Naskh: the advanced path

عقول الرجال تحت أسنان أقلامها

"Men's minds lie beneath the nibs of their pens": what a person thinks shows in what they write.

Five words on one baseline with the same white between every pair of words.

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ببكاء الأقلام تتبسم الكتب

"When pens weep, books smile": the ink a pen sheds becomes the book's beauty.

The baa and taa change shape inside the line: opening, inside and closing a word (ببكاء, تتبسم, الكتب), each at its own height.

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الخط هندسة روحانية وإن ظهرت بآلة جسمانية

"Fine writing is a geometry of the spirit, though it appears through a bodily tool."

One stretch (kashida) per half of the line, never two in one word, so the two halves (روحانية / جسمانية) end in balance.

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تجري الرياح بما لا تشتهي السفن

"The winds blow as the ships would not wish."

Letters that sit on one another: the jeem rides on the taa in تجري and the meem on the baa in بما, without leaving the line.

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ما كل ما يتمنى المرء يدركه تجري الرياح بما لا تشتهي السفن

"Not all a man wishes for does he reach; the winds blow as the ships would not wish."

Two halves of a verse on one line: a wider gap between them than between words, and both halves the same width.

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القلم سفير العقل ورسوله ولسانه الأطول وترجمانه الأفضل

"The pen is the envoy of the mind, its messenger, its longest tongue and its best interpreter."

Eight words that must fit a fixed width: words neither crowded at the end nor stretched to fill it.

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أَعَزُّ مَكانٍ في الدُّنى سَرْجُ سابِحٍ وَخَيرُ جَليسٍ في الزَّمانِ كِتابُ

"The dearest seat in the world is the saddle of a swift horse, and the best companion in any age is a book."

Vowel marks (tashkil) placed with the pen's own angle, each over or under its letter, smaller than the letters and never touching them.

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وَمَهما تَكُن عِندَ امرِئٍ مِن خَليقَةٍ وَإِن خالَها تَخفى عَلى النّاسِ تُعلَمِ

"Whatever trait a man has, though he thinks it hidden from people, becomes known."

All of level 7 together: even spaces, one stretch per half, the gap between the halves and every vowel in place.

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الخيل والليل والبيداء تعرفني
والسيف والرمح والقرطاس والقلم

"The horses, the night and the desert know me, and the sword, the spear, the paper and the pen."

The space between two lines: the second line's tallest letters stay clear of the first line's deepest tails.

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لنا ندماء ما نمل حديثهم أمينون مأمونون غيبا ومشهدا
يفيدوننا من علمهم علم ما مضى ورأيا وتأديبا وأمرا مسددا

Al-'Attabi on books: "We have companions whose talk never tires us, trusted, safe, absent or present; they give us the knowledge of what has passed, and judgement, manners and sound counsel."

The book layout of poetry: the first halves in a right column, the second halves in a left column, both columns the same width.

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الكتاب هو المسامر الذي لا يبتدئك
في حال شغلك ولا يدعوك في وقت نشاطك
ولا يحوجك إلى التجمل له

"The book is the night-companion who does not start talking while you are busy, does not call you when you are lively, and does not oblige you to dress up for it."

Justified line ends: the first two lines end at the same left edge, by small stretches, never by squeezing the last word.

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والكتاب هو الجليس الذي لا يطريك
والصديق الذي لا يغريك
والرفيق الذي لا يملك
والناصح الذي لا يستزلك

"The book is the companion who does not flatter you, the friend who does not lead you astray, the comrade who does not tire of you, and the adviser who does not make you slip."

A text block inside fixed margins: the outer margin wider than the inner, the foot wider than the head, short lines centred in the block.

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كلام في فضل القلم
قال أرسطاطاليس القلم العلة الفاعلة
والمداد العلة الهيولانية والخط العلة
الصورية والبلاغة العلة المتممة

Heading "On the merit of the pen", then: "Aristotle said: the pen is the efficient cause, ink the material cause, the script the formal cause and eloquence the final cause."

A heading centred over the block, with more white under it than between the lines of the text.

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كلام في فضائل الخط
قال أفلاطون الخط عقال العقل
وقال أبو دلف الخط رياض العلوم
وقال النظام الخط أصيل في الروح
وإن ظهر بحواس البدن

"On the merits of writing": Plato said writing is the tether of the mind; Abu Dulaf said it is the garden of the sciences; al-Nazzam said it is rooted in the spirit, though it appears through the body's senses.

A five-line page ending with the catchword: the first word of the next page («وقال») written alone under the last line, at the left.

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فإن قلت هم أحياء لست بكاذب
وإن قلت هم موتى فلست
مفندا

Al-'Attabi's last verse on books: "If you say they are alive, you do not lie; if you say they are dead, no one can prove you wrong."

The closing triangle of a Naskh book: each line shorter than the one above, all centred, ending in one word.

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الكتاب هو المسامر الذي لا يبتدئك في حال شغلك
ولا يدعوك في وقت نشاطك ولا يحوجك إلى التجمل له
والكتاب هو الجليس الذي لا يطريك والصديق الذي
لا يغريك والرفيق الذي لا يملك والناصح الذي
لا يستزلك

Nattaha's whole praise of the book (lessons 54 and 55) as one page.

All of level 8 at once: five lines at one spacing, four justified ends, a short last line at the right, margins kept.

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