A Study of the Use and Manner of Performing Diagonal Writing in the Manuscripts of the Seventh and Eighth Centuries AH (based on the Manuscripts of the Malek National Library and Museum)

The study of manuscripts shows that one of the important arrangements of the scribes in the process of writing texts was diagonal writing. However, the applications of diagonal writing and how to use it have received less attention. The purpose of this article is to study the application and how to perform diagonal writing in the seventh and eighth centuries AH in the manuscripts of the Malek National Library and Museum. The questions of this research in order to analyze the subject are: 1-What have been the benefits of diagonal writing for scribes? 2-In what cases and to what extent has diagonal writing been used? Also, 3-what form of structure can be considered for diagonal writing? To answer these questions, all 226 manuscripts of the seventh and eighth centuries AH published on the website of the Malek National Library and Museum, which mainly include scientific and literary books, especially poetry, were studied in a descriptive-analytical manner.
The topics of the manuscripts selected for this research are diverse. From scientific and medical manuscripts to religious manuscripts, each of which has its own characteristics from the point of view of writing. Writing a version with the subject of geometry, which has a shape and table, has different necessities and page layout from a jurisprudential manuscript. In addition, the quality of the writing and the skill of the scribes in the manuscript are also different. Also, the quality of the calligrapher in writing exquisite manuscripts is superior to conventional manuscripts, which are mostly done in a hurry and for the purpose of transcription or simple writing. Every writer, regardless of proficiency, has been faced with these questions, what are the limitations of each subject and how to write it, given that writing is a difficult and time-consuming task, and at the same time, a mistake in writing is inevitable. Hence, the scribes have chosen different solutions to solve these problems. For example, by creating a margin on each page, they anticipate the possibility of correcting mistakes next to the original text. One of the important strategies of scribes to face these two challenges has been the use of diagonal writing.
The findings of this study show that for the scribes of this period, the applied aspect of diagonal writing had a higher priority than the beauty and decoration of the page. The use of diagonal writing has been in the two main parts of completing and correcting the text and creating a distinction in the text. Correction and differentiation of a word or sentence in the text are some of the main goals of diagonal writing in the manuscripts selected in this course. Distinguishing the rhyme in the poem and coordinating the form and text in the scientific manuscripts have been some of the reasons for using diagonal writing. It should also be noted that the movement of the hand when writing without creating a line does not follow a straight line and deviates naturally, which was an unwanted thing for the scribes. Therefore, diagonal writing has also occurred without a practical reason. Diagonalizing the text in the final part of the manuscripts is another way to differentiate. The structure of the diagonal is also obtained by examining the length of the lines and their angle to each other. Examining the practical solutions of scribes in the face of the challenges and problems of writing provides a deeper understanding of their approach. The difference in their creative methods and solutions provides a more complete picture of the writing of this period, which is distinct from later periods. In later periods, more attention was paid to the decorative and aesthetic aspects of diagonal writing, and new structures emerged in the layout. Diagonal writing in the form of a cross (Chalipa) also became very popular for poems.
In this research, while specifying the terms of diagonal writing and some related concepts, an attempt has been made to investigate the possibility of distinguishing between practical and intentional types of diagonal writing in some unwanted forms of diagonal writing. In the following, the applications of diagonal writing in correction and differentiation of text and finally the structure of diagonal writing in selected versions have been analyzed.