Káfé

Küfi, or Kufic script, is an early angular form of the Arabic alphabet that emerged in the early centuries of Islam. Named after the city of Kufa in present-day Iraq, it was widely used from roughly the 7th to the 11th centuries for Qur'anic manuscripts, inscriptions on architecture, and coinage. Its distinctive appearance is characterized by rectilinear letter shapes, long horizontal strokes, and a geometric, monumental rhythm.

Origins lie in the urban centers of Iraq, with Kufa and Basra as early hubs. Early Kufic features simple, block-like letters and minimal diacritics. Over time, classical Kufic developed with elongated verticals, dense ligatures, and decorative detailing. A later form, square or geometric Kufic, favors tight, grid-like arrangements and is often used in architectural decoration and graphic design. Ornamental Kufic draws on vegetal motifs and interlacing to enhance visual effect.

Usage and impact: Kufic was widely used for Qur'anic pages, frontispieces, and monumental inscriptions in mosques and palaces across the Islamic world. It was valued for splendor at large scales but is less suited to body text, a task increasingly handed to cursive scripts such as Naskh. Kufic influenced many later Arabic scripts and remains a powerful decorative idiom in Islamic art.

Modern era: Kufic survives in contemporary typography through square Kufic and other modular fonts used in graphic design, architecture, and branding. It is commonly studied in calligraphy courses as one of the earliest Arabic scripts. The term kufic is sometimes rendered as küfi or küfü in Turkish and other languages when referring to this script.