This script was originally devised to write Turkish for the late Ottoman bureaucracy. It is now used broadly across the Arab and Ottoman world for personal correspondence and handwriting.

The inscription on this brightly-colored ornament is the bismillah, a pious invocation meaning, "In the name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful."

Iran. Late 16th to early 17th century. 4.7 cm diameter. Naskh script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This page once formed part of an album assembled for Nur al-Din Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627), the fourth Mughal ruler of India. The borders, which depict artisans of a library at work, were painted at the beginning of the 17th century. Beginning at the upper-right and moving counterclockwise, the borders show a burnisher smoothing and polishing paper, a stamper creating designs in a leather cover, a sizer trimming the leaves of a manuscript, a woodworker sawing a bookstand, a gilder preparing gold leaf, and a calligrapher writing.

Calligrapher: Mir Ali al-Husayni (?). India. 1600 A.D. 42.5 x 26.6 cm. Nasta'liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This page once formed part of an album assembled for Nur al-Din Jahangir (ruled 1605-1627), the fourth Mughal ruler of India. The borders, which depict artisans of a library at work, were painted at the beginning of the 17th century. Beginning at the upper-right and moving counterclockwise, the borders show a burnisher smoothing and polishing paper, a stamper creating designs in a leather cover, a sizer trimming the leaves of a manuscript, a woodworker sawing a bookstand, a gilder preparing gold leaf, and a calligrapher writing.

Calligrapher: Mir Ali al-Husayni (?). India. 1600 A.D. 42.5 x 26.6 cm. Nasta'liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Mir Ali, also known as Mir Ali al-Husayni, was one of the Mughal's favorite calligraphers, and they continuously sought examples of his writing. This page comes from an album known as the Kevorkian album, named after the dealer responsible for its dispersal during the second quarter of the 20th century. The album appears to have been assembled for the Mughal emperor Shah Jahan (ruled 1628-1657).

Calligrapher: Mir Ali al-Husayni. Bukhara. 1533-1534 A.D. 38.8 x 25.7 cm. Nasta'liq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

This page is from the book Khusraw u Shirin, by Nizami. The inscription reads, "Of the poetry of... Shaykh Awhaduddin Nizami of Ganja... Written by the slave who hopes for divine pardon Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani in... may God disregard his sins, at the capital Tabriz, may God protect her from catastrophe and calamity."

Calligrapher: Ali ibn Hasan al-Sultani. Iran. Early 15th century. 18.3 x 12.7 cm. Nastaliq script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Inscribed along the widest part of this bottle in thuluth script is the Arabic phrase, "Glory to our master, the sultan, al-Malik, al-Mujahid, the wise, the just."

Syria. Mid-14th century. 47.9 x 24.8 cm. Thuluth script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

The flowing movement of the script used here, with its sweeping curves and slightly rounded letters, is characteristic of the maghribi script.

North Africa. 13th century. 16.5 x 15.5 cm. Maghribi script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Pen boxes were an essential part of a calligrapher's equipment. In addition to containing an ink pot, a pen box would have held several carefully made reed plumes, a pair of scissors, a knife for shaping the plumes, and an assortment of other necessary items.

Along the sides of the box an Arabic inscription in animated script is set against a scrolling background of animal heads.

Calligrapher: Shazi. Iran. 1210-1211 A.D. 5 x 31.4 cm. Other/unnamed script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.

Pen boxes were an essential part of a calligrapher's equipment. In addition to containing an ink pot, a pen box would have held several carefully made reed plumes, a pair of scissors, a knife for shaping the plumes, and an assortment of other necessary items.

Along the sides of the box an Arabic inscription in animated script is set against a scrolling background of animal heads.

Calligrapher: Shazi. Iran. 1210-1211 A.D. 5 x 31.4 cm. Other/unnamed script. Courtesy of the Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution.