Kashida

I noticed Arabic words can grow longer without changing what they say — by stretching the connecting stroke between letters. That stretch is called a kashida (ـ), or tatweel. I use it to balance a line, but I had to learn the hard way: stretch the wrong join and the word looks broken.

Typographic Considerations

Typographically, kashida affects rhythm and texture. It can be used to support justification and spacing, but it also changes the visual weight and flow of a line, which means it needs to be handled with care. A kashida that is too long or placed in the wrong join becomes obvious and can distort the word's shape, while a short, well-placed kashida can disappear into the line and simply improve balance.