Introduction to Qur'anic Script — Page 1
INTRODUCTION The splendour of the Qur'anic script and its graphic economy are the two remarkable features which distinguish it from any other script in the world. These very features daunt an admirer and discourage a non-Arab from learning it. An antiquated system of teaching has made the task much more formidable. The art of Qur'anic calligraphy which occupies the central place in Muslim visual culture has declined with the spread of printing and universal education. The invention of movable type effectively killed this art, and all too often the printed text of the Qur'an lacked both splendour and legibility. In recent years, however, the art of writing and printing the Qur'an has undergone a revolutionary change. The style of writing known as Nasfs!1 has been especially developed with emphasis on easy and correct reading rather than beauty. This Qur'anic Naskh is now a basi cally functional style of writing that presents a minimum of difficulty to the reader. The method of teaching the Arabic script has neither kept pace with the development of the Qur'anic Naskh, nor with progress in linguistics. A new script cannot be learnt in a vacuum; it is best studied within the framework of its language. An educated adult learner requires something more than motivation to sustain interest in the study of an exotic script. The emphasis in this book is therefore on the Qur'anic word in its original context and not on the isolated form of the letters of the alphabet. The learner is not required to master the whole alphabet and its vowel system before he proceeds to read isolated words. The first lesson in introduces only four letters of the alphabet and one vowel sign, but in doing so it also teaches four Arabic words. Since Arabic is based on a triliteral verb. the learner is also led to this central 1