The Gateway to
Arabic Handwriting Book has been written as part of the "Gateway to Arabic"
series with a view to giving students the opportunity to learn, practise and
acquire proficiency in a fluent style of Arabic handwriting. It is recommended
that students should already have completed at least Book One of the Gateway
series and be familiar with the Arabic alphabet before embarking upon this book.
Although a number of handwriting styles are used in the Middle East, the style
taught in this book, namely ruq'ah, is the most widespread and the
easiest to learn. Compared to the printed style of Arabic, which is termed
naskh, ruq'ah offers the advantage of being much quicker to
write.The book has been
organised so that identical naskh and ruq'ah texts appear on
facing pages for ease of comparison and contrast. The first section sets out the
letters of the Arabic alphabet in all their forms: initial, medial, final and
isolate. The precise direction and sequence of pen movements for each letter
have been clearly indicated through the use of numbered
arrows.
Having completed the
presentation of the alphabet in all its forms, the book then provides the
student with the chance to practise copying complete words and phrases, most of
which would already be familiar to the Muslim student. A further opportunity for
the reinforcement of handwriting skills is given through the copying of
selective ayat (verses of the Qur'an). A translation of these verses is
included on the page on which they appear. Language: English.
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