Arabic Calligraphy · Published October 13, 2026 · 8 min read

Kashida (Tatweel) in Arabic: What It Is and How to Use It

Kashida — also called tatweel — is the elongation of the horizontal stroke that connects Arabic letters, used to justify text and to add emphasis. On a computer it is a single character, ـ (U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL), inserted between two letters that join. Once you know where kashida may go — and where it breaks a word — you can use it in designs, posters and posts without mistakes a native reader will spot instantly.

What kashida (tatweel) actually is

The word kashida comes from Persian کشیده (kašīda), meaning "extended", "stretched" or "lengthened". Its Arabic name is تطويل (taṭwīl), usually written in English as tatweel. Both name the same thing: the stretching of the line connecting letters in Arabic-script writing.

The purpose is justification. Where Latin typography widens the white space between words, Arabic lengthens the connections inside words, so the line reaches the margin without ugly gaps. The two methods can even be combined.

Here is the classic example — the word الحمد (al-ḥamdu, "praise") with and without kashida:

Nothing about the word has changed — not its letters, meaning or sound. Only the connecting stroke between two joining letters has lengthened. Calligraphers use the same technique for pure emphasis and for book or chapter titles, where a stretched word carries visual weight.

Why kashida exists: justification in Arabic script

Kashida is as old as formal Arabic book production. In handwritten manuscripts and the printed Qur'an, scribes needed every line flush at the margin. Breaking a word across lines is unacceptable in Arabic, and widening word spaces looks disconnected in a flowing cursive script. Elongating the joins solved both problems at once.

One difference matters: a calligrapher draws a curved stroke — sometimes with a subtle downward arc — while the U+0640 tatweel in most fonts is a flat, straight segment. In the right places it gives a similar effect, but it is not the same craft; for a one-of-a-kind Thuluth or Diwani composition, a human calligrapher is still irreplaceable.

Calligraphers also follow a restraint rule worth copying: generally one stretch per word, one stretched word per line — and only between letter combinations where no ligature would form. Restraint is what makes it look elegant rather than sloppy.

Kashida placement rules: where the stretch goes

The single rule behind everything below: tatweel goes only between two letters that join forward. It extends an existing connection. Where there is no connection, there is nothing to extend — and the tatweel sits there as a visible, broken stub.

1. Never after the non-connecting letters

Six Arabic letters never join to the next letter: ا د ذ ر ز و (plus ة ى; in Persian and Urdu, ژ ڈ ڑ ے). Kashida after any of these has no stroke to continue — it renders as a detached dash, the most common kashida mistake.

2. Never inside the لا ligature

لا (lām-alif) is one fused shape, not two letters with a join between them. Tatweel in the middle shatters the ligature.

3. Never between a letter and its tashkeel

Diacritic marks (tashkeel — fatha, damma, kasra, shadda) belong to their letter. A tatweel slipped between a letter and its mark pushes the mark off its letter.

Right and wrong, side by side:

One stretch per word is the norm; a paragraph where every word is stretched stops looking justified and starts looking broken.

Kashida is not a hyphen, dash or underscore

Reaching for a stretched look, people sometimes type a hyphen (-) or an underscore (_) instead. All three look like horizontal strokes, but they behave completely differently in Arabic text:

• Tatweel (ـ) continues the word's own connecting stroke. The letters keep their joined forms and the word stays one connected unit — only the spacing changes.
• Hyphen-minus (-) is a separator, not a connector. It breaks Arabic shaping: the letters switch to isolated forms and the word visibly splits in two.
• Underscore (_) sits below the baseline and never joins anything. It reads as underlining, not elongation.

Subtler point: the tatweel is a real character in your text, not formatting. الحمد and الحمــد are different strings — normalisation tools routinely strip tatweel, which suits search but means kashida has no place in machine-readable text like URLs, usernames or database keys. Use it for display, where humans are the audience.

How to type the tatweel character

The character is ـ — U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL on the official Unicode chart. Fastest route: copy it from here:

If you prefer the keyboard:

• Windows: in Word, hold Alt, type 1600 on the numeric keypad, release. System-wide: hold Alt, type +640, release.
• Mac: Control+Command+Space opens Character Viewer — search "tatweel" and double-click it, or copy from the box above.
• Linux: hold Ctrl+Shift, type U 0640, release the keys.
• Arabic (101) keyboard layout: Shift+J types ـ directly.

