Before you is a “sultanic ferman.” The ferman is composed of three scripts: the tughra, the jali diwani, and finally the diwani. A ferman may be richly ornamented or plain, but what is constant is the use of these three scripts.
The tughra is not a script in the common sense of the word; rather it is a term for an artistic composition that fuses the thuluth and ijaza hands into that pyramidal structure which signifies the authority of the Ottoman state. The second line is the jali diwani, carrying the formula — in translation from the Ottoman — “A noble decree of exalted station and lofty place: it is sultanic, and by it the command of the Khāqān of the world is issued, to be carried out by divine aid and by the sublime order and ferman.”
The final lines are the “body of the ferman” — that is, the decision itself, whether a treaty, an appointment, a patent, and so on. The texts are many, and the number of lines varies from one text to another.
This single piece can be studied from several angles. The first is diplomatics, the science of the document. It is also studied through paleography, the science that examines the development of the letter from age to age and place to place by comparison. And finally there is the calligraphic study — the aesthetic one: the imprint of a powerful master of the tughra (a tughrakesh) such as Raqim or Sami; the manner of writing the diwani and the differences between the various Ottoman schools; or the difference between the Egyptian and the Ottoman diwani.
The aim of the calligraphic study is beauty. The danger for the scholar of beauty is that they step into the territory of diplomatics without sufficient grounding, for every sign carries a meaning; and likewise the one well-versed in Arabic calligraphy who enters the subject without a good historical and cultural background — the matter then appears difficult and obscure. Yet this discipline has been served by respected men who spent their lives in research and study — may God lengthen their support: Dr. Salwa Ali Milad, Dr. Ahmed al-Masri, Dr. Mohamed Bayoumi, Dr. Idham Hanash, and among the calligraphers there are many.
The science of the scripts of documents and manuscripts is a beautiful and accessible field, but what matters is that you master the tools of study well before you begin. The attached ferman dates from the era of Sultan Abdülmecid, granting the Mejidie Order.
