# Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition

> A visual system shared across the Islamic world in which proportioned calligraphy, compass-and-straightedge geometry and the vegetal arabesque carry meaning and beauty in place of figurative imagery. Star-and-polygon tilings repeat across whole surfaces as if continuing beyond the frame, while Kufic, Thuluth and Naskh inscriptions give hierarchy to buildings, manuscripts and objects.

- Period: c. 690–present
- Where: Middle East & North Africa, South Asia, Southern Europe
- Origin: Umayyad Jerusalem and Damascus; developed in Baghdad, Cairo, Isfahan, Istanbul, Granada and Delhi
- Branch: Traditions & vernacular
- Also known as: Islamic ornament, Arabesque & girih, Khatt (Arabic calligraphy)
- Page: https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric/

## Use it with care

Qur'anic verses, the names of God and the Prophet and other sacred phrases must not be cropped, distorted, mirrored, used as texture or printed on floors, footwear or throwaway packaging; have any Arabic-script text read and approved by a fluent reader or calligrapher. Abstract geometric pattern is far less sensitive than script, but credit the traditions and makers it comes from.

## How it works

- Construct patterns with compass and straightedge from a circle divided into equal parts, then extend them into a repeating star-and-polygon tiling.
- Fill the whole surface edge to edge with a continuous repeat that implies infinite extension beyond the frame.
- Let script carry meaning and hierarchy: monumental Kufic or Thuluth bands for inscriptions, proportioned Naskh for reading text.
- Interlace strapwork so lines pass alternately over and under, and fill the interstices with arabesque scrolls.
- Contain text in cartouches, medallions and bordered panels, marking divisions with gold and lapis illumination.
- Keep sacred contexts aniconic: express the sacred through geometry, script and light rather than figures.

## Its design choices

Defining choices make the style, characteristic ones are usual, occasional ones turn up now and then.

### Layout & composition
- [All-over field](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/all-over-field/) (defining)
- [Central symmetry](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/central-symmetry/) (defining)
- [Radial & concentric](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/radial-and-concentric/) (characteristic)
- [Framed panels](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/framed-panels/) (characteristic)

### Space & hierarchy
- [Repetition & rhythm](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/repetition-and-rhythm/) (defining)
- [Horror vacui](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/horror-vacui/) (characteristic)
- [Flat hierarchy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-hierarchy/) (occasional)

### Typography
- [Brush & pen calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/brush-and-pen-calligraphy/) (defining)
- [Type as image](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/type-as-image/) (characteristic)
- [Tight setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/tight-setting/) (occasional)
- [Rotated & vertical setting](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rotated-and-vertical-setting/) (occasional)

### Colour
- [Jewel & metallic](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/jewel-and-metallic/) (characteristic)
- [Full polychrome](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/full-polychrome/) (characteristic)
- [Flat fields](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat-fields/) (characteristic)
- [Limited spot colours](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/limited-spot-colours/) (occasional)

### Form & shape
- [Non-representational](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/non-representational/) (defining)
- [Geometric primitives](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-primitives/) (characteristic)
- [Biomorphic curves](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/biomorphic-curves/) (characteristic)
- [Angular & zigzag](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/angular-and-zigzag/) (occasional)
- [Rectilinear](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/rectilinear/) (occasional)

### Surface & texture
- [Flat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/flat/) (characteristic)

### Ornament
- [Geometric tessellation](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/geometric-tessellation/) (defining)
- [Abundant decoration](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/abundant-decoration/) (characteristic)
- [Floral & vegetal](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/floral-and-vegetal/) (characteristic)
- [Borders & frames](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/borders-and-frames/) (characteristic)
- [Emblems & badges](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/emblems-and-badges/) (occasional)

### Imagery
- [Pattern & repeat](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pattern-and-repeat/) (defining)
- [Typography only](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/typography-only/) (characteristic)

### Medium & production
- [Pen, brush & ink](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/pen-brush-and-ink/) (characteristic)
- [Architecture & signage](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/architecture-and-signage/) (characteristic)
- [Textile & craft](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/textile-and-craft/) (occasional)

### Tone & intent
- [Spiritual & sacred](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/spiritual-and-sacred/) (defining)
- [Calm & contemplative](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/calm-and-contemplative/) (characteristic)
- [Authoritative & institutional](https://stylogeny.com/design-choices/authoritative-and-institutional/) (occasional)

