Arabic calligraphy

Submitted by Ivan on Mon, 2005-07-11 11:34. Inspiration

In a previous post someone well spoted that I was playing with "Arabic" numbers, which are in fact Indian numbers (the circle means 5 and the dots are zeros.) It's the Westeners who use Arabic numbers such as: 1,2,3.

Arabic calligraphy

I'm fascinated by the look of the Arabic script. It's out of this world. If Spielberg would have invented a writing for a new planet it may have been similar in looks to the Arabic script.

I think Arabic calligraphy is a form of art that has superseeded any other culture in its category. It's highly complex and has many layers of meaning.

I won't to go into details. You start doing that here if you wish. Allow me to just touch upon the subject and show you a few interesting examples.

zoomorphic calligraphy

Elephant zoomorphic calligraphy This style is my personal favorite because I'm an animal lover. It's called zoomorphic calligraphy and some believe it's developed because of the restriction of illustrating living beings according to muslim traditions.

The example below is a highly popular style where carefully layed out miniature text makes up a bigger sentence. Both the small and big text are related and usually verses from the Koran.

miniature script

The one below showcases an ancient manuscript from Iraq. Note that in those times using black and red inks to write was a must. Later the red dots were replaced with other symbols that need not to be red.

ancient script

Finally let me show you a modern script that can be found on contemporary buildings. This example below is a piece from a long text that goes all around the House of Koran. Note the geometric simplicity of the script.

moden calligraphy

Latin font types seriously influence the contemporary Arabic typography. As you can see below sometimes latin fonts are mimiced to create similar looks.

abraj al lulu logo

Arabic script and arabesque design is largely ignored outside the Middle East. Unlike many other languages that are used extensively as design elements even in the West, Arabic didn't enter the mainstream culture. Japanese characters are all over girls as tattoos and t-shirts designs for example. Have you seen anybody with an Arab script tattoo?

I think the main reason Arabic calligraphy didn't penetrate the pop culture is because it's very closely associated with religion and the usage of these styles may be a sensitive issue.

Excuse my shallow views, but I think this is unfortunate, because Arabic calligraphy has a beautiful texture, which can be appreciated even if you don't read the text. I fully understand however that for muslims the script means so much more than just pretty design. The Koran and the style of the text is holy and there is no room for reinterpreting these visual elements.

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It's a very complex science

Submitted by Waleed on Mon, 2005-07-11 12:37.

It's a very complex science to me.. I have a friend who's knows Arabic calligraphy very well, he calculates the lengths and shapes of the letters based on mathematical rules. Of course it becomes natural to the calligrapher after a while, however, not all follow the rules..

He also told me the best calligraphers in the world today are Turkish..

Waleed
www.waleedsgallery.biz

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Why no Calligraphy....

Submitted by wurx on Mon, 2005-07-11 12:59.

Just a quick note on Tatoo's:

There are other factors to why there aren't any Aribic tatoo's, long with Hebrew and other languages, Tatoo's are/may be considered taboo in may cultures. To put a Hebrew letter tatoo on you makes as much sense as killing animals to support animal rights.

Japan has a long history and glorification of Tatoo's, along with Samoans...etc

Just my 2 cents.

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Lovely language

Submitted by webdav@creative... on Mon, 2005-07-11 16:01.

I've always loved the flowing lines of Arabic script. It's quite nice.

As far as not catcing on in pop culture, I think that's more because pop culture is English dominated. Does it have something to do with associations with negative stereotypes? Possibly.

I can see a couple of reasons that tatoos might be taboo in Jewish culture - (especially choosing to get one on your forearm), but is it actually a stated taboo? What about in other cultures?

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Tatoos and Judaism

Submitted by dihakz on Mon, 2005-07-11 16:22.

As a matter of fact, it is a stated taboo within Judaism. The rationale is as follows:

Upon your death, your body must remain as intact as possible, with no modifications or doing anything otherwise destructive to it. If your body is intact, upon the arrival of the Messiah, the dead will all rise up and the Kingdom in Israel will be re-established.

Kinda strange stuff (isn't most religion?) but the end result is that it is taboo to have tatoos. Having said that, however, many branches of Judaism are more liberal and change with the times (as many other religions do, as well) -- with the exception of the more radical groups. This thinking may be changing, with the increasing popularity of tatoos (or may have already changed.)

