Arabic Mathematical Dotless Qaf

Use Unicode hex entry or an HTML numeric reference.

In an editor that supports hexadecimal entry, type 1EE1F and run its Unicode conversion command. In HTML source, enter 𞸟. Use this exact character when a formula calls for dotless qāf; ordinary ق does not preserve that mathematical form.

What does dotless qaf mean in math?

It is a variable letter, not a fixed number or operation.

Qāf (ق) is the Arabic letter this form is based on. The surrounding formula supplies the quantity it stands for.

Arabic-script algebra used letter forms to write equations in Arabic and Persian traditions; distinct styles could distinguish variables, so those distinctions had to survive in plain text. Historians trace North African (Maghrebi) algebraic notation to the late 12th century. A handwritten copy from 1747 preserves symbols in the margins of an algebra book composed in 1380. A shared agreement on scientific symbols in Arabic was reached in Amman in 1987. As of 2026, these letterforms appear in most math handbooks published in West Asia, Libya, and Algeria, and are also used in Persian-script mathematics.

Does it join nearby Arabic letters?

No; the mathematical character keeps its isolated shape.

Ordinary Arabic letters change form according to their position and neighbors; this mathematical symbol does not. A joined outline is not part of its mathematical form.