The images created by humankind on the surface of stones and pottery can be considered as the first efforts at writing, the oldest examples of which are the patterned ceramics from the western regions of Iran. Perhaps since ancient times, it has been a dream of people to record and leave behind their collective memories for later generations or perhaps drawing and writing simply possessed a magical role and use. Today, some researchers consider many ancient created images and paintings to have magical qualities.

In Persian-Arabic manuscripts, calligraphy and typefaces there is often a small mark on top of the "final form" of letter Kaaf. Instead of the "stroke" on top of Kaaf the calligrapher in some cases pens in a little mark in the negative space inside of Kaaf.

Dabireh: Alef, Dabireh Collective's first edited volume, was published in October 2009. This edition is a distillation of two years of research and experiments by Dabireh members.

The book is printed in 160 pages in two colors and contains fifteen articles by Dabireh members and contributors. Articles in this issue, all in Persian, span over historic and theoretical discussions, Persian-Arabic writing system, Persian language, case studies and project features.

Arabic printing did not start in Europe, as is sometimes stated. In fact the Arabic script first appears in printed documents in Egypt, as early as the 10th century CE. Although these include passages from the Qur'an and other Islamic religious texts, it seems that they were not really designed to be read, nor were they generally intended to be artistic: some pieces have rather crude decoration, but calligraphy was beyond the capability of those who produced them.

The art of Qattai (Scrapping) is eloquent of distinct elegance, concentration and overflowing talent of the Iranian artist. The old Qattai works help us determine the genesis of this art which can date back to early 9th century A.H. Indubitably enough, this art is regarded as a specific branch of  calligraphy as most of the survived pieces bear calligraphic themes.

In the 8th century A.H. (14th century A.D.), during the reign of Timur, a sufi from the city of Tabriz famous for his ability to interpret dreams began the dissemination of a new faith. By emphasizing the authenticity of letters and paying great attention to their properties and mysteries, he began an interpretation of Qur'an along with its apothegm: using this method he found new meanings, which he considered to be the basis of the holy book.