Foreword
by CI editor
Nothing
is comparable to love. Nothing is comparable to the love of
wisdom. Arabic calligraphy was originated to crown the divine
word, the Qur’an. It is an artistic expression for the love of
wisdom. The immediate impressions that capture the receiver—with
the eyes, mind, heart, and soul—inside of them are, no doubt, a
moment of infinity. That moment of receiving is not just related
to the artistic labor. In itself, it is a product of the
experience itself: the primal experience of dealing with the
divine word and reaching beyond it. Arabic calligraphy is an
artistic medium with which the Muslim artist was equally vanished
and overwhelmed, exterminated and flooded, fashioned and ended in
dealing with the scripture.
The
monumental calligraphic works that we see are artistic, spiritual,
and—above all—sentimental testimonies of transcendence. The
state in which such works were carried, states of dhikr,
of carrying out an act of worship into an artistic medium (or is
it the other way?), of exemplifying the transcendental through the
temporal, of expressing the awe of the divine through the marks of
ink and hand strokes—just shows one unmistakable idea.
The
heart of Arabic calligraphy—just as any other authentic work
that stems from the soul—is a pressing out of something,
something essential. What is it? Our entire being is based on it,
revolving around it or breaking away from it. It is a basic
unfulfilled need. It is the fulfillment of our existential
nostalgia and spiritual craving for our Creator that ache our
hearts.
In
trying to represent and preserve our tradition, Contemporary
Issues is pleased to present to you an introduction to Arabic
calligraphy by Ahmed Ebeed, with samples of new calligraphic works
from the Second Youth Arabic Calligraphy Exhibition, which was
held under the title “Echo of Tradition,” by many professional
art masters who studied and teach in the classical calligraphy
schools. We have also added few samples by the most distinguished
calligraphy master, Muhammad Haddad, who wrote out the Qur’an
six times.
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