Calligraphy Shows Up in What Form of Islamic Art?
When you start studying calligraphy, you never know when you volition finish your career. The art of Islamic Calligraphy is a lifelong learning; it is a journey where you don't just learn how to write messages, but you lot study some dissimilar aspects of man experience such as humility, patience, cocky-discipline, or "adab" (manners).
I first started making calligraphy afterward I was attracted to the beauty of the shapes of the letters. I idea to myself, "there is no dubiousness that exist an cabalistic, a sacred cognition, an implicit message subconscious behind every stroke and every letter of the alphabet." To this 24-hour interval, I realize it is the simple fact that at that place exists a mystery that connects with your soul as soon as you discover a piece of calligraphy even if yous can not understand what is written on it. Just there is a connection that happens in some unlike level beyond mere comprehension when you look at a piece of calligraphy. And that connection led me to kickoff practicing calligraphy, making it past myself, with no idea of what I was making, simply captivated by the magic of this art form.
Coming together Due north.Thou. Masip and Ijazah in Calligraphy
My first meeting with calligraphy came almost a few months afterwards I met Nuria García Masip, my futurity mentor, teacher and the person who originated the biggest professional change in my life. When I met her she already was a renowned calligrapher. She took me to Istanbul and introduced me to her own teachers and so I started studying with her and some of the nearly important Turkish calligraphy masters. After five years of training, I received my "ijazah" or calligraphy diploma signed past the masters Hasan Çelebi, Ferhat Kurlu, and Nuria García.
Istanbul, the long-term capital of the Ottoman Empire, is a rich culturally and artistically rich city. Information technology is also a identify where the tradition of calligraphy has been preserved throughout the centuries. In Istanbul, yous can hands observe people from all across the world coming to this particular urban center to learn from the masters.
The education of calligraphy was originated in the Arabian Peninsula and quickly ventured into several directions. The principal line in the tradition of calligraphy traveled into Syria, Iraq and Persia, and subsequently into Anatolia and the Ottoman Empire. The instruction has been passed down from primary to educatee since the kickoff of Islam, creating a chain of knowledge.
The fourth caliph of Islam, Imam Ali, is considered past Muslims as the first major calligrapher. Hence, the chain of transmission begins with him, documented through the centuries until today. That is noteworthy not the least considering when you become a disciple in the Ottoman school of calligraphy, y'all bring together a concatenation of transmission of knowledge. It means you have received your knowledge from masters who were once students of older masters, who, to this day, apply the traditional instruction methods and the same materials used by the showtime calligraphers.
"The fourth caliph of Islam, Imam Ali, is considered past Muslims as the first major calligrapher. Hence, the chain of transmission begins with him, documented through the centuries until today."
At the same time, the fact that the cognition has been passed down on this manner ensures that the classic models or shapes of the letters take non suffered any modify. An boosted step in preserving the tradition of calligraphy is the observance a series of "rituals."
Instruction Calligraphy: A Gift
A most important ritual of calligraphy in the Ottoman school concerns the nature of teaching. In this school, education has been always considered a "gift," and that the master teacher cannot charge for this "gift."
The idea is that, the things we go far life for free are the most of import things we go, and when we become them for free we have to give them back for free. That is the essence of the Ottoman Turkish way of teaching calligraphy. It is a gift you lot receive, the tradition tells us, and one has to give the gift back.
It follows, therefore, that every single calligrapher becomes a teacher because what you get, you give. And when yous have the experience, you have to pass it on.
"How the teacher holds the qalam (pen), how he turns it, at what point he starts a stroke, where he pauses and where he finishes information technology are all aspects of that teacher-student relationship."
The teaching is always done in person, so the student tin can run across every motion and detect carefully how his master´south mitt moves. How the teacher holds the qalam (pen), how he turns it, at what indicate he starts a stroke, where he pauses and where he finishes it are all aspects of that teacher-student relationship.
The Master ' southward " Hands "
Every students of calligrapher is taught the saying that reads: "The hand of your main keeps all the knowledge yous have to learn."
The hand has a specific symbolism in this tradition. For a calligrapher, it is very important to have a healthy mitt.
