Because the power of the word is respected in Islamic culture, whether verbal or transcribed, recitation and writing have been given a lot of attention both in Arabic-speaking and non-Arabic-speaking Islamic societies. This has encouraged an appreciation of calligraphy – meaning literally ‘beautiful writing’ – and in turn promoted the application of the art onto a variety of media, both for religious and secular use. Calligraphy appears on architecture, books, coinage and metal wares, official documents and tiraz textiles, ceramics, wood, ivory, stone and glass, and nearly every other kind of media one can think of.