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  • Jadval

    Jadval

    Jadval or “border” refers to the thin lines that surround the four sides of the text and separate it from the margins.  These lines come in different colors and are drawn by metal instruments known as qalam-e jadval (pens used for drawing borders).  Today, a European version of these pens, known as Terling, is used.  The thickness of the lines could be adjusted by turning a screw on the handle of the qalam-e jadval.

  • Tasmeh Andāzi

    Tasmeh Andāzi

    The thin decorative border that, similar to jadval, separates the text from the margins is called tasmeh.  Tasmeh Andāzi is the act of creating this border, which generally repeats the same decorative pattern.

  • Eslimi

    Eslimi

    Decorative vine motif
  • Khattā’i

    Khattā’i

  • Shāh ‘Abbāsi

    Shāh ‘Abbāsi

  • Dandān Mushi

    Dandān Mushi

    Literally, "mousy (or mouse-like) teeth." It refers to the cloud-like demarcations used around words in illuminated manuscripts.
  • Raqam

    Raqam

    The tradition of signing or writing one’s name at the end of a manuscript or a piece of calligraphy is ancient; it dates back to the first centuries of Islam.  It is more common to find the name of calligraphers than other artists or craftsmen at the end of manuscripts since they were the ones who did the writing.  There are certain phrases that have come to be customarily included in signatures or raqams; they usually point to the humility of the artists:  al-ḥaqīr (the humble), al-faqīr (the impoverished), etc.

Nāser Javāherpur Collection, Karaj, Iran.

Text and Margins

The relationship between the text and margin is noteworthy when the paper used for the text and the paper used for the margin are different.

Margins are generally distinguished from the text with thin lines, called borders or jadval.  Depending on the fineness of the manuscript or book, it could have multiple margins of varying colors.  In fine manuscripts and albums, the paper for the text and the margin are usually of a differing type and color.  Sometimes, the text of a book would be written on two pieces of thin paper that were glued together so that there would not be a shadow from the text on the other side of the page.  For this reason, the paper used for the margin of the page would often be twice as thick as the paper used for the text.  When a single page was used to write on both sides, attention would be paid to choosing a paper with similar thickness with the text in order to avoid wrinkles.  

This is usually done when the margin is damaged.  A type of paper would be selected for the margin similar in color and thickness to the paper used for the text.  This way, the book would close flat, and there would not be wrinkles that would allow air to sieve through the pages.

This method of attaching a new margin would have been done with utmost care so that the paper of the text and of the margin were edge to edge and did not overlap.  Usually, the touching edges of the papers were then hidden from view with colored borders.  Because of the considerable degree of expertise and effort required to create these kinds of pages, this technique is found only in the finest of manuscripts or albums.

 

Chalipā

This is a form of writing in which the lettering is not horizontal but written at a 45 degree angle.  It is usually used for writing a couplet or a few verses of poetry in the Nasta‘liq script.

Siyāh Mashq

This refers to a stylized form of writing that incorporates the repetition of letters and words.  At first, calligraphers wrote siyāh mashq in order to warm up their hand before writing calligraphy earnestly.  Since the Safavid era, however, and particularly in its Nasta‘liq form, it has gradually become an independent genre of calligraphy and an artistic form in its own right.  In the modern era (since the Qājār period), it has become very popular as a calligraphic form of abstract expression.