Arabic Letter Dotless Qaf

It is qāf written without its usual dots.

Arabic script developed from Nabataean forms during the fourth and fifth centuries; recognized Arabic inscriptions date from the sixth century. Early qāf and fāʾ could share an unmarked skeleton.

Dotting rules varied. The qāf-above, fāʾ-below pattern is documented from the eighth century; eastern writing later placed both letters’ dots above, and dotting was not standardized until the ninth century. Maghribi writing retained the qāf-above, fāʾ-below distinction.

Is ٯ the same as ق?

It belongs to qāf, but it is not the everyday dotted spelling.

In Warsh orthography, the related African qāf ࢼ uses dots in connected forms and loses them in isolated and final forms. Arabic joining also reshapes ٯ, so its outline can change with its position in a word.