A Form Analysis of the Muhammad Ibrahim Tehrani's Calligraphic Inscriptions in the Shrine of Imamzade Hamze

The shrine of Imamzade Hamze is part of the Abd Al-Azim complex in the Town of Rey and has a collection of decorations such as the inscriptions. In addition to their religious values, they are considered as important sources for studying the process of changes in the Nastaliq script because of the different methods of drawing the words on the paper. This research, using archival-field sources and an observational-descriptive method, answers the question of “What form features do the Nastaliq calligraphic inscriptions by Muhammad Ibrahim Tehrani in the shrine of Imamzade Hamze have?” The findings showed that from the executive perspective, in addition to the form features of the second Qajar period that were preludes to the third Qajar period (including the changes of coordinates and relative compactness in the form of alphabets and words), the inscriptions shared some of the features of the Safavid calligraphic style like the attachment of some detached alphabets to the alphabet that makes the sound of “e”. These inscriptions had two-folded contents: praising the great religious figures or the monarchs. They were also important for investigating the calligraphic changes because they were executed by Muhammad Ibrahim Tehrani himself.