At that place are some interesting stories near principal Ottoman calligraphers and their "hands," such every bit the story of Kazasker Mustafa Izzet Efendi, who, in addition to being a calligrapher, was the imam of Eyüp Mosque in Istanbul. Every Fri he gave a spoken language in that mosque and that made him unable to practice calligraphy during the day. And so, in order to keep his paw from condign lazy, he kept a small piece of soft textile in his hand to exercise calligraphy
Another such story is about one of the greatest calligraphers of all time, Sami Efendi, who used to put his hands in betwixt the buttons of his shirt while walking on the street, in an endeavour to protect his hands from getting a striking.
In a like vein, at that place is an idiom in Turkish language, used often by calligraphers. When somebody has created a beautiful piece of piece of work, they will say "ellerine sağlık," which ways, "may God protect your hands."
Visit Your Primary
Some other "ritual" which is constantly repeated in traditional calligraphy circles is that every unmarried calligrapher visit his master weekly to prove him his piece of work in club to get corrections and suggest.
I mentioned before the fact that the teaching is ever done free of charge; so the only way that you have to "pay" your instructor is to apply yourself to this art in the best way you are able to practice and never stop visiting him and showing him your work.
And visiting i's master is not the novice pupil calligrapher's responsibleness alone, every single calligrapher, doesn't affair if he is already a renowned calligrapher, should continue up with visits to his master.
"…visiting one's principal is not the novice student calligrapher'southward responsibility alone, every single calligrapher, doesn't matter if he is already a renowned calligrapher, should proceed up with visits to his primary."
Your Main is in Your Signature
Abiding visits are non the but way to traditionally honour a calligraphy principal. We , students of calligraphy, honor our masters, through a formula nosotros use to sign a calligraphy piece –this is the same for all the calligraphers. Once a work is completed, with a modest qalam (pen) and in the same newspaper, the calligrapher writes:
[it] was written by the poor (e.g., poor of spirit or humble) – name of the calligrapher –which is one of the students of – proper noun of his chief – May God forgive him and exist pleased with him.
This formula comes from Hafız Osman, a seventeenth century Ottoman calligrapher. Past the fourth dimension Hafiz was a pupil, he had already developed a strong talent and he was able to write a copy of the whole Qur'an in a delightful handwriting. One day, his master took this Qur'an and asked Hafız to become with him to visit the Ottoman Sultan of the fourth dimension and so the Sultan could come across the beauty of Hafız's work. The Sultan was fascinated when he saw the re-create of the Qur'an, and he inquired from Hafız who was the author of that beautiful work of art., In response, Hafız said: "It was written past the humble pupil of the main Mustafa Eyyubi." In other words, but as Hafiz only mentioned his master's proper noun to accolade and show him respect, in the same fashion, we, students of calligraphy, follow his tradition to this day.
The Qalam and its Shavings
The qalam we use to write calligraphy might seem like a simple piece of bamboo, but for Muslim calligraphers it has a very special significance and a number of rituals are closely connected to the qalam.
In Muslim literature, nosotros find that the start thing God created was the qalam, and its duty was to record every event that happens in one's life. Similarly, we detect that in the Qur'an "a whole affiliate, Surat al-Qalam ", the sixty-eighth chapter, takes its name from the qalam.
We should also go along in mind that the calligrapher spends a neat amount of fourth dimension every solar day, and during his whole life, with the qalam in his hand, such that the qalam becomes a prolongation of the calligrapher's mitt. A prolongation which is used to limited some ideas and feelings on the newspaper. Theqalam, therefore, is the about sacred tool for a calligrapher.
As such, a ritual respected by students of calligraphy is to go on all the shavings you become every unmarried time you cut and sharpen your qalam (pen)Virtually of what calligraphers write, not everything just most of it, is directly related to Qur'anic verses or Hadiths (teachings from the prophet Muhammad). And this is ane of the reasons why we proceed the shavings of the qalam; nosotros don't desire to throw a part of the tool we use to write sacred texts to the trash and mix them with garbage.
Therefore, the tradition says that the calligrapher has to keep all his shavings since the day he starts learning calligraphy until the day that he dies. and when expiry falls upon a calligrapher, his family collects the shavings and puts them to burn in boiling the water they will use to wash the trunk of the calligrapher (in Muslim tradition, the family is yet in accuse of the deceased's torso). In other words, when the calligrapher disappears from this globe in its fabric course, the shavings of his qalam also disappears.
The Water and the Ink
Something similar happens with the water we employ to mix the ink. During the Ottoman Empire, calligraphers would only utilise rain water to make their own inks. As they say, rain is "Rahmatullah," which means "mercy from God." This is why, the calligraphers considered information technology the purest water they could employ.
