ITREB Thought of the Day: #SaturdaySchool
Sacred art in Muslim culture unfolds around the arts of its holy book, the Qur’an e-Sharif – lyrical recitation, poetry, and perhaps most notably, calligraphy. Unlike other religions, Islam does not have an iconography of sacred symbols. Instead, Muslims represent the Divine through calligraphy and a style of abstracted ornamentation known as the arabesque. The art of calligraphy began with the copying and transmission of the verses of the Qur’an. In fact, the writing of the Arabic language was not systemised until the companions of the Prophet (pbuh), including Hazrat Ali (pbuh), began to transcribe the Qur’an. As scribes wrote down Allah’s revelation, a natural style of ornamentation and embellishment developed. By the 10th century Calligraphy had become a highly sophisticated and refined art form that was simultaneously an act of devotion – the arabesque became a metaphor for the Divine.
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