diwani style were very jammed and have little space between them, this complication was intended because it does not allow anyone to alter the official documents by adding a single letter. Credit goes to the calligrapher Mustafa Ghazlan for making this cursive style easier to read and leaving more space between the words and sentences.

Example:

Farisi Calligraphic cursive style الخط الفارسي [audio]

The word Farisi means Persian, which is the region in which this cursive style has originated in the 7thHirji Century (13th A.D.). This is the normal writing style in Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.It’s one of the most beautiful cursive styles and it’s very simple and easy to read. The rules of writings it is very flexible which allows the calligraphers to be creative when they write in it. It was many variations to it as well.

Example :

How to choose a good book to help you learn Arabic Calligraphy?

In my opinion, the best calligraphy books are the ones that have explanation to each individual letter to show you how each one is written in that specific cursive style, and that has space for you to practice writing it.

Take this page as an example:

I was able to get you some references to learn :

General references : [book 1], [book 2]

Naskh (excellent book) : [book]

For more practicing material, please check the book سلسلة العلا لتحسين الخط العربي by the calligraphy artist Dr. Ramadan Abdul Hadi [images of the book], it has books about Naskh and Ruqa’a.

Ruqa’a (excellent books) : [book], [book 2]

Kufi : [book]

Diwani : [book]

Farisi : [book]

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I’m sorry this turned out to be long, but Arabic Calligraphy is an Art and a very wide topic and I thought that it won’t be fair to speak briefly about it. I hope this was helpful, and if you have any questions let me know.

Sources :

http://mawdoo3.com/أنواع_الخطوط_العربية

http://mawdoo3.com/أنواع_الخطوط

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9veh0Vxp1o

http://genisoftindex.blogspot.com/2014/04/blog-post_23.html

http://www.damasgate.com/vb/t205701/

http://www.3refe.com/vb/archive/index.php/t-102588.html

https://www.raadyousif.com/2014/01/learn-arabic-calligraphy.html

For more e-books:

http://themar.ahlamontada.net/t9446-topic

Notes:

1-      A lot of the examples of the Calligraphy writings styles in the Arabic Calligraphy books used here are taken from the Holly Quran, so I ask you to please be respectful to these verses and not throw them away or do anything disrespectful. There are specific ways to dispose of these types of documents in a respectful way and I will be happy to elaborate and share this information with anyone who needs it.

2-      I will update with more books to learn Calligraphy as soon as I find them.