Paste it between the two letters to stretch, repeating for a longer effect: one tatweel is subtle, three or four make a visible elongation. Pasted after ا or inside لا, it will look broken.

Using kashida in design tools

Adobe Illustrator: open the Glyphs panel (Window > Type > Glyphs) with an Arabic-capable font selected, find the tatweel, and click to insert it at the cursor. (On the Arabic keyboard layout, Shift+J does the same.)

Adobe Photoshop: Arabic only shapes correctly with the Middle Eastern text engine switched on — otherwise pasted letters come out separated or reversed. With shaping enabled, pasted ـ renders as a normal connecting stroke; if letters still break apart, place a transparent PNG instead of live type.

Canva and Figma: paste the stretched text directly. If anything disconnects, use the same PNG workaround.

Social posts and bios: tatweel pastes fine into WhatsApp, Instagram, TikTok and X — it is plain Unicode. But each app shows your text in its own font, so preview before posting; for a guaranteed look, post a PNG.

When to use kashida — and when to leave it off

• Use it in logos, posters, headings, greeting cards, Eid and Ramadan designs — anywhere a line of Arabic needs to fill space or carry emphasis. One considered stretch beats five random ones.
• Use it for classical-style justification: poetry layouts, certificates, book-style designs where flush margins matter.
• Leave it off Qur'anic text and anything religiously sensitive unless a qualified reader has checked it — most designers keep kashida off sacred text entirely.
• Leave it off body copy. A paragraph of stretched words is tiring to read; kashida is a display treatment.
• Leave it off machine-readable text — usernames, hashtags, URLs, file names. The tatweel is a real character; don't let your handle and your search results disagree about your name.

Frequently asked questions

Q: What is kashida in Arabic?

A: Kashida (Persian kašīda, “stretched”), also called tatweel (Arabic taṭwīl), is the elongation of the horizontal stroke connecting Arabic letters. It justifies lines and adds emphasis; on a computer it is the single character ـ (U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL) between two letters that join.

Q: How do I type the tatweel character (ـ) on my keyboard?

A: Copy ـ from this page. In Word: Alt+1600 on the numeric keypad; system-wide: Alt, then +640, release. Linux: Ctrl+Shift+U, 0640, Enter. Mac: Character Viewer (Control+Command+Space), search “tatweel”. Arabic (101) layout: Shift+J.

Q: Where should kashida be placed — and where is it wrong?

A: Only between two letters that join forward — never after ا د ذ ر ز و, never inside the لا ligature, never between a letter and its tashkeel. Use it sparingly: generally one stretch per word.

Q: Is kashida the same as a hyphen or dash?

A: No. A hyphen breaks a word and disrupts Arabic shaping; kashida keeps the word connected and only lengthens the joining stroke. An underscore sits below the baseline and never joins letters.

Q: Does kashida change the meaning or pronunciation of a word?

A: No. But tatweel is a real character (U+0640), so a word with kashida is a different character string; normalisation tools commonly strip it.

Q: How do I add kashida in Photoshop, Illustrator or Canva?

A: Illustrator: Glyphs panel (Window > Type > Glyphs), or Shift+J on the Arabic layout. Photoshop: switch on the Middle Eastern text engine, then paste text containing ـ. Canva: paste directly — or place a transparent PNG if letters come apart.

Sources

1. Wikipedia, "Kashida". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kashida
2. The Unicode Standard, version 18.0, Arabic block code chart (U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL). unicode.org/charts/PDF/U0600.pdf
3. Benatia, Elyaakoubi & Lazrek, "Arabic text justification", TUGboat 27:2 (2006). tug.org
4. Unicode Explorer, U+0640 ARABIC TATWEEL. unicode-explorer.com/c/0640
5. urduhack (GitHub) — text normalisation removes the tatweel character. github.com/urduhack/urduhack
6. Adobe Community — "Manual Kashida Insertion in Arabic text". community.adobe.com
7. Arabic Calligraphy Generator (this site) — non-connector list, valid-join rules and copy behaviour, as implemented in the tool's kashida stretch feature.