Notes on Dates

There are three types of calendars one might encounter in the study of Persian calligraphy: Solar Hijri (shamsi, marked by .ش), Lunar Hijri (qamari, marked by .ق), and Gregorian (milādi, marked by . م). For the sake of readability and to avoid confusion for casual viewers of the site, the English version of this site uses the Gregorian calendar except in cases where it cites a date that has been specifically mentioned in a manuscript, in which case the Lunar Hijri (AH) date is included alongside the Gregorian (CE). The Persian version of the site, with very few exceptions, uses Lunar Hijri dates. In all cases, dates mentioned are marked by AH, CE, .م etc. for clarity.

Notes on Transliteration

For the most part, Persian words have been transliterated in accordance to their pronunciation in modern Persian. When references are made to Arabic terms or phrases, they have been transliterated in accordance with the transliteration system used by the Encyclopaedia of Islam with the usual modifications (for example, using q in place ḳ to transliterate ق). Words such as "sheikh," which could be found in American English dictionaries have not been transliterated. The Arabic word for "son of," ibn, has been transliterated with "b."

The following is the system of transliteration employed.

Consonants

ء	’	خ	kh	ص	s	ک	k
ب	b	د	d	ض	z	گ	g
پ	p	ذ	z	ط	t	ل	l
ت	t	ر	r	ظ	z	م	m
ث	s	ز	z	ع	‘	ن	n
ج	j	ژ	zh	غ	gh	ه	h
چ	ch	س	s	ف	f	و	v
ح	h	ش	sh	ق	q	ی	y

Vowels

Long		Short
ا	ā	َ	a
و	u	ُ	o
ی	i	ِ	e