This kind of calligraphy is known as the “mother” and origin of all calligraphy. All calligraphers have to master this kind of handwriting, which is the most difficult, followed by the Naskh, which means “copying,” as the Qur’an was copied in that script, and then the Farsi or Persian script. The naming of the Thuluth script goes back to the standard Tumar pen, which is the biggest pen and has a width of 24 horsehairs. The Thuluth pen was a third of this standard pen and made of eight hairs. There were half (12 hairs) and two-thirds (16 hairs) pens as well. This idea goes back to the calligrapher and minister Ibn Muqla, who set the rules of the Thuluth script.

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The Thuluth script is used to write on the walls of mosques, minbars (pulpits), domes, facades, museums, as well as newspaper headlines and books. This script was used in the openings of the surahs of the Qur’an and in epigrams. Thuluth script is also known for the tendency to make artistic forms (tashkil) with it.