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In Islam and Arabic cultures calligraphy is respected as one of the greatest arts and a symbol of unity and beauty. It is associated with the Islamic art on the walls and ceilings of mosques as well as on paper. Below is a list of the most popular styles of the Arabic calligraphy. Before you learn how to write in it, you may want to read about some types of Arabic calligraphy.

Kufi: the first Arabic calligraphy to gain popularity was the Kufic script, which would be the main script used to copy the Qur’an for three centuries.

Naskh: And then came the cursive Naskh script used mainly for casual writing, with refinement of its writing techniques it would come to be preferred to Kufic for copying the Qur’an. Almost all printed material in Arabic is in Naskh. And because it’s clearer and easier Naskh script is taught to children as the most common Arabic calligraphy.

Diwani: another style of the Arabic calligraphy is the Diwani script, which is in cursive style, As decorative as it is communicative, Diwani is distinguished by the complexity of the line within the letter and the close juxtaposition of the letters within the word.

Riqa: another script which evolved from Naskh and Thuluth, is Riqa’. Nowadays Riqa is the most popular and widely used script; it is also the preferred script for handwriting throughout the Arab world.

Ta’liq: a script also called Farsi, is an unpretentious cursive script, which was used extensively for copying Persian anthologies, miniatures, and other literary works. However it wasn’t used to copy the Qur’an, the holy book of Islam.

Thuluth: which means “one thirdâ€? took on the ornamental role formerly associated with the Kufic script. Thuluth has a strong cursive aspect and is usually written in ample curves. Although it is rarely used for writing the Holy Qur’an, it is considered the most important of all the ornamental scripts, used as a script for calligraphic inscriptions, titles, headings, and colophons.

Andalusi: a script usually found in walls and ceilings of mosques in Spain, Morocco and Mauritania, Andalusi or Andalus is a beautiful script that I will concentrate on more, by dedicating a separate page to help you write in this beautiful script.

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Article from :
http://arabic.speak7.com/arabic_calligraphy_introduction