It will be observed that beneath the م (m) of the words الادم (al-adamu) and الماء (al-māʾi), in the S̤ulus̤ fragment, the letter is written a second time in a smaller character, and that, moreover, in the word الادم it is surmounted by the sign
, which in Mag͟hrib writing, as we have seen, generally represents the Tashdīd. This is done in the above-mentioned ornate styles, especially with those letters which admit of diacritical points, viz. ح, د, ر, س, ص, ط, ع, &c. To indicate that no such diacritical point is intended, the sign
is placed on the top of the letter, or to make still surer of preventing a mistake, the letter itself is repeated in a minute shape at the bottom. Only the letter ه (h), as distinguished from ة (t), is, in this case, written above the line, because it frequently occurs as abbreviation of هو huwa, “He,” or الله Allāh, “God,” and it would therefore be considered irreverential towards the Deity to write it beneath the other letters. As a feature common to this division of the Eastern Arabic manuscript style, we lastly point out the inclination of the characters from the left to the right, in contradistinction both to the Mag͟hrib and T̤aʿlīq writing, where the letters are traced perpendicularly, or even with a slight bend from the right to the left.
Two other deviations from the pure Nask͟hī style are the Jarī and Dīwānī, officially employed in Turkey, and exhibited in the specimen No. 9:—
No. 9.
JARI AND DIWANI.