Ja'far Bāysonghori

• 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.

• Title

  Title

  This frame is often used in the middle of manuscript pages to demarcate chapters or in collections of poetry (divān) to mark off poems from one another.  It is commonly used in codices of the Qur’an, and the titles of new chapters are usually written in them.  Here the Arabic phrase, ayḍan lahu, which mean “also by him”, is written in the frame to show that the poem that follows the frame is written by the same poet who authored the poem preceding the frame.

• Color Scripting

  Color Scripting

  Whenever a phrase is not written with black or brown ink but with other colors, such as white, gold, or azure.

• Tahrir

  Tahrir

  This is the name given to the thin, dark lines drawn around gold letters.  This allows gold letters to become more legible because gold is generally very close to the color of the paper and does not stand out on the page.  The person who does tahrir is called a meh moharrer.

• Separators

  Separators

  This shape is used to demarcate phrases, similar to the signs used to demarcate verses of the Qur’an.  Here they are included in the title frame along with the Arabic phrase, ayḍan lahu, to mark off poems from one another.

• Page Number Added by Album Editor or Collector

  Page Number Added by Album Editor or Collector

• Sharing or Omitting Dots

  Sharing or Omitting Dots

  The curves or the extended forms of letters in the Nasta‘liq script, when combined with the limited space given to texts in illuminated manuscripts, do not leave enough room for writing all the dots of letters.  Consequently, calligraphers sometimes omit dots or use one dot for two letters.  Here the white arrows point to omitted dots and the red arrow points to shared dots.

• Dots in Persian Letters

  Dots in Persian Letters

  The sound "ch" (چ), which does not exist in the Arabic alphabet, is rendered in modern Persian by placing three dots under the Arabic letter ج.  Here, and in many other early Nasta‘liq writings however, چ was written with only one dot.
• 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.”

• Extra(ordinary) Dots

  Extra(ordinary) Dots

  This piece is exceptional in that it uses extra dots not seen in other pieces on this site or in general.

• Two Dots Under Ye

  Two Dots Under Ye

  Sometimes, in order to achieve equilibrium in the calligraphic 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.