ALEX KRZYSTON
Famous Quotes
ALEXANDER KRZYSTON ALEXANDER J KRZYSTON ALEX JAMES KRZYSTON
ALEX KRZYSTON ALEX J KRZYSTON ALEXANDER JAMES KRZYSTON
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY EVANSTON BURR RIDGE
In the tenth century, Arabic writing underwent a major transformation. Arabic script became more legible as it became easier to distinguish between letters. As result of this change in writing, “beautiful writing” took on a new meaning. In Baghdad, a major center of these changes, “beautiful writing” was that which was fluid and delicate, as oppose to the highly geometric, angular style of Kufic.
The Qur’an of ‘Amajur and al-Bawwab’s Qur’an exemplify this change in writing and new perspective of beauty during the tenth-century. The folio pages in the Qur’an of ‘Amajur are horizontal. Overall, the letters take on a geometric form and there is little distinction between letters. All the letters rise from the baseline. The script is very angular and straight . The stroke is bold, heavy, and even. As a result of the thick line, the eyes of some of the letters are very small. The ductus is deliberate and slow which is reflective of the even stroke. The spacing in Kufic is very unique. While the spacing between groups of letters is very even, the spacing between letters and words is not. To account for the space, and ensure each line is even, there is a high degree of mashq. The use of mashq makes the script difficult to read because the letters are not all uniform. The lack of diacritic marks also adds to the illegibility, making it difficult to differentiate between letters. However, there are vowel markers, in red. Because it is so difficult to read, there are very few words on the folio page, as a result, the Qur’an of ‘Amajur was very thick making it difficult and awkward to use. Some Qur’ans written in Kufic had to be split up into separate volumes. The text is the sole thing on the folio page; there is nothing to distract from the Word of God. The area of the text is proportional to the empty space on the page. The system of the proportions does not end there, the letters themselves are written in accordance with a system of proportions based on the width of the pen stroke; this system is revealed in the use of interlines .
In contrast to the Qur’an of Amajur, Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an is much easier to read, “the script [was] clearer, more cursive, and more elegant” (Tabbaa 130). The ductus is much faster. In addition, the stroke is thinner and rounded as oppose to angular . Unlike in Kufic, the stroke is uneven, varying in thickness, which makes it less geometric and more fluid. Because the script is so fluid and thinner, the pages are more compact because words can fit on a page. The spacing, unlike in the Qur’an of Amajur, is even between letters, groups of letters, and words. The pages are vertically oriented and there is much more writing on each one. This is reflective of the fact that the script is more legible. The increased legibility is due to the fact that the letters are easier to distinguish between. Both vowel and diacritic marks, in the form on slashes and dots, are used making it easier to differentiate between the letters. There is also a lack of mashq, making all of the letters uniform. In this Qur’an, the text is not the only thing on the page. Like the Qur’an of Amajur, Ibn al-Bawwab based his Qur’an on a system of proportions. In contrast to the Qur’an of Amajur, the system is not based on the width of the pen stroke, but is based on the length of the alif. In this system, the length of the alif becomes the diameter of a circle, for which all other letters are formed. There are also illuminations in vegetal and geometric motifs as well of colophons, and markers to mark the verse of the Qur’an. None of these features were present in the Qur’an of Amajur.
The new definition of “beautiful writing” used in the al-Bawwab’s Qur’an is described in Tawhidi’s “Treatise.” In his “Treatise,” Tawhidi says that handwriting is “perfected by tahwik (‘encircling’) [which]means rounding front, middle, and tail […] so as to provide those letters with elegance and to increase their comeliness,” (5). Script is “embellished by tahdik (‘making eyeballs’),” the thin stroke makes possible the “perfect execution” of “wide-open eyeballs” (5). The increase legibility is also brought up as tanmik which refers to “writing all letters in a neat fashion”(6). This neatness allows for the increased number of words on a page which Tawhidi refers to as “forcefully compact writing” (8). The fluidity of writing due to the uneven stroke is related to what Tawhidi refers to as tadkik (‘exactness’) which “means demarcating the tails of the letters, by lettings one’s had go” (6). This is especially prominent in the letters zaay and raa. Tawhidi also brings up the idea of mashq. He says that “the constant application of mashk means an uninterrupted movement with a disregarded for the right proportions” (7). The script used in al-Bawwab’s Qur’an was highly proportioned and mashq was not applied. The proportion of the script is also brought up in other areas. Tawhidi refers to tashkik which refers to writing letters so that “their proportion and equilibrium us preserved, for correctness and elegance of shape depend on both proportion and equilibrium” (6). Finally, the fluidity of the script is commented on by al-Zuhri, who says that “he who has […] learned to connect two letters, then three, then four, and so on, to the ultimate number of connected letters are found in words,” (8). These are the key attributes of the script of Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an that Tawhidi describes in his “Treaties.”
NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY EVANSTON BURR RIDGE
 |
| Alex Krzyston |
In the tenth century, Arabic writing underwent a major transformation. Arabic script became more legible as it became easier to distinguish between letters. As result of this change in writing, “beautiful writing” took on a new meaning. In Baghdad, a major center of these changes, “beautiful writing” was that which was fluid and delicate, as oppose to the highly geometric, angular style of Kufic.
The Qur’an of ‘Amajur and al-Bawwab’s Qur’an exemplify this change in writing and new perspective of beauty during the tenth-century. The folio pages in the Qur’an of ‘Amajur are horizontal. Overall, the letters take on a geometric form and there is little distinction between letters. All the letters rise from the baseline. The script is very angular and straight . The stroke is bold, heavy, and even. As a result of the thick line, the eyes of some of the letters are very small. The ductus is deliberate and slow which is reflective of the even stroke. The spacing in Kufic is very unique. While the spacing between groups of letters is very even, the spacing between letters and words is not. To account for the space, and ensure each line is even, there is a high degree of mashq. The use of mashq makes the script difficult to read because the letters are not all uniform. The lack of diacritic marks also adds to the illegibility, making it difficult to differentiate between letters. However, there are vowel markers, in red. Because it is so difficult to read, there are very few words on the folio page, as a result, the Qur’an of ‘Amajur was very thick making it difficult and awkward to use. Some Qur’ans written in Kufic had to be split up into separate volumes. The text is the sole thing on the folio page; there is nothing to distract from the Word of God. The area of the text is proportional to the empty space on the page. The system of the proportions does not end there, the letters themselves are written in accordance with a system of proportions based on the width of the pen stroke; this system is revealed in the use of interlines .
In contrast to the Qur’an of Amajur, Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an is much easier to read, “the script [was] clearer, more cursive, and more elegant” (Tabbaa 130). The ductus is much faster. In addition, the stroke is thinner and rounded as oppose to angular . Unlike in Kufic, the stroke is uneven, varying in thickness, which makes it less geometric and more fluid. Because the script is so fluid and thinner, the pages are more compact because words can fit on a page. The spacing, unlike in the Qur’an of Amajur, is even between letters, groups of letters, and words. The pages are vertically oriented and there is much more writing on each one. This is reflective of the fact that the script is more legible. The increased legibility is due to the fact that the letters are easier to distinguish between. Both vowel and diacritic marks, in the form on slashes and dots, are used making it easier to differentiate between the letters. There is also a lack of mashq, making all of the letters uniform. In this Qur’an, the text is not the only thing on the page. Like the Qur’an of Amajur, Ibn al-Bawwab based his Qur’an on a system of proportions. In contrast to the Qur’an of Amajur, the system is not based on the width of the pen stroke, but is based on the length of the alif. In this system, the length of the alif becomes the diameter of a circle, for which all other letters are formed. There are also illuminations in vegetal and geometric motifs as well of colophons, and markers to mark the verse of the Qur’an. None of these features were present in the Qur’an of Amajur.
The new definition of “beautiful writing” used in the al-Bawwab’s Qur’an is described in Tawhidi’s “Treatise.” In his “Treatise,” Tawhidi says that handwriting is “perfected by tahwik (‘encircling’) [which]means rounding front, middle, and tail […] so as to provide those letters with elegance and to increase their comeliness,” (5). Script is “embellished by tahdik (‘making eyeballs’),” the thin stroke makes possible the “perfect execution” of “wide-open eyeballs” (5). The increase legibility is also brought up as tanmik which refers to “writing all letters in a neat fashion”(6). This neatness allows for the increased number of words on a page which Tawhidi refers to as “forcefully compact writing” (8). The fluidity of writing due to the uneven stroke is related to what Tawhidi refers to as tadkik (‘exactness’) which “means demarcating the tails of the letters, by lettings one’s had go” (6). This is especially prominent in the letters zaay and raa. Tawhidi also brings up the idea of mashq. He says that “the constant application of mashk means an uninterrupted movement with a disregarded for the right proportions” (7). The script used in al-Bawwab’s Qur’an was highly proportioned and mashq was not applied. The proportion of the script is also brought up in other areas. Tawhidi refers to tashkik which refers to writing letters so that “their proportion and equilibrium us preserved, for correctness and elegance of shape depend on both proportion and equilibrium” (6). Finally, the fluidity of the script is commented on by al-Zuhri, who says that “he who has […] learned to connect two letters, then three, then four, and so on, to the ultimate number of connected letters are found in words,” (8). These are the key attributes of the script of Ibn al-Bawwab’s Qur’an that Tawhidi describes in his “Treaties.”
