"Ali Ibn Abi Talib, radiya' llah Ta'aala anhu wa-Karrama wajhahu." (Ali Ibn Abi Talib, may God Almighty be pleased with him and honor him.) The script is Tawqi', structured into the shape of a lion.
Tawqi' and Req'aa are sister scripts, and both have a close affinity with Thuluth. Tawqi' was invented by the 9th century, and was soon adopted by the Abbasid Caliphs as the royal script for writing their names and titles. It is more horizontally extended than Req'aa, is often written linked, and is usually well spaced, with only a few diacritical marks. A heavy, ornamental variety of Tawqi', even more closely resembling Thuluth, developed gradually, and was especially favored by the Ottoman calligraphers.
"Ya Rahman Ya Rahim." (O Merciful, O Compassionate.)
These compositions are both
derived from the imperial Tughra script which is the official monogram of the
Ottoman sultan. In the 19th century, religious invocations occasionally were written in
this form.
The large text contains the Asma'a ll'hi al-Husna, the Divine Names of God, and parts of
the Qur'anic Surah CXII, al-Ekhlas (Purity). The smaller script, like the little
cartouche next to it on the right side, invokes God's protection against Satan.
Despite the abolition of Arabic
calligraphy in 1923 by Mustafa Kamal Ata'turk, the first President of The Republic of
Turkey, modern Turkish masters still are considered to be among the leading practitioners
of Arabic calligraphy in the Islamic world. This is not surprising when one recalls that,
from the late Middle Ages onward, Ottoman masters were arguably the finest exponents of
all the calligraphic scripts devised by the Arabs, the Persians and the Turkish
themselves.
This composition consists of the opening Surah of the Qur'an, al-Fatiha (the exordium). It reads:
"In the name of God, The Compassionate, The Merciful; Praise be to God; the Cherisher and Sustainer of the Worlds; The Compassionate, The Merciful; Master of the Day of Judgment. Thee do we worship, and thine aid do we seek. Show us the straight way; The way of those on whom Thou hast bestowed Thy Grace, Those whose portion is not wrath, And who go not astray."
This is written in Thuluth Jali (large format Thuluth) by Hamid al-Amidi (1891 -1982), who was born Musa Azmi, one of Turkey's most famous modern calligraphers. Hamid was a student of many famous calligraphers: Haci Hafiz Bey, Kamil Akdik, Hulusi Efendi and Ismail Hakki Altunbezer. Hamid worked as a teacher of calligraphy from 1910- until 1912, then as a cartographer at the Military College until 1918, before devoting himself full-time to the practice of his art. He copied the Holy Qur'an twice and did the inscriptions on the Sisli Mosque in Istanbul. The decoration is based on a traditional style of manuscript illumination.
This finely engraved seal, cast in brass, bears the date 1062 (1651 AD) and the inscription reads:
Shihab al-Din, Mohammed Shah Jahan Padshah Ghazi.
It is a seal of the Mughal emperor of Muslim India, Shah Jahan (1627-1628). The ebony handle is perhaps a modern addition, but the style of calligraphy, arabesque decoration and layout, is typical of 17th century Indian Mughal seals. Seals were made of metal or hard stones like carnelian. Islamic documents were always sealed with ink. The seal was moistened, dipped in ink and then pressed onto the document. Wax was almost never used in Islamic countries, as it was in Europe, to make a seal impression.
The inscription consists of Surah IX, al-Tawbah, verse 128):
Now hath come unto you An Apostle from amongst Yourselves; it grieves him that you should perish; Ardently anxious is he over you: to the believers is he the most kind and merciful.
It is written in Muhaqqaq script, with the words "anxious is he over you" in large Thuluth outlined in gold. Muhaqqaq, which means "meticulously produced", was standardized by Ibn Muqlah and reached perfection at the hands of Ibn al-Bawwab and Yaqut al-Must'asimi. Like Naskh, Muhaqqaq became an extremely popular script for copying Qur'an. Its shallow sublinear curves and horizontally extended mid-line curvatures, combined with its compact word-structure, give it a leftward-sweeping impetus. Its varieties range from a somewhat rugged script to writing with delicate outlines and soft curves, and a bolder type with characteristics of both Thuluth and Naskh. The calligrapher of this composition is Mohammed Zakariya, a well-known modern exponent of the classical style, usually working in a manner which shows his interest in the Ottoman masters of the last century. Compositions of this type originated with Mustafa Raqim (1757-1826) and became popular in 19th century Turkey. However, the vividly colored roundels are based on 14th-century Iranian manuscript illuminations. The composition thus has diverse artistic and calligraphic antecedents. This piece shows the calligrapher's skill as a designer.
This piece is written in excellent Thuluth on an openwork ground of spiral scrolls. Both script and decoration would have been drawn, or inscribed, on a sheet of forged steel and then cut out with drills, saws and files. Such work is known to have been done in Iran or Turkey in the 16th century, by craftsmen who probably learned their skills initially with armoires.
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Ink, gouache and varnish on
cardboard The beauty of Arabic alphabet is entirely intrinsic. It can be appreciated for its formal and rhythmic qualities alone and needs no embellishment or decoration. But both Iranian and Ottoman tastes, particularly in the 9th century, put the Arabic alphabet through some strange contortions. Scripts were covered with representations of people, animals and even tiny scenes. This script is called Gulzar, meaning "full of flowers." A good example can be seen here. It is part of a verse by the Persian poet Hafiz and says:
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Ink and gouache on paper stuck on
cardboard. Traces of gold Here the
background is so extensively decorated that the animals, plants and human
figures merge into an all-embracing pattern of green and gold. The script
is in bold Farsi
(Nasta'liq).
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