Mashq™

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What is the Mashq™ font?

The Mashq script is the oldest documented Arabic Jazm calligraphy style. It was invented by the early Muslims in the Arabian cities of Mecca and Medina, exclusively for writing the Quran and other Islamic religious texts. The Mashq style employed complex ligature and multi-level baseline rules, and therefore it went through a continuous simplification process. Around the time period Mashq was developed, the early Arab Muslims experimented with another short-lived Mashq-like style with heavily slanted vertical stems, which closely resembled the common Ḥijazi style. This style is commonly referred to as the Ma’il (slanted) style. Eventually, the early complex Mashq style was replaced as the main Islamic Arabic script, by a more simplified Mashq-derived calligraphy style that was developed in the city of Kufa, modern day Iraq, which was commonly referred to as Kufi. The Kufic style became the official Arabic script style for centuries before it was replaced by the more developed Naskh, the modern Arabic script style used today.
The Mashq font family by Arabetics includes three styles of Mashq. The first is Mashq regular, which closely follows the script style of Musḥaf ‘Uthman (currently displayed in the Topkapi Museum in Turkey) with only the initial and final Haa’ baselines shifting. The second is Mashq Maail, which emphasizes the features of the Ma’il style shared with Mashq. The third is Mashq Kufi, which closely follows the script style in an adequate sample from the Quran manuscripts of the Bergstraesser Archive. All three fonts include two styles, with and without Tashkeel (dots). The Mashq and Mashq Kufi fonts include two more styles, with and without Harakat (soft vowels), and Hamza. Only three soft vowels are implemented along with their Tanween (double) forms. The Sukoon vowel is the default shape before inserting a soft vowel. Hamza was treated as a vowel in the Mashq and early Kufi manuscripts. Kashida is a zero width character. In the Mashq fonts, inserting one Kashida before the final ‘Ayn glyph group will trigger alternative shapes. In the Mashq Kufi fonts, inserting one Kashida (or two) before the final Yaa’, ‘Ayn, and Ḥaa’ glyph groups will trigger alternative shapes. The Mashq font family by Arabetics was designed to be as compatible as possible with the Arabic keyboard and Unicode alphabet used in computers today. Calligraphic variations were implemented only when they marked significant and permanent script features.

Mashq™ Font families

The Mashq™ includes the following font families:

  • Mashq Regular
  • Mashq Tashkeel
  • Mashq Harakat
  • Mashq Tashkeel Harakat
  • Mashq Maail Regular
  • Mashq Maail Tashkeel
  • Mashq Kufi Regular
  • Mashq Kufi Tashkeel
  • Mashq Kufi Harakat
  • Mashq Kufi Tashkeel Harakat

Mashq™ Preview

Here is a preview of how Mashq™ will look. For more previews using your own text as an example, click here.


Is Mashq™ a free to download font?

I'm afraid not. Mashq™ is not free to download. You will need to pay for it with your hard earn money. Most fonts that we feature on PimpMyFonts.com is a premium font. We do have a Free Fonts category where we showcase all of the best free fonts that you can download. Trust me when I say, don't waste your time searching for a free download of Mashq™. You will not find a link anywhere.

It is highly unlikely that you'll be able to find Mashq™ for free. You might see a few websites that will say "Free Download" of Mashq™ font, but these are just attempts to get you to click on a link which will either take you to an ad landing page or you risk getting viruses on your computer. In the rare occasion that you do find a free download for Mashq™ remember that it's illegal to use a font if you didn't pay for it!

If you really want Mashq™ and you want to truly own it the legal and safe way, then click here to visit the download and purchase page on MyFonts.com. Here you will be able to obtain the proper license. The designer and publisher deserves to be paid for their work, as they have put in the hours and the creativity to produce such an amazing font. Good luck with your purchase and future use of this font. :)