BTW, I'm Jewish, and I have two tatoos! :) (one of my tatoos is of two Hebrew characters -- my first initial, and my wife's first initial, designed by yours truly.)

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More zoomorphic calligraphy

Submitted by Younghusband on Mon, 2005-07-11 17:31.

Check out this one:

From The British Museum.

Coming Anarchy

- Speak Victorian, Think Pagan -

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Wow. That's beautiful. Look

Submitted by Ivan on Mon, 2005-07-11 20:44.

Wow. That's beautiful. Look at the rhythm and the balance.

Bit similiar in concept this one, which says love and peace:
http://www.sakkal.com/Graphics/cards/images/906-SG_sml.gif

Nice to see you back Younghusband.

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Do you know of any place I

Submitted by prettyliltab on Wed, 2005-12-07 06:10.

Do you know of any place I can find more zoomorphic calligraphy??? and its meanings???

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I really like the fish calligraphy

Submitted by Tigerstorm on Mon, 2005-07-11 21:23.

That's awsome.. The colors.. mm love it!

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I love arabic script. The

Submitted by Korteenea on Tue, 2005-07-12 01:02.

I love arabic script. The pure complexity of it is amazing, and sometimes they're so beautiful and freeflowing that it's a marvel that it's actually meant to be read too!

I was going to outright agree with you... and had a paragraph about how I wish there was more Arabic-inspired work in the West, but when I sat and thought about it for a moment, I realized that there's quite a bit of Arabic-inspired art in the Western world.

As far as I can remember, "Oriental rugs" (as they're called here) come from areas closer to the Middle East than to China, correct? What about tilework mosaics... those regular divisions of plane using geometric shapes (ya know... tesselations.) Star charts have followed the same stylization used by Middle-Eastern seafarers hundreds of years ago (not to mention the names of the stars they chart: Aldebaran, Fomalhaut, Deneb, Izar, etc.) I'm sure there's myriad amounts of things that are derived from Arabic designs that I am unaware of. Much of it, it would seem, has integrated itself into our daily lives here in the West.

Although I definitely understand and agree with you're overall point. There is a painful lack of inspiration taken from more modern Arabic design styles. This, I think, is due in large part to the turmoil that has existed in the region for the past several decades, as well as the friction between Western culture and Middle Eastern culture. Modern Arabic design, such as the Futura-inspired Arabic typography you feature in your post, is seen quite often on the signs and buildings we see everyday in the newscasts about deaths in Iraq, and unfortunately, we see it on the websites of fundamentalist terrorist groups... right next to the videos of beheadings. In the popular subconscious, these sorts of images have been linked to the emotions we feel over what's going on in the Middle East lately, and you're absolutely right in stating that it's very unfortunate that this has happened.

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Wow I've never seen any

Submitted by grafixforlife on Wed, 2005-07-13 01:56.

Wow I've never seen any examples of this before, my love of typography has just been expanded internationally. Those examples are beautiful! Wish I knew how to read them!

Visit My Website!: - David Bailey - graphic artist - ONLINE PORTFOLIO -

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oh wow...

Submitted by Sera on Sun, 2007-12-09 00:24.

I was also looking for some ideas with calligraphy for my next tattoo n i came across this site...I'm actually lebanese and you know what? i just realized how much i take my heritage for granted.
Oh and also, concerning the whole Hebrew script, its the same with Arabic and Islamic phrases and calligraphy.The whole act of tattooing your body in Islam is considered as "haram" or unholy because when it comes to praying, one must be pure and clean, inside and out..so the ink is the skin and you arent completely "purified"if you will. As for the less religious, phrases including "Allah" (God) or anything else in that context is sssssssssssssssssssuuuuuch a no no haha its not even thought of, so thats why it might be a tad harded to find images of islamic script tattoos hehe
SarahXx

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I also love Islamic Art

Submitted by Roba on Sun, 2005-09-18 15:01.

Yes, I agree that Arabic calligraphy is absolutely stunning to work visually with. It allows for a versatility that the Latin alphabet could never cater to.
A few days ago, I was browsing
Elsewares, and I came upon this shirt design:

It says Brooklyn in Arabic.

