ABSTRACT
The central role of Islamic calligraphy in the visual arts of the Muslim world is linked to the transmission and preservation of the Qurʾanic revelation. Sufi communities contributed to the development of this calligraphic tradition in different ways. In some cases, particular orders promoted the study of calligraphy among their members; in others, Sufis became master calligraphers, developed interpretive methods based on the shape of Arabic letters, expanded upon Qur’ani metaphors that emphasize the importance of writing and indirectly influenced the methods for transmitting calligraphic knowledge. Sufis also authored texts that lent themselves to calligraphic interpretation: In Morocco, the Dalāʾil al-khayrāt, a book of prayers on behalf of the Prophet Muhammad written by the renowned sixteenth-century Sufi master Muhammad ibn Sulayman al-Jazuli (d. 1465), became a favorite of calligraphers (Sufi or not) throughout the Islamic world.
