المداد الأسود

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

Black ink (al-midad al-aswad) served as the standard medium for the main body of text (matn) in Najdi manuscripts (p. 364). It was also occasionally used for headings and section dividers, though red was preferred for that purpose (p. 364).

Evidence

"كتابة كلمة فصل في أعلى كل فصل بحيث تشغل الجزء الأوسط، وتكتب إما بالمداد الأحمر وهو الغالب، أو المداد الأسود وكثيرًا ما يكون حجمها أكبر."

Remarks

In some cases, scribes used a larger script size for titles even when using black ink to ensure they stood out from the main text (p. 364). The use of black ink for headings was less common than red ink (al-midad al-ahmar) among the Najdi scribal community (p. 364).