Help for getting a handle on different Arabic fonts

[AndrewPenney]

Hi. This is my first post on this forum. Congratulations on this wonderful new site. My feature request is: In each lesson PDF, could you please devote some footer space to highlighting a different Arabic font? That would really help me to become familiar with different Arabic typefaces.

It could be as simple as one line listing the entire Arabic alphabet (in standard Arabic dictionary order) in your usual font, with another line below that listing the exact same letters but in a different font.

Even better, if these two lines can be followed by any Arabic phrase which corresponds to the English language's "The Quick Brown Fox". So that we can also see how the letters join up in that font (eg. initial, middle, and final forms).

It's okay if this footer is repeated in a constant loop... my guess is that being introduced to just 3 or 4 of the major Arabic fonts in this way would already be a great help. And it would also give us students some regular exposure to the standard Arabic dictionary order, which can't be a bad thing!

Thanks for considering this feature request!

[Timothy]

Yet another great suggestion! You are quickly becoming my favorite person Auntie, it's active members like you that really make my day. شكراً جزيلاً - shukran jaziilan - Thank you very much.

There are a lot of technical issues with getting different fonts in the PDF, but what we can do for you is create a discussion in the forum dedicated to fonts. We can definitely display images of fonts to make sure you can see them correctly. We might even be able to put some external links to sources for each font so you can download/purchase your favorites.

By the way, I like Al-Bayan on Mac and Traditional Arabic on PC.

[Musouka]

I think the most widely used fonts are النَسْخ (Alnaskh) and الرِقْعَة (Alriq'ah):


Image from: http://www.sakkal.com/
Here is an example of Alriq'ah:


Image from: http://islamicimg.jeeran.com/

The oldest known Arabic font is الكوفي (Alkufie). You can see a sample below:


Image from: http://www.sakkal.com/

It is mainly used now in artistic works and calligraphy.

The Quran/Koran also has its own font:


Image from: http://www.diwan.com/

When written in an artistic way, Arabic can be very tricky and hard to read. See the below images:


Image from: http://www.resha.com.sa/


Image from: http://www.islamonline.net/


Image from: http://calligrapher.jeeran.com/


Image from: http://dogfightatbankstown.typepad.com/


Image from: http://www.amwague.net/

[AndrewPenney]

Thank you for those amazing fonts! It's much appreciated. They are so beautiful.

If I'm not mistaken, the modern Arabic language does use a greater variety of fonts -- in print -- than English. I have seen a "National Bank of Kuwait" business card where the name of the bank was in a kufic-style font. Hope APOD101 will be able to help me become familiar with some of the more common ones being used for modern purposes.

Again, thanks!

[Timothy]

Just a quick update on what we're doing over here. Right now I'm working on trying to find/compose a nice piece of text for demonstrating fonts. Unfortunately there isn't a well-known equivalent to The quick brown fox...., I think I've worked through the criteria for a good font-testing text:

tall letters present, ا ل ط ظ ك
low descenders present, ع غ ج ح خ م
descenders present, ر ز س ش ص ض ق ل ن و ي
dots below ب ج ي
dots above ت ث خ ز ش ض ظ ق ف ن ة
ligatures: لا, لم, لح, مج,...
and vocalizations

Once we've settled on a good text, I'll start taking screenshots of the sentence in various fonts.

If you've found a font you like, please let us know about it.

[AndrewPenney]

Hi Timothy, I am really grateful to you for doing so much for us. An idea just came to me. Instead of a phrase (I suggested that only because I was thinking of "Quick Brown Fox", you'd already be giving us a HUGE help if you just listed the entire alphabet (in dictionary order), and then found some way to show us each letter joined to itself. Eg. as an initial, a middle, and a final.

Eg. للل ممم

[AndrewPenney]

After all, the purpose of the fonts comparison is not to teach us the basics of writing/ reading Arabic, just to give us an easier way to recognize the distinctive features of unfamiliar fonts. There might be a few specific ligatures etc that might need an example, but I think you'd be home free with what I have just tried to descibe.

ممم
للل
ررر

سسس

and so on... Thanks again!

[Bouks]

While the fonts are all beautiful, Al-Riq'ah was always the hardest for me to read. The others are more clear and structured.

[thearabickeyboardonline_45984]

Hello everyone!

I'm new to the forum, Although this is an old post, it seems to be very relevant to the current area I'm working on.

We're currently building an Arabic keyboard and are confused with the fonts we should choose for the virtual keyboard.

I've always had difficulties in reading from different Arabic fonts. It would be great, if someone could help me with the easiest font which almost everyone can read?

[nora.innovative]

Hi,

Great project! When I'm using Word, I usually use Times New Roman or Ariel for Body. It's pretty standard in Egypt at least.

Good luck!

Nora
Team ArabicPod101.com