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  • Rekābeh

    Rekābeh

    Catchword--a system by which, in place of page numbers, the pages of manuscripts were kept in order by writing, in small letters, the first word on the proceeding page at the bottom of the page that preceded it.

  • 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.

  • Whiteout

    Whiteout

    A toranj-like shape seems to have been brushed on this folio by one of its owners of in order to whiteout something.

  • 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.

  • Sarluh

    Sarluh

    The decoration painted on top of pages where the content of a manuscript begins.  Sometimes, in collected works, there is a sarluh at the beginning of each chapter or section.

  • Sar-Toranj

    Sar-Toranj

    Decorations similar to toranj, but much smaller, which appear at the two ends of the principle toranj. 
  • Toranj

    Toranj

    Toranj is a common decoration found in tazhib.  It can be circular or oval. When only half of the circle or oval is drawn, it is called a "half toranj" or nim-toranj.  Sometimes, as seen in this image, smaller toranjs, called sar-toranj are drawn atop of the toranj.  In this particular image, a toranj is drawn within another toranj.

  • Shāh ‘Abbāsi

    Shāh ‘Abbāsi

  • Eslimi

    Eslimi

    Decorative vine motif
  • Gilding of Qur’anic Citations

    Gilding of Qur’anic Citations

    Quotations from the Qur’an are often written in a different color in order to distinguish them from the rest of the text.

  • Influence of the Ta‘liq Script

    Influence of the Ta‘liq Script

    An example of the influence of the Ta‘liq script on writing in Nasta‘liq
  • Genitive hamzah

    Genitive hamzah

    Nouns that end in a silent ha’ (ه) are marked as genitive in noun constructs with a hamzah (ء), which is pronounced as ye.  This genitive hamzah is often not written, which makes its appearance here noteworthy.

  • Improvisation on Tasmeh Andāzi

    Improvisation on Tasmeh Andāzi

    The tasmeh andāzi on top of this sarluh, unlike the prototypical tasmeh andāzi, is not straight and vertical; rather it is cut off diagonally.

  • Illumination Errors

    Illumination Errors

    Since calligraphic work on a manuscript is usually done before any illumination takes place, sometimes illuminators, purposefully or inadvertently, cover up dots or parts of letters with their illumination so that the written word cannot be properly seen.

  • Two Dots Under Ye

    Two Dots Under Ye

    Sometimes, in order to achieve aesthetic equilibrium in the representation of a word or in order to fill in space, two dots are written under the letter ی, or an alef maqsorah  ( ٰ ) is written above the the ی.  While these two dots and the alef maqsorah are significant in modern Arabic orthography, they do not carry any particular significance in Persian.

  • Sin in Nasta‘liq

    Sin in Nasta‘liq

    In the Nasta‘liq script, in order to avoid confusion between the letters sin (س) and shin (ش), three dots are written under sin (س).  Furthermore, when the sin (س) is written without the teeth, the writing of three dots under the sin (س) helps with legibility.  By way of example, it helps us distinguish between the word جم, which means “multitude,” and جسم, which means “body.”

  • Kāf and Gāf in Nasta‘liq

    Kāf and Gāf in Nasta‘liq

    Because modern Persian is written with the Arabic alphabet and there is no hard "g" sound in Arabic, until recently, in many inscriptions and calligraphic writings, the letter gāf (گ), which makes the hard “g” sound, was written exactly like the Arabic letter kāf (ک), which makes the “k” sound.

Malek National Library, No. 5964.

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.

 

Symmetry

Symmetry is a common aspect of Islamicate arts, but at times slight varieties are embedded in seemingly symmetrical pieces, either for the sake of variety itself or because differing sizes of letters and words, which are out of the control of the artist, would disrupt the symmetry of the page.  As such, despite their symmetrical appearance, there is rarely perfect symmetry in these works. In this work, qur’anic verses were written directly in the middle of a text in gold in order to be more noticeable. 

Tazhib

The art of illuminating manuscripts or the borders of calligraphic works is called tazhib.  It is derived from the Arabic word for gold, dhahab, and it usually requires using gold.  Tazhib, however, is not exclusively in gold.  Other colors such as white, red, azure, etc. are also used.  Tazhib drawings, which have a long history, are not naturalistic drawings; rather they are based on the imagination of the artist and are thus regarded as a distinct form of drawing.

Tazhib can be understood as a specific kind of gilding, but there are two ways in which gold was employed in the traditional art of bookmaking in Iran.  In one, gold papers, which were extremely thin and brittle were used to cover all or part of the surface of a page. In the other, gold was used in liquid solutions for drawing or for writing, as in the case of tazhib.  The following is the traditional method used for making gold solutions.  A small piece of gold was placed between two pieces of leather, and hammered for a long time until a very thin layer of gold was produced.  Then, the thin layer of gold was ground in a container with gum arabic or another type of adhesive material that produced a gold solution, which was then used as ink for writing, drawing, or creating borders.