Avoids: Naturalistic depiction, Distortion & exaggeration, Illusion of depth, Dynamic asymmetry, Straight photography, Ornament-free

Palette: #1d3f8a, #2a9d9b, #c8a046, #f2e9d8, #1b1b1b, #a63d2f

Typefaces: Kufic (including square bannāʾī Kufic), Thuluth, Naskh, Nastaʿlīq, Maghribi, Dīwānī

Known for: Dome of the Rock, Jerusalem (691–92), mosaic inscriptions; Ibn Muqla (d. 940), proportioned scripts (al-khatt al-mansub); Ibn al-Bawwab Qur'an (1000–01, Chester Beatty Library); Alhambra, Granada (13th–14th c.), tilework and carved stucco; Darb-i Imam shrine, Isfahan (1453), girih tiling; Şeyh Hamdullah (Ottoman calligrapher, 1436–1520); Mir Emad al-Hasani (Nastaʿlīq master, d. 1615)

## Where it comes from, and what it’s close to

- Led to: [Maghrebi Script (Maghribi Calligraphy of al-Andalus and North Africa)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/maghrebi-script.md) (c. 900–present)
- Led to: [Square Kufic (Bannāʾī)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/square-kufic.md) (c. 1100–present)
- Led to: [Ottoman Tughra & Dîvânî Chancery Calligraphy](https://stylogeny.com/styles/ottoman-tughra-divani.md) (c. 1324–present)
- Led to: [Persian Nastaʿlīq Calligraphy (Qiṭʿa, Chalipa and Siyāh-mashq)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/persian-nastaliq.md) (c. 1400–present)
- Led to: [Zoomorphic & Figural Calligraphy (Islamic Calligrams)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/zoomorphic-calligraphy.md) (1500–present)
- Led to: [Bulaq (Amiriyya) Naskh Book Printing](https://stylogeny.com/styles/bulaq-naskh-printing.md) (1822–1956)
- Led to: [Urdu Katib Lithography](https://stylogeny.com/styles/urdu-katib-lithography.md) (1837–present)
- Led to: [Hurufiyya Calligraphic Modernism](https://stylogeny.com/styles/hurufiyya.md) (1949–present)
- Led to: [Madinah Mushaf (King Fahd Complex Qur'an Page)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/madinah-mushaf.md) (1985–present)
- Alike in its design choices: [Batik Pattern Tradition](https://stylogeny.com/styles/batik.md) (1600–present), 76% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Mongol Bichig Calligraphy & Ugalz Ornament](https://stylogeny.com/styles/mongol-bichig-ornament.md) (c. 1204–present), 75% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Vyaz (Ornamental Slavonic Lettering)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/vyaz-lettering.md) (c. 1230–present), 75% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Celtic Revival Illumination & Lettering](https://stylogeny.com/styles/celtic-revival.md) (1861–1951), 68% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Armenian Manuscript Illumination](https://stylogeny.com/styles/armenian-illumination.md) (c. 862–1800), 65% alike
- Alike in its design choices: [Nieuwe Kunst (Dutch Art Nouveau)](https://stylogeny.com/styles/nieuwe-kunst.md) (1892–1914), 63% alike

## Real works

- [Silk curtain from the Alhambra palace](https://clevelandart.org/art/1982.16): 1300s, The Cleveland Museum of Art
- [Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/453368): Muhammad al-Zanjani (calligrapher), dated 531 AH/1137 CE, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Section from a Qur'an Manuscript (double-page illuminated frontispiece)](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/454664): ca. 1300, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Star- and Hexagonal-Tile Panel](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/449137): late 13th–14th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [Folio from a Qur'an Manuscript with Verses from the Surat al-Maryam](https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/452704): 14th century, The Metropolitan Museum of Art

## Sources

- Eric Broug, Islamic Geometric Design (Thames & Hudson, 2013)
- Sheila S. Blair, Islamic Calligraphy (Edinburgh University Press, 2006)
- Peter J. Lu & Paul J. Steinhardt, 'Decagonal and Quasi-Crystalline Tilings in Medieval Islamic Architecture', Science 315 (2007)

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From Stylogeny (https://stylogeny.com/), an atlas of graphic-design styles by Van Riel Online Services. How it is made: https://stylogeny.com/about/. Cite as: Stylogeny, “Islamic Geometric & Calligraphic Tradition”, https://stylogeny.com/styles/islamic-geometric/