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{{for|the traditional water-carrying bags of India and Pakistan|Mashk}}
[[File:A Manuscript of Five Sections of a Qur'an MET sf1982-120-2-a.jpg|thumb|400px|Mashq elongations in the [[Maghrebi script]] used to write [[surah]]s 105-114 of an 18th-century Maghrebi [[Quran]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/453165|title=A Manuscript of Five Sections of a Qur'an,18th century: Catalogue Entry|last=Ekthiar|first=Maryam|date=2011|website=Met Museum}}</ref>]]
[[File:Mashq script - Qur'anic Manuscript.jpg|thumb|400px|Qur'anic manuscript of Surah 17: [[Al-Isra]] written in [[Kufic|Kufic script]] with mashq extensions.]]
{{Arab culture}}
'''Mashq''' is one of the oldest [[calligraphic]] forms of the [[Arabic alphabet|Arabic]] script. At the time of the emergence of [[Islam]], this type of writing was likely already in use in various parts of the [[Arabian Peninsula]]. It is first attested during the reign of caliph Umar, making it one of the earliest forms of Arabic script, along with [[Hijazi script|Hijazi]] and [[Kufic]]. It was used in most texts produced during the first and second centuries [[Islamic calendar|after the Hijra]].

== Etymology ==
In Arabic, مَشَقَ ''mashaqa'' means "to stretch out"<ref>{{Cite web|title = Al-Ma'any Dictionary Entry - َمَشَق|url=http://www.almaany.com/ar/dict/ar-ar/%25D9%2585%25D8%25B4%25D9%2582/|website = www.almaany.com|access-date = 2016-01-25}}</ref> and the name مَشْق ''mashq'' references the fact that the letters د ,ص ,ط ,ك, and ى (as well as their dotted counterparts) are written stretched out. Mashq calligraphy is also notable for the shortened intervals between words.

The Arabic term for this script spread as a [[loanword]] throughout the Muslim world as the Arabic writing system spread. For example, mashq is known as ''meşk'' in Turkish and is practiced by present-day calligraphers.

== See also ==
{{Portal|Languages}}
* [[Old North Arabian script|Ancient North Arabian script]]
* [[Ancient South Arabian script]]
* [[Hijazi script]]
* [[Kufic]]
* [[Muhaqqaq]]
* [[Naskh (script)|Naskh]]
* [[Persian calligraphy]]
* [[Reyhan (script)|Rayhan]]
* [[Tawqi]]
* [[Thuluth]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070929131236/http://trboard.org/modules/myalbum1/photo.php?lid=38 Mashq Sample] Calligrapher:Mehmed Şevki Efendi
*[http://www.islamic-awareness.org/Quran/Text/Mss/enl2a.html Qur'anic fragment] dated to 107 AH / 725 CE, now in the [[Egyptian National Library]]

{{Arabic language}}
{{Islamic calligraphy}}

[[Category:Arabic calligraphy]]


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