Muhaqqaq

Muhaqqaq is one of the main six types of calligraphic script in Arabic.[1] The Arabic word muḥaqqaq (محقَّق) means "consummate" or "clear", and originally was used to denote any accomplished piece of calligraphy.[2]

Often used to copy maṣāḥif (singular muṣḥaf, i.e. loose sheets of Quran texts), this intricate type of script was considered one of the most beautiful, as well as one of the most difficult to execute well.[3] The script saw its greatest use in the Mameluk era (1250–1516/1517).[4]

In the Ottoman Empire, it was gradually displaced by Thuluth and Naskh; from the 18th century onward, its use was largely restricted to the Basmala in Hilyas.[5]

  1. ^ John F. A. Sawyer, J. M. Y. Simpson, R. E. Asher (eds.), Concise Encyclopedia of Language and Religion, Elsevier, New York 2001, ISBN 0-08-043167-4, p. 253.
  2. ^ Mansour, 139–140.
  3. ^ Mansour, 30.
  4. ^ Mansour, 278
  5. ^ Mansour, 187.