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Naskhi Style |
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Naskhi, which means "copying," was the cursive script commonly used by educated Muslims. It was one of the earliest scripts to develop.

Naskhi gained popularity after being redesigned by the famous calligrapher Ibn Muqla in the 10th century. Because of Ibn Muqla's
comprehensive system of proportion, naskhi style displayed a very rhythmic line. It was later reformed by Ibn al-Bawaab and others
into an elegant script worthy of the Qur'an. More Qur'ans have been written in naskhi than in any other script.
It is a small script that is usually written with short horizontal stems and with almost equal vertical depth above and below the medial
line. The curves are full and deep, the uprights straight and vertical, and the words generally well spaced. Naskhi is legible and clear,
and was used for ordinary correspondence and the production of literary works. It was adapted as the preferred style for typesetting and
printing.
It is thought that the last great master of naskhi script was the 18th century Persian calligrapher Mirza Ahmad Nayrizi. An example of
his work can be seen in a book of calligraphy on this site. Naskhi script can also be seen in a
Central Asian Qur'an, woven into a textile, inscribed on the metal surface of an inkwell, on two ceramic tiles and a 17th century manuscript.
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