The most fascinating thing about this calligraphy though is the font they created for it- it's almost like Latinized funkified Arabic, which is not something I've ever seen before.
I was really amused.. maybe because as an Arab, I'm just not used to seeing Arabic look so Westernized.

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Arabic Elephant

Submitted by alatheia on Thu, 2005-10-27 13:47.

Does anyone know where I can find the translation for the zoomorphic Arabic elephant above?
Thanks!

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It's actually the first

Submitted by ImadS on Thu, 2005-10-27 22:37.

It's actually the first verse in a chapter of the Nobel Quran. The name of this chapter is "AL FIL" (The elephant).

The translation is:

"Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the possessors of the elephant?"

You can read the rest of the chapter from the link below:
http://www.usc.edu/dept/MSA/quran/105.qmt.html

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Zoomorphic Calligraphy

Submitted by prettyliltab on Sat, 2005-12-03 02:54.

Hello, I have been searching for Arabic calligraphy for a while now, I was looking for something attractive for my next tattoo and stumbled upon this site where I saw the zoomorphic calligraphy... Does anyone know where I can find more of it and its meanings???

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Arabic Calligrapher Is here !!

Submitted by ahmedkandil on Sat, 2007-01-20 10:53.

I'd like to inform you that I'm an Arabic Calligrapher , iCan help any one in that field
see my website
www.freewebs.com/ahmed-kandil
www.pbase.com/ahmedkandil

Regards
Mr Ahmed Kandil

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An Arabic Calligrapher's work

Submitted by Scout on Fri, 2007-03-30 10:24.

Named Imad Mahhouk, from Syria. I found his website by chance, and immediately fell in love with his work.

He's the more academic/classic type of calligrapher, and that what adds more to his value as an artist (in my opinion). www.mimad.com

Today, Arabic calligraphers are becoming very scarce, in a world dominated by electronic arts and media. As most today's digital arts were developed in the west, there are more and more challenges that face the Arabic calligraphy. Very few, if any, computer applications are designed to help developping the Arabic calligraphy and conserve its uniqueness compared to the Latin typo. One little exception that I'm aware of is a software called "Kelk" by SinaSoft(www.kelk.ws) which is basically an Arabic calligraphy software that allows you to compose Arabic words and designs in several Arabic calligraphy styles.

Samples of what the software does:

A little note about using Arabic calligraphy for tatoos:
Most Arabic calligraphy artwork is related some how to texts from Quran or other religious scriptures, such as Sunnah (Prophetic statements and traditions). Islam does not allow one to carry any Quranic scripture inside a restroom or to a place that can contain impurities (especially human and/or animal). Therefore, one should be a bit careful when choosing an Arabic design, especially if the user does not know about its meaning.

I remember Nike, the shoe maker, once had a sneaker that has the word "Allah" (God in Arabic) written on the back and bottom of the shoe. This created a strong from Muslims and Nike had to withdraw it from the market.

Most likely, the designer didn't know about the meaning of the design, and just liked its look.

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Does anyone know the

Submitted by boazinha on Sun, 2007-04-01 21:07.

Does anyone know the translation for the fish shown above? It is beautiful....

boazinha

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Translation of the fish

Submitted by Scout on Tue, 2007-04-03 22:14.

The fish above is the verse 14 chapter 16 from the Quran.
Here's a link to its close English translation:

HERE

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Arabic Tattoos on Portugese Footballer's Arms & Malta

Submitted by HadMeDinner on Thu, 2007-05-24 04:51.

The Portugese Footballer Simao Sambrosa (better known as Simao) has two children Mariana & Martim whos names he tattooed on his arms in Arabic. He has Mariana tattooed on his right arm and Martim tattooed on his left. Oddly Simao is the most Arabic looking player on the Portugese team.

Here is Simao. http://absolutamente.blogs.sapo.pt/arquivo/simao.jpg

Here are his tattoos. http://img54.photobucket.com/albums/v165/terceiroanel/benfica/simao1.jpg

Another intersting point is in Malta they speak a Maltese versian of Arabic. Maltese is the only Semitic language on earth written with Latin letters.

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If you like Arabic Calligraphy, you will LOVE this book!

Submitted by Scout on Thu, 2007-06-07 10:39.

