Ibn Muqla's six calligraphic styles
Seis estilos caligráficos de Ibn Muqla
- Date
- c. 930 · confidence medium
- Place
- Baghdad, Iraq
- Credited to
- Ibn Muqla
- Field
- Knowledge & symbols
⚠️ Disputed: the sources disagree.
What it is
A vizier and calligrapher who fixed the proportions of Arabic letters with rhombic dots and circles, and codified six styles (thuluth, naskh, muhaqqaq, rayhani, riqa' and tawqi'). He laid the foundations of classical Arabic calligraphy.
Although tradition calls him the inventor of naskh, the styles existed earlier; his contributions were systematisation and proportion.
What it led to
- naskh as the copying script for the Qur'an and books
- refinement by Ibn al-Bawwab and Yaqut al-Mustasimi
- Ottoman and Persian calligraphic traditions