Bannai script is a style of Kufic calligraphy that emerges from drawing geometric shapes (squares, rhombuses, rectangles, as well as parallel and intersecting lines) based on a checkered pattern.

After the fifth century, Hijri*; Bannai lost its first use in writing the Holy Quran; it gradually went through its stages of growth during the Ilkhanate* and Timurid* periods, which are considered the flourishing periods of calligraphy, along with various lines such as Thulth, decorative Kufi , Naskh, etc. for sculptural decorations, plastering, tiling and brickwork for internal and external surfaces of mosques and religious buildings; porches on the back and sides of arches, the round body of minarets as well as mansions and markets; because it is easier to cut than other lines that are full of twists and turns and it is used in full harmony with the main elements of the building or the facade covering.

The other name of Khat Bannai is Maaqeli, which is pronounced in two ways: one is Moaqeel, derived from the thought and art the calligrapher puts into drawing the lines, and its reading also requires wisdom. The other is Maaqeel (rhymes with Mahfi l) which means a wall, a castle, a shelter, or a high mountain. Because its letters, like the inhabitants of a castle, encompass each other in such a way that it is difficult to reach them, create division, or change them. Bannai is also pronounced in two ways, both of which are correct.

One is Banai or Benai, which attributes this line to buildings, and the other, due to its decorative use in architecture, is Bannai because the designers of this line were most likely architects.

In 2018, a professor of calligraphy, in response to the defects that can be seen in most inscriptions of this type of calligraphy, stated:

“These defects are the nature of calligraphy due to limitations of space; the artist has to remove or add some letters with a circular movement to complete the work!”

The designs and executions that have been carried out with this font so far, are generally incomplete and don’t contain all aspects, so hearing this answer from a calligraphy master did not seem very logical. For that reason, by using the analytical and developmental descriptive methods, collecting data, and field observations; a new link between the design method and the modern execution method of Kufic inscriptions of Bannai or Benai (Maaqeli) was created in such a way, that the designing method is chosen from a difficult or overlapping type with no additions or deductions during design or execution. Complying with all of the following items will make these distinctive and different designs and executions more evident: