Swash / Tail (Dhanab)

A swash or tail (ذنب, dhanab) is an extended stroke that trails off from a letter, typically descending or sweeping horizontally. In Arabic, tails appear on letters like ر (rāʾ), و (wāw), ن (nūn in final position), and ي (yāʾ in final position). These strokes are one of the most expressive elements in Arabic letterforms, and they vary dramatically between scripts.

Variation Across Scripts

In Naskh, tails are relatively controlled and proportional. In Ruqʿah, they are short and blunt. In Thuluth and Diwani, they become sweeping, dramatic gestures that can extend far below or beside the letter, creating strong visual movement. The character and length of tails is one of the quickest ways to identify which script family a piece of calligraphy belongs to, and in type design, tails are a primary tool for conveying a font's personality.

Letters with Prominent Tails