Naskh Rayhani Script; The Unknown Treasure of Islamic Calligraphy Case study: Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili Universal Complex's Qur'an

The Islamic calligraphy, a part from writing religious contexts, has had a basic impact and application on a variety of Islamic and Iranian arts. In the early centuries AH, due to the vast application of writing, along with a variety of Kufic scripts, generally the sextet scripts (Thuluth, Toqee, Regha, Rayhan, Mohaghag, Naskh) have been used to write different parts of the holy Qur'an. To the extent that there are plenty of manuscripts which have been written and prepared, and among those, the "Naskh Rayhani" script was also developed due to the aesthetic and versatility of calligraphy artists to beautify the holy Qur'an, but regretfully previous sources have not paid close attention to this style of calligraphy. There are plenty of artworks in "Naskh Rayhani" style in different sources, but this style of calligraphy has been wrongly called Naskh, Mohaghag, Rayhan or Thuluth in most of the sources. Due to the importance of traditional manuscripts and traditional calligraphy, which is being ignored, the study of such works is essential. In this paper, researcher has tried to analyze "Naskh Rayhani" calligraphy style along with an analysis of the Qur'an kept in Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili's collection. This paper has been written using Analytical-descriptive method and library sources along with refrence to the visual works. It aims to answer the following question: If there was ever a "Naskh Rayhani" script and it has been used, why has it never been known?" Indeed, it should be said that like Toqee, Regha, Taligh, Nastaligh and other scripts which are each made up of a combination of two or more scripts, in the Sheikh Safi Qur'an, Rayhan script is the basis which combination with Naskh script with a special delicacy has led to the development of "Naskh Rayhani" style. The results suggest that the creation of the "Naskh Rayhani" script is caused by the factor which we can name the “Reverence to the divine revelation; an effort to write Qur'an beautifully and to make a diversity in calligraphy of the holy Qur'an” as chief of them. “Naskh Rayhani” remained unknown partly due to lack of accuracy and time-consumingness of this script compared to the "Naskh" script as well as being similar to the common styles of that era. Also, because existing sources are generally overwritten from previous ones or have not been adequately accomplished, there is no mention of "Naskh Rayhani" script in the calligraphy sources and references. "Naskh Rayhani" script was created to make diversity in writing and to draw attention and importance to the beautifulness of the Qur'an’s writing as well as to write fast and conveniently which is evident in the manuscripts and the holy Quran kept in museums and libraries. Several examples of this script or calligraphy style have been observed. Perhaps, the personal style of the calligrapher and the scribe has led to the emergence of “Naskh Rayhani” style. Or maybe the needs for compressed words and the attempts to simulate the Rayhan script in the Naskh led to a new calligraphy style called "Naskh Rayhani". The results of the analysis of the Qur'an of Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili's collection suggest that the aforementioned Qur'an, like most of the written Qur'ans from the Seljuk to the Safavid eras, was written in the "Naskh Rayhani" calligraphy style. In the Qur'an of Sheikh Safi al-Din Ardabili's collection the foundation of the writing was based on Rayhan script, but it has blended with forms of the Naskh script beautifully and logically.