Ruq’ah: 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 saying on one line✓
رب أخ لك لم تلده أمك
Many a brother of yours was not born of your mother: a true friend can be closer than family.
Six words at one height on one line, with the same gap between every two words: Ruq'ah sits on the line and does not climb.
- 45The seen without teeth✓
الوقت سيف فإن لم تقطعه قطعك
Time is a sword: if you do not cut it, it cuts you.
The seen written as one flat stroke without teeth (سيف), and ق ط ع met twice in different places in the line (تقطعه، قطعك).
- 46Half a verse✓
وخير جليس في الزمان كتاب
And the best companion at any time is a book.
A hemistich keeps one pace: each final letter (the seen of جليس، the noon of الزمان، the baa of كتاب) closes its word with the same short tail.
- 47A whole verse on one line✓
أعز مكان في الدنى سرج سابح وخير جليس في الزمان كتاب
The most honoured seat in the world is the saddle of a swift horse, and the best companion at any time is a book.
Eleven words in one line: the second half keeps the size and the baseline of the first, with a wider gap between the halves.
- 48Letters set on letters✓
ما حك جلدك مثل ظفرك فتول أنت جميع أمرك
Nothing scratches your skin like your own nail, so see to all your affairs yourself.
Joins where one letter sits on the next and the word still ends on the line: جم in جميع, the heads of ح and ج over the letter that follows (حك، جلدك).
- 49One letter, many shapes✓
على قدر أهل العزم تأتي العزائم وتأتي على قدر الكرام المكارم
Resolutions come in the measure of the resolute, and noble deeds in the measure of the noble.
The ain in three places (على، العزم، العزائم) and the hamza on its seat (العزائم): each letter changes shape with its place while the line keeps one height.
- 50A long line, one rhythm✓
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.
Seven of the eight words open with و or ال: write every waw, every alif-lam and every gap the same, so the line reads as one rhythm.
- 51A line with its vowels✓
مَا كُلُّ مَا يَتَمَنَّى المَرْءُ يُدْرِكُهُ تَجْرِي الرِّيَاحُ بِمَا لَا تَشْتَهِي السُّفُنُ
A man does not reach all he wishes: the winds blow as the ships do not desire.
The vowel marks small, light and close to their letters, set after each word, never pushing the words apart; Ruq'ah is usually written bare, so this is its one fully vowelled line.
Level 8 · The page
Several lines as one page: the space between lines, lines that end together, the margins.
- 52Two lines: a verse in its halves✓
السيف أصدق إنباء من الكتب
في حده الحد بين الجد واللعبThe sword tells truer news than the books; in its edge lies the line between earnest and play.
Two lines one under the other: a steady gap between them (about two alifs, to confirm) and both lines starting and ending at the same edges.
- 53A greeting card✓
كل عام وأنتم بخير
مع أطيب التمنياتMany happy returns / with the best wishes.
A card's lines are centred, not justified: find the middle of each line and leave a wide, even margin all round.
- 54A letter opens✓
سيدي الصديق الأعز
بعد التحية ومزيد السلام
وصلني كتابكMy dear friend, sir / after greetings and abundant peace / your letter has reached me.
The salutation stands alone on a short line at the right; the body begins under it at the same right margin.
- 55Lines that end together✓
الكتاب وعاء ملئ علمًا، وظرف حشي ظرفًا،
وبستان يحمل في ردن، وروضة تقلب في حجر،
ينطق عن الموتى، ويترجم كلام الأحياءA book is a vessel filled with knowledge, a case stuffed with wit, a garden carried in a sleeve, a meadow turned over in one's lap; it speaks for the dead and translates the words of the living.
Justified lines without stretching: Ruq'ah has no kashida, so the line ends meet by adjusting the gaps between words, never by pulling a letter.
- 56A page of four lines✓
الخيل والليل والبيداء تعرفني
والسيف والرمح والقرطاس والقلم
صحبت في الفلوات الوحش منفردًا
حتى تعجب مني القور والأكمThe horses, the night and the desert know me, and the sword, the spear, the paper and the pen. / I kept company with the wild beasts alone in the wastes, until the hills and the mounds marvelled at me.
Four lines as one block: equal line gaps, the same right and left edges, a wider margin below than above.
- 57Dates and figures✓
٢ مايو ١٩٢٤
دمشق ٩ رمضان ١٣٣٤2 May 1924 / Damascus, 9 Ramadan 1334 (July 1916).
The Arabic-Indic figures ٠–٩ at a letter's height, a number read left to right inside a right-to-left line, and the date set at the top of the page apart from the text.
- 58The line end that climbs✓
وفي الختام أهدي لسيدي سلامي وتحياتي
In closing I offer you, sir, my greetings and salutations.
When the line runs out, Ruq'ah lifts the last word and lets it climb at the left end instead of stretching or squeezing it.
- 59A short letter✓
سيدي الصديق الأعز
بعد التحية ومزيد السلام
وصلني كتابك
الكتاب وعاء ملئ علمًا، وظرف حشي ظرفًا،
وفي الختام أهدي لسيدي سلامي وتحياتيA five-line letter: salutation, greeting, the news that the letter arrived, a line in praise of books, the closing.
A whole letter as one page: the salutation short at the right, the body justified, the closing with its climbing last word, margins kept.