Nowadays, likewise as pelting water, nosotros use rose h2o or distilled h2o, in an effort to avoid using tap water. This is because we are not sure if the pipes this water is passing through are completely clean; we don't desire to write something which has a sacred meaning for the states with something which might be dirty or not pure enough.
The ink we use is made by soot, Arabic gum and water.In the by, calligraphers used to collect the soot from the oil lamps that illuminate the mosques and use that to make their own inks. The famous Ottoman architect Mimar Sinan, too known equally Sinan the Architect, for instance, ordered his disciples to build a modest room atop the Suleymaniye Mosque in Istanbul during the construction phase. All the soot from the lamps were diverted to this room, where, once a yr, calligraphers used to go and scratch the soot pasted at the walls and the roof; they would use this soot in preparing their ink.
The calligraphers would utilise this ink to write the copies of Qur'an. They would later give these copies to the mosque as a charity. In other words, what originated in the mosque in a soot form, came back later to the same place in a cute handwritten Qur'an form and would stay there for a long time.
Tomb Visitation and Calligraphy
Some other ritual the calligraphers traditionally observe is to visit the tombs of the great calligraphy masters of the past. In these visits, in addition to praying for the masters' souls, the calligraphers would coffin a qalam at the level of the easily of the person who is cached, and go out it at that place for some time. Afterward on, they would come dorsum to the tomb and pick the qalam up to employ it for their calligraphy works. It is believed that this qalam will take on some baraka (the blessings or the positive energy from the calligrapher) and information technology will make the work of the calligrapher easier and beautify the handwriting.
Survival of a Tradition and Making Art
These rituals are not mandatory for all calligraphers, nor are they observed by everyone who is engaged with calligraphy. Nonetheless, in function thank you to these traditions, , besides as some other factors, generations of calligraphers were able to proceed the essence of this art live and those are very important points we have to go along in heed when we talk well-nigh calligraphy.
Speaking from my personal experience, it is very much true that all of these traditional aspects really fascinated me and fabricated me fall in honey with this art. At the same time, nonetheless, there is the practical role, the practice, the artistic process where somehow you can express yourself by composing a calligraphy piece.
Creating a piece is a long process where the final result should exist like a static theatrical representation where every footling matter is carefully placed and has been chosen according to its beauty, balance and catamenia in relation to the residuum of the elements you lot have in the composition. As my instructor says, "creating a piece of calligraphy is similar sculpting a sculpture." A final piece should be poesy for the heart, should be music written in a paper, a please for the heart, and should conduct a meaning for the soul.
"Equally my instructor says, 'creating a piece of calligraphy is like sculpting a sculpture.' A final piece should exist poetry for the eye, should be music written in a paper, a delight for the center, and should carry a meaning for the soul."
In my opinion, the first thing 1 has to continue in mind while he is working on a composition is that this particular slice of work volition last in this world (hopefully) for a long fourth dimension, then we have to be really careful about what we desire to leave in this world. In other words, it is the calligrapher's responsibility to create something skillful plenty to leave with others.
Reaching the "Hal"
When we look at a calligraphy slice, there is a dialogue that happens. This is a non-verbal dialogue, a communion between the geometry of the letters and our own cellular geometry. This make it all the more important because every unmarried artwork is going to have an result not only on the people who will observe it, merely its specific geometric features will also transform the environment of the place where this artwork is exhibited. Somehow, it will transform the atmosphere of that location. This is in add-on to the fact that as calligraphers we work with words and it is well known that words have a powerful impact or free energy when we pronounce them.
In this slice to a higher place by Nuria García, nosotros encounter a composition where this large alphabetic character "ha" stands out. This letter of the alphabet is used by Sufis during their sessions of meditation to reach the "hal," which is a state of consciousness that is supposed to exist in a higher level than the ordinary state and that brings you closer to your beingness, your essence, and therefore, your Lord.
So, if nosotros understand the words every bit mantras, these will have a very specific event on ourselves when we pronounce them. The ability of words will have i or another effect depending on how we pronounce them. And the power of the written word, will have varying effects depending on how it is written.
And that is what calligraphers try to do in every single stroke they make. They try to get themselves closer to and discover the future artful which is hidden behind every stroke.
Source: https://themaydan.com/2018/01/art-islamic-calligraphy-rituals-traditional-art/
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