Ruqʿah script

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Ruqʿah script" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (November 2017) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

Ruqʿah (Arabic: رُقعة) or Riqʿah (Arabic: رِقعة) is a writing style of Arabic script intended for the rapid production of texts. It is a relatively simple and plain style, used for everyday writing and often used for signs.^[1] The Ottoman calligraphers Mumtaz Efendi^[2] (1810–1872) and Mustafa Izzet Efendi (1801–1876) are credited with standardizing the writing style which had existed in slightly different styles as everyday handwriting.^[1]

It is not to be confused with the much older reqāʿ (رِقَاع) style.^[3]

Ruqʿah is the most common type of handwriting in the Arabic script. It is known for its clipped letters composed of short, straight lines and simple curves, as well as its straight and even lines of text. It was probably derived from the Thuluth and Naskh styles.

Unlike other types of calligraphy, ruqʿah is not considered as an art form. Instead, it is a functional style of writing that is quick to write and easy to read. Every literate Ottoman was expected to be able to use the ruqʿah.^[4][5]

The demonstration below is not typical since it uses full vowels, which are rarely used in handwriting:

If one of the ruqʿah style fonts is installed, the following text should appear as the above image sample:

The same text without a ruqʿah style font (typically naskh):

• 
  Street sign in Jerusalem (Old City)
• 
  The numerals 23 appear in Ruqʿah style (٢٣) differently from Naskh (٢٣).
• 
  A letter hand written by Jurji Zaydan
• 
  Height of the letter Alif

Examples of a modern digital typeface rendering Arabic text in this style, are:

• Aref Ruqaa by Abdullah Aref^[6]
• Rakkas by Zeynep Akay^[7]
• Waseem on iOS
• B Arabic Style by Borna Rayaneh^[8]
• Layla Ruqaa by Mohammed Isam^[9]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Riq'a style.

• Diwani
• Naskh (script)
• Nastaʿlīq script
• Taʿlīq script
• Cursive
• Handwriting

This article related to the Arabic script is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• v
• t
• e