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Arabic
calligraphy is characterized by flowing
patterns and intricate geometrical
designs. This fine writing-which the
Alexandrian philosopher, Euclid, called a
"spiritual technique", has
poured forth from the pens of Arabs for
the last thirteen centuries.
In a broad sense, calligraphy is merely
handwriting, a tool for recording and
communicating; but in the Arab world it
is an art. an art with a remarkable
history, a form with great masters and
revered traditions. Beauty alone
distinguishes calligraphy from ordinary
handwriting; writing may express ideas,
but to the Arab it must also express the
broader dimension of aesthetics.
Historians disagree on both the
birthplace and birthdate of Arabic
writing, but the most widely accepted
theory is that it developed from
Nabataean, a west Aramaic dialect which
served as the international language of
the Middle East from about the fourth
century, B.C., until the seventh century,
A.D. As the new Islamic faith emerged and
spread, the Arabic of the Arabian
Peninsula replaced Aramaic as the lingua
franca of the area. |
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several
consonants were written with the same
symbol; only later was a system of dots
above and below the letters devised in
order to differentiate among them.
Finally, in 933 A. D., the final version
of the written Qur 'an-the one
which is considered authoritative even to
this day-was completed.
Just as the
Christian monks of Europe in the Middle
Ages spent lifetimes writing and
illuminating religious manuscripts, so,
too, did the Arab forebears devote their
lives to producing elegantly handwritten
copies of the Qur 'an. Because
Islam's monotheism discouraged the
representation of human or animal forms,
the calligrapher found artistic
expression in highly stylized intricate
and flowing patterns. Over a period of
centuries, calligraphy remained a supreme
art form, replacing design, painting and
sculpture. Calligraphy, filled not only
palaces and mosques, but clothing,
carpets, decorative items and literary
works. The artist could draw from any
number of styles-kufic, thuluth and
being the best known, naksh-depending,
often, on the purpose of that
inscription.
From
the Dome of the Mosque of the Rock in
Jerusalem to the great mosques of Isfahan
in Persia, calligraphy decorated,
enhanced and even helped to visually
unify the greatest Muslim structures. The
art of Arabic calligraphy was employed in
many European churches as well, such as
in Saint Peter's in Rome. The
representations of Christian saints that
beautify the Capella Palatina in Palermo
(Sicily) bear inscriptions in kufic, the
early Arabic script. Today, the
calligraphic tradition lives on
throughout the Arab/Islamic world in
religious, educational, governmental and
commercial architecture.
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As we
have noted elsewhere, the Arabs had a
highly developed oral tradition in poetry
even before they had an alphabet. Poetry
was composed and committed to memory and
was passed on in this manner from
generation to generation. Indeed, in the
beginning, even the Qur 'an, the
Holy Book of Islam and the Arabic
language's crowning literary achievement,
was committed to memory by professional
memorizers who attended the Prophet
Muhammad. For fifteen years after his
death, it existed only in oral form.
The Caliph 'Uthman, 644-656 A.D., fearing
dangerous diversity in such a method,
ordered that an official recension be
undertaken. In the seventh century, only
consonants and long vowels were written;
the short vowels had to be inferred by
the reader. But even more confusing was
the fact that |
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