of a manuscript, drawing similarities between the zilīj-covered dados and the geometric manuscript illuminations, and the epigraphical forms in the palace to calligraphic motifs in contemporary Arabic manuscripts. Inscriptions typically ran in vertical or horizontal bands or they were set inside cartouches of round or rectangular shape. Most major inscriptions in the Alhambra use the Naskhi or cursive script, which was the most common script used in writing after the early Islamic period. Thuluth was a derivation of the cursive script often used for more pompous or formal contexts; favoured, for example, in the preambles of documents prepared by the Nasrid chancery. Many inscriptions in the Alhambra were composed in a mixed Naskhi-Thuluth script. Bands of cursive script often alternated with friezes or cartouches of Kufic script. Kufic is the oldest form of Arabic calligraphy, but by the 13th century Kufic scripts in the western Islamic world became increasingly stylized in architectural contexts and could be nearly illegible. In the Alhambra, there are many examples of "Knotted" Kufic, a particularly elaborate style where the letters tie together in intricate knots. The extensions of these letters could turn into strips that continued and formed more abstract motifs, or sometimes formed the edges of a cartouche encompassing the rest of the inscription. The texts of the Alhambra include "devout, regal, votive, and Qur'anic phrases and sentences," formed into arabesques, carved into wood and marble, and glazed onto tiles. Poets of the Nasrid court, including Ibn al-Khatīb and Ibn Zamrak, composed poems for the palace. The inscriptions of the Alhambra are also unique for their frequent self-referential nature and use of personification. Some inscribed poems, such as those in the Palace of the Lions, talk about the palace or room in which they're situated and are written in the first person, as if the room itself was speaking to the reader. Most of the poetry is inscribed in Nasrid cursive script, while foliate and floral Kufic inscriptions—often formed into arches, columns, enjambments, and "architectural calligrams"—are generally used as decorative elements. Kufic calligrams, particularly of the words "blessing" ( baraka) and "felicity" ( yumn), are used as decorative motifs in arabesque throughout the palace. Like the rest of the original stucco decoration, many inscriptions were originally painted and enhanced with colours. Studies indicate that the letters were often painted in gold or silver, or in white with black outlines, which would have made them