Brill Maisonneuve & Larose

Brill
Maisonneuve & Larose
Islām and Art

Author(s): Ismāʿīl R. al-Fārūqī
Source: Studia Islamica, No. 37 (1973), pp. 81-109
Published by: Maisonneuve & Larose
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ISLAM AND ART
The followingarticleis an attemptto clarifythe relationof

the religionof Islam to the worksof art whichthe adherentsof
the faithhave producedthroughoutthe centuries. It assumes
that the said works of art constitutea unity, but seeks to
establishwhereinlies this unity and on what aesthetictheory
or principleit is based.
It is idle to dispute the unityof Islamic art. Althoughthe
historianwill recognizea large varietyof motifs,of materials,
of styles differentiated geographicallyor chronologically,the
overwhelming fact of all Islamic art is its unityof purposeand
form. From Cordova to Mindanao, the arts of these lands
once convertedto Islam betrayedthe same constitutivecha-
racteristics,avoidance of naturalism,of characterizationand
development; and preferencefor stylization, for formalism
generativeof movement,forlimitlessness. All Islamic art has
recoursedto and used the highlyemotivewords of the Qur'an
and the IHadith,of Arabic or Persian poetry,or of the Islaimic
wisdom literature,and renderedthem in Arabic calligraphy.
Likewise,all Muslimsacross the ages have respondedwith the
deepest emotionto the chantingrecitationof the Qur'an and
of the adhan, even when they understoodlittle or nothingof
the Arabic meaningsinvolved. In such cases, theirdiscursive
reason and understandingwere not at work,but theirsensory
and intuitivefacultieswent into full play, apprehendingthe
aestheticvalues in evidence. Indeed, theiraestheticcompre-
hension was just as strongas that of those whose theoretical
6
82 I. R. AL-FiRJUQi
understandingwas competentenough to read and to under-

stand. For in the apprehensionof aestheticvalue, immediate
intuitionis always prior. The discursiveunderstandinghere
plays a secondaryrole by lending,as it were, a helpinghand
only.
Such was the powerof the aestheticvalues of Islam and such
was the artisticunity they produced out of the most diverse
assemblageof cultures,that the travellerwho moved fromthe
eastern shores of the Atlantic to the western shores of the
Pacific did so in territorymade familiarby its Islaimicarchi-
tecture, decorated with arabesques and Arabic calligraphy.
In the daily lives of men of different race, color,language and
life-style,he could beholdan identicalsensitivityto the literary
and musical values Islam had brought. And yet, how banal
the studies have been of those who addressed themselvesto
theproblemofthenatureof Islamic art! How poor the results
achieved in the matterof definingthe relationbetween Islam
and the workof art!
In anotherarticleentitled"Misconceptionsof the Nature of
Islamic art", to which the reader is referred,(1) I have given
samples of this "scholarship"in the fieldsof decoration,paint-
ing, architecture, literature,music and theoryof art. In each
case, I have taken the position of one great Westernscholar
(e.g., Richard Ettinghausen,H. G. Farmer, M. S. Dimand,
T. W. Arnold,E. Herzfeld,K. A. C. Creswell,G. von Grune-
baum), whose claim to fame is partly or whollydue to his
contribution in this field. In each case, the scholar'sargument
has been analyzed and refuted. To a man, everyoneheld the
erroneousassumption-nay, prejudice-that far fromcontri-
butinganythingto the arts of the Muslimpeoples throughout
the ages, Islim has impededor restricted, and therebyimpover-
ished, theirartistictendencies;that the only aestheticgrowth
Islaimwas responsibleforwas the ubiquitous use of Qur'inic
verses in Arabic which Herzfeldcalled "bigotry" and in the
breach of which-through the translationof the Qur'in into
other languages-Ettinghausen saw with no little relish the
(1) In Islam and the Modern Age, New Delhi, vol. I (1970), no 1, pp. 29-49.
ISLAM AND ART 83
beginningof the end of that monopoly. Every one of them

tried to show that whatever art free of "bigotry" which the
Muslims have produced was produced in spite of Islam and
against its injunctions. According to them, the Muslim
nobility or royalty enjoyed and patronized figurativerepre-
sentationsin theirpalaces and libraries,as well as musicwhich
"procures drunkennessand fornication,"in spite of Islam.
Little did they realize that even these "sinful" arts were fully
Islamic, aestheticallyspeaking,not to speak of the infinitesimal
place theyoccupy in the total artisticproductionof the Muslim
World.
Some of them even attemptedpsychoanalyticexplanations.
Horrorvacui, they contended,was the reason why the Muslim
artist covered all surfaceswith design. Others advanced the
opposite:The Muslimartist,theyreasoned,was a color-hedonist
who naively stimulateda passion forempty,brightflashesof
color,thusreducingthe toil and ardorof geniusesover centuries
to a mere Reizfdhigkeit of some color-spoilteccentrists.
Unfortunately, it neveroccurredto any one of themthat they
werejudgingIslamic art by the normsand standardsofWestern
art; and no one ever voiced the charge. Decades of fastidious
scholarshipand analysis of meticulousreconstruction, identi-
ficationand classificationof Islamic art-workshave well earned
forthe Westernhistoriansof Islimic art the deepest gratitude
of the world of scholarshipas well as of the Muslim World.
But their interpretationof the art-worksas expressions of
Muslim culture were blunders at which intelligenceblushes.
Except for minor flashes of vision by Titus Burckhardtand
Louis Massignon,and the cool self-restraint of Ernst Kuhnel
on mattersof interpretation, the historiansof Islamic art have
unanimouslyjudged that art by standardsof Westernaesthe-
tics. Every one of them stood beforethe absence of figures,
of drama, of naturalism,in utter bewilderment. No reader
of theirworks could miss theirconfusionat not findingsome-
thingof Westernart withwhichtheycan relate,or the spiritual
revulsionwithwhichtheypassed theirpre-judgmentof Islamic
art.
84 I. R. AL-FiRiJQi
In yet another article, (1) I have analyzed the nature of

Greekart, and of the Near Eastern artistictraditionin reaction
to Greekart sinceAlexander'sinvasion. The essenceof Greek
art is naturalism. However, this is not to be understoodas
naive, photographicimitationof nature,but as sensoryrepre-
sentationof an a prioriidea whichnatureseeksto embodyforth,
but hardlyever succeeds,in each of its creatures,an idea akin
to the are'e' of ancient Greek paideia. Human portraiture
in stone is, according to this theory,the highestart. The
idea of man is nature's richest,highest and most complex
entelechy. Its depth and innerdiversityconstitutean infinite
mine forthe artistto probe,to exploreand to represent. For
this reason, man was "the measure of all things"; he was
the crownof creation,the carrierand concretizerof all values,
the highestand the lowest. For thisreason divinityitselfwas
conceivedin his image,religionwas humanism,and worshipof
divinitybecame a contemplationofthe infinitedepthand diver-
sity of man's inmostnature. It was necessarythat the whole
art of Hellenic civilizationbe made to reflectthis aspect of
Hellenic culture.
The Near East presents us with a diametricallyopposite
tradition. Here, man is only an instrumentof divinity,
createdby the latterto serve. Man is neveran end in himself
and certainlynot the measureof anything. It is divinitythat
furnishesthe standard. Its norms are the law for man.
There is no Prometheus:only a servant in the divine manor,
blest whenhe fulfillsthe command,unblestwhenhe falters,and
doomedwhenhe defies. His divinity,however,is a mysterium,
a tremendum and a fascinosum. As such, it is his obsession,
his idde-fixe. His constantpreoccupationis the what and how
of divinewill; his destinyis to be God-bound. From this,man
draws his significance,his pride and his cosmic status. Just
as necessarily,the whole art of Near Eastern civilizationwas an
expressionof this aspect of Near East culture. The natural,
and above all the human-natural, is the mightiestcontenderfor
the divine place, and Prometheusis not at all a story but a
(1) Ibid., no 2, pp. 68-81.
85
ISLAM AND ART
mythopoeic chronicleof man's strