Ink and Gold charts the development of Islamic calligraphy over a thousand years, from its beginnings in the arabian Peninsula. Given the status of the Qur'an as the world of Allah and ambivalence towards representation of living things, the art of the pen became the focus of an extraordinary energy. Essays cover all the major centers of Islamic calligraphy, from North Africa to Central Asia, highlighting the achievements of Islamic calligraphers in the ages of the 'Abbasid (749?258), Seljuk (1055?1243), Ilkhanid (1256?1357), Safavid (1502?1736), and Mughal Empires (1526?1857). Though pride of place is given to the Qur'an, calligraphy is also examined in mystical and scientific works, Persian poetry, and calligraphy albums.
