Diwani: the advanced path
16 lessons after the 43 of the path, in two levels: from long sentences on one line to a whole page of several lines. They open with a Mashq Learn plan. See the plans
Levels 7 and 8 are written in the practice face, with the four steps you know. A long line is written a word at a time.
Level 7 · The line
Complex sentences on one line: longer sayings, a line of poetry, stretching, stacking and the spacing of words.
- 44A proverb on one line✓
عند الصباح يحمد القوم السرى
At daybreak the travellers are glad they marched through the night: the worth of hard effort shows when it bears fruit.
Write five words as one line with the same small gap between every two words.
- 45Letters that change shape✓
رب أخ لك لم تلده أمك
Many a brother of yours was not born of your mother: a true friend can be as close as family.
Lam, kaf and meem take a different shape at the start, inside and at the end of a word: give each the shape its place asks for.
- 46Half a verse✓
أعز مكان في الدنى سرج سابح
The most honoured place in this world is the saddle of a swift horse.
A half-verse has its own beat: end the line on سابح with the tail of its haa open and unhurried.
- 47A whole verse✓
أعز مكان في الدنى سرج سابح وخير جليس في الزمان كتاب
The most honoured place in this world is the saddle of a swift horse, and the best companion in any age is a book.
Write both halves of the verse on one line, with a wider space between the halves than between the words.
- 48Stretching a letter✓
وإذا كانت النفوس كبارا تعبت في مرادها الأجسام
When souls are great, the bodies grow tired in reaching what they want.
Diwani lengthens a line by drawing a letter longer, not with a tatweel bar: stretch only the one letter the model stretches and keep the rest at their measure.
- 49The same letters again✓
السيف أصدق أنباء من الكتب في حده الحد بين الجد واللعب
The sword gives truer news than books: its edge is the line between earnest and play.
حده, الحد and الجد come close together: give the repeated letters the same size and slant every time.
- 50Words that climb✓
وإني وإن كنت الأخير زمانه لآت بما لم تستطعه الأوائل
Though I come last in time, I shall bring what those before me could not.
In Diwani a word may sit partly over the next: let the words step up towards the end of the line without their letters running into each other.
- 51A line with its vowels✓
الخَيْلُ وَاللَّيْلُ وَالبَيْدَاءُ تَعْرِفُنِي وَالسَّيْفُ وَالرُّمْحُ وَالقِرْطَاسُ وَالقَلَمُ
The horses, the night and the desert know me, and so do the sword, the spear, the paper and the pen.
Write the letters first, then add every vowel mark with a smaller pen above or below its own letter.
Level 8 · The page
Several lines as one page: the space between lines, lines that end together, the margins.
- 52Two lines, one verse✓
على قدر أهل العزم تأتي العزائم
وتأتي على قدر الكرام المكارمResolve comes in the measure of the resolute, and noble deeds come in the measure of the noble.
Set the second half-verse under the first and keep the distance between the two lines the same all along.
- 53A greeting card✓
كل عام وأنتم بخير
مع أطيب التمنياتMay every year find you well; with the warmest wishes.
Centre two short lines on a card, with equal margins on the right and on the left.
- 54A letter's opening and close✓
تحية طيبة وبعد
وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترام'Kind greetings; and now…' and 'Please accept my highest regards': how a formal Arabic letter opens and closes.
Start the greeting at the right margin and end the closing line at the left one, as a letter does, leaving an empty band between them for the letter's body.
- 55Lines of equal length✓
سيذكرني قومي إذا جد جدهم
وفي الليلة الظلماء يفتقد البدرMy people will remember me when things grow serious: on the darkest night the full moon is missed.
Make both lines end at the same left edge by sharing out the spaces and stretching one letter, never by squeezing letters.
- 56A verse and its poet✓
وإذا كانت النفوس كبارا
تعبت في مرادها الأجسام
المتنبيWhen souls are great, the bodies grow tired in reaching what they want. (al-Mutanabbi)
Write the poet's name in a smaller pen under the verse: two sizes on one page, each true to its own measure.
- 57Lines that rise✓
إذا غامرت في شرف مروم
فلا تقنع بما دون النجوم
فطعم الموت في أمر حقير
كطعم الموت في أمر عظيمWhen you strive for a coveted honour, settle for nothing below the stars: death tastes the same in a small cause as in a great one.
Let the end of each line climb a little to the left, as the lines of Ottoman decrees do, by the same amount in all four lines.
- 58A letter page✓
تحية طيبة وبعد
أعز مكان في الدنى سرج سابح
وخير جليس في الزمان كتاب
مع أطيب التمنيات
وتفضلوا بقبول فائق الاحترامA short letter that sends a verse in praise of books, between the greeting, the wishes and the closing.
Lay out five lines as one letter: the verse in the middle in the main pen; the greeting, wishes and closing in a smaller pen; all inside the same margins.
- 59A decree page✓
على قدر أهل العزم تأتي العزائم
وتأتي على قدر الكرام المكارم
وتعظم في عين الصغير صغارها
وتصغر في عين العظيم العظائم
المتنبيResolve and noble deeds come in the measure of those who make them; small things look large to the small, and great things look small to the great. (al-Mutanabbi)
Put a whole page together in the decree manner: a wide right margin, four lines rising at their ends, the poet's name small at the foot.