Table Of ContentIntroduction to
Qur'anic Script
Introduction to
Qur'anic Script
SyedB arakat Ahmad
~ ~~o~~~~n~s~;up
LONDON AND NEW YORK
First published by Curzon Pressi n 1985
First Publishedi n paperback1 999 by
Routledge
2 Park Square,M ilton Park,A bingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledgeis an imprint a/the Taylor & Francis Group, an in[orma business
© 1985 Syed BarakatA hmad
Arabic text Calligraphedb y MohammadW ajahatU smani
Artwork by Comart, M. Ilyas and MohammadS alim
Designedb y SabihaB arakat
All rights reserved.N o part of this book may be reprinted or
reproducedo r utilised in any form or by any electronic,
mechanical,o r other means,n ow known or hereafter
invented, including photocopyinga nd recording, or in any
information storageo r retrieval system,w ithout permissioni n
writing from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguingi n Publication Data
A cataloguer ecord for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congressi n Publication Data
A cataloguer ecord for this book has been requested
ISBN 9780700710690
In Memory of
My Mother
QURAISHA SULTANA
(Begum Shafi)
Day after day, as my Qur'anic lessonsb egan after
the morning prayers, she gradually lost her
temper and I my wits. At the end my eyes were
filled with tearsa nd her hands with sweets. That
angelic face is still so distinct and the voice so
clear, explaining the difference in the various
shapeso f Arabic letters.
Our Lord! forgive me and my parents, and the
helievers, on the day when the reckoning will take
place. (The Qur'an, /4.41)
THE ENTIRE TEXT OF THE BOOK IS BASED ON THE SACRED
VERSES OF THE QUR'AN AND THE READER IS EXPECTED
TO ENSURE THEIR SANCTITY IN HANDLING THE BOOK
The Basmalaho n the dedication page is from the Qutb Minar, Delhi, (c. 1225) and the
Basmalaho n the title page is from a 9th century Egyptian miqyiis (Nilometer). Both the draw-
ings were made by Prof. Annemarie Schimmel for her book Islamic Calligraphy (1970).
PracticeT ext 15 calli graphed by Hafiz Saghir Ahmad Malmali.
PREFACE
Introduction to Qur'anic Script has been written in the belief that Allah
has made the Qur'an easy to read and easy to learn (Qur'an, 54.17 and 73.20).
It is primarily written for the readersw ho feel the need to read the Qur'an and
other Arabic texts in their original language.
The reader is exposedt o the Arabic languagef rom the very first lesson;
he is taught not only to recognizel etters and words but also to understandw hat
they are intendedt o convey. By the time he has completedt he alphabet,h e has
learnt more than 500 words of Arabic in their Qur'anic context and also some
basic grammatical markers.
The Qur'an is the fountain-heado f Arabic literature and, I hope, non-
Muslim studentso f Arabic will find this book easier, far more useful and far less
time-consumingt han any other manual teaching Arabic as a seculare xercise.
My gratitudei s to Prof. A. H. Johns,C hairman,W estA sia StudiesC ommittee
of the Australian National University, who kindly read the book in typescript
and made valuable suggestions.I greatly value the help of my friend and teacher,
Prof. Arthur Delbridge, Head of the Departmento f Linguistics, Macquarie Uni-
versity, who read the typescript and removed ambiguities of language. I have
also to thank Prof. Muhammad Abdul Rauf (United Arab Emirate University,
AI-Ain) and Hafiz Qari Said-ul-Islam (Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh) who
clearedf or me severalp oints of Qur'anics ounds. I wish to thank Mr. Mohammed
Ismail Khan who correctedt he proofs of the English text and Maulavi Muhammad
Abdullah Tariq who correctedt he proofs of the Arabic text. I also wish to thank
Mr. S. Shamim Shah, the Administrator of IHMMR Press, for his unstinting
efforts to ensurep rompt typesettingo f the book.
vii
1 also extends incerea ppreciationt o Mr. S. A. Ali, Director, Indian Institute
of Islamic Studies,f or his detailedc ritique of the text and suggestionsfo r improve-
ment of both contenta nd style at many points. In the initial stageso f preparing
this book I was greatly encouragedb y Dr. M. A. Aziz of Port-of-Spaint o whom
I now wish to acknowledgem y thanks. I am especiallyg rateful to HakeemA bdul
Hameed, President,[ ndian Institute of Islamic Studies, who provided me with an
opportunity of completingt he final draft of this book in the peaceful environment
of the HamdardN agar Campus.
lowe a profound debt of thankst o Dr. Lois A. Giffen, Professoro f Arabic,
University of Utah, for her constant help and criticism. In spite of a heavy
academic schedule she revised the manuscripto f the book meticulously word
for word. My wife, Sabiha, advised me on calligraphy, my elder daughter,
Sarah, preparedt he typescript for press, my younger daughter, Birjees, collected
the specimenso fQur'anicc alligraphyf rom variousm useumsa nd my son, Nauman,
always a thoughtful critic, helped me to rewrite the passagesw hich he considered
to be difficult for a beginner.
Although I have madee very effort to avoid error, I may have slipped up in
a few spots. I hope readers's crutiny will improve the second edition.
It is Allah 'Who taught by the pen, taught man that which he knew
not', so if the studento f this book one day becomesa fluent readero f the Qur'an
and its language,A rabic, that would be through the grace of God and his own
efforts. But I hope the readerw ill rememberi n his prayers my mother, for she
taught me the skill, which I have tried to transmit through this book.
Shaft M anzil
Gulmohar, Indore. SYED BARAKAT AHMAD
Ramatjiin al-Mubarak, 1403 hijri
viii
CONTENTS
PREFACE [vii]
INTRODUCTION [1]
ENGLISH SYMBOLS FOR ARABIC VOWELS [ 4 J
LESSON 1 [5]
Consonants. Jim, Sin, Liim and
Mim. The Vowel Sign FatlJah
LESSON 2 [9]
Bii,' Khii', ~Ayn and Qiif The"
Vowel Sign Kasrah
LESSON 3 [15]
!fii', and Nun. The Sukun Sign
LESSON 4 [19J
Tii' and Kiif The Vowel Sign J)ammah
LESSON 5 [23]
Fii' and Thii'. Doubled Letters
LESSON 6 [27]
Review
LESSON 7 [30]
Shin, $iid and Tii'
ix
LESSON 8 [36]
Hii' and Yii'. Diphthong ay
LESSON 9 [40]
Zii' and Ghain
LESSON 10 [42]
Piid
LESSON 11 [45]
Nunnation
LESSON 12 [48]
Non-Connectors'.A lif
LESSON 13 [53[
Hamzah
LESSON 14 [56]
Wiiw
LESSON 15 [60]
Diil and Rii'
LESSON 16 [65]
Dhiil andZ ii'. Hamzah and 'Alif (continued)
LESSON 17 [70]
Hii' (continued). Tii'Marba!ah
LESSON 18 [73]
The Signs of Vowel Length. The Pronunciationo f Allah
LESSON 19 [78]
Hamzah( continued)
LESSON 20 [80]
"Sun" and "Moon" Letters
LESSON 21 [86]
The silent 'Alif, Wiiw and Ya'
LESSON 22 [88]
Review
LESSON 23 [94]
Assimilation
x