This book is composed illustrated and designed by a unique Arab graphic designer named: Mohieddin Ellabbad.
He's an artist, educator, art critic, calligraphy lover... he's a genuis!
One of his books entitled "Nadhar" (Vision) is THE book that made me choose Graphic Design as a life career!! it may sound strange, but it's true.

Graphic design books in Arabic are VERY scarce, so when I found my first one "Nadhar" I fell in love with the art, and the artist.

After "eating" Nadhar in no time, I started looking for another ElLabbad's book, "Kashkul arrassam" (The Illustrator's Notebook) which is the one I'm talking about in this post. I couldn't find it in my home country, so I waited till I had the chance to travel to Egypt (Ellabbad is from there), and started looking for the book in all major Cairo's bookstores... looked and looked and looked, but I was like the one looking for a needle in the hay!

People don't know him there... they know each and every singer, dancer, actor....but not Ellabbad. How sad, and how discouraging!

Anyway, that was the result I got from two trips to Egypt.

When I first came to the United States, I emailed some online Arabic bookstores, none of them had it. I even tried to contact the publisher directlly, but no reply. I'm telling you guys, Arabs are taking care of everything useless, except their great art and cultural heritage!

I'm not the type who give up when temporarily defeted, so I kept telling people right and left about the book, hoping that someone will find it somewhere, someday!

It was only yesterday, when my wife -who happens to be an ebay fan- emailed me an ebay item ( an Arabic book that talks about Calligraphy) and suggesting that we buy it for our little boys. And that was the shock!!! The book I have been looking for for over 11 years in my Arab world, is being sold on ebay by a guy from California!!! (Item number: 140124608283) The seller doesn't seem to be an Arab (from the way he described the book).
Of course, I bidded on it immediately (hopefully nobody will outbid me lol)

Just wanted to share the story!

More about Mohieddin Ellabbad: http://tinyurl.com/2y39ob

http://www333.pair.com/vooba/pv/ella1.jpg
http://www333.pair.com/vooba/pv/ella2.jpg

You Can’t Reach The Top By Sitting On Your Bottom!

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The Illustrator's Notebook

Submitted by Scout on Sun, 2007-06-17 08:23.

I got my book, and I'm almost done reading it.
I can't tell you how beautiful it is... full of ideas, creativity, dreams and genuineness. It comes with an English translation of the Arabic text. I would definitely recommand it!

I wish I can post some pages here, I'm just afraid it will violate the artist's copyrights... any input? (I know Amazon always displays sample pages).

By the way, how can one posts pics here? (I tried the "img" tag but it doesn't seem to work for me :) )

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See Some Good Arabic Calligraphy Art Works !!

Submitted by ahmedkandil on Wed, 2007-06-27 12:37.

Hello there , I'd like to show you my art gallery , you will be admired by it , i hope to have your comments

this is my 2 links

www.freewebs.com/ahmed-kandil

www.pbase.com/ahmedkandil

regards

Ahmed Kandil

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Help!

Submitted by fperez85 on Thu, 2008-05-08 03:59.

Help me, please, you are my last hope...
The thing is, i´ve decided to get a tatoo with a short frase from the Holy Koran, I want it spelled on Naskh. I have found the page where the frase is but since I dont even speak arab I cant even tell wich part says the phrase I want.

I would like the phrase "The life of this world is no more than an illusion." written on Naskh, its from The Koran 3:185.

I live in argentina, I wouldnt even know were to start looking for someone with this kind of knowledge...

Thank you VERY MUCH!

fperez85@hotmail.com

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Quranic tatoo

Submitted by Scout on Thu, 2008-05-08 15:39.

Hi Fperez,
That verse of the Quran is beautiful, however, as a respect to the holy script, I think it's not a good idea to have it as a tattoo. A tattoo will be carried in places where there will be impurities, like inside restrooms.
The same thing I suggest to people who make jewelery with the name of Allah (God) or other Islamic terms. It's prohibited on Muslims to do it, and I suggest not to do it for non-Muslims, as a respect to other beliefs.

Thanks!

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Islamic Jewlery - Calligraphy

Submitted by Zahras on Thu, 2008-05-08 04:35.

I would welcome your comments about my jewelry creations where I create gold & silver jewelry using traditional Arabic and Islamic Calligraphy Styles.

http://jewelry.zahras.com
info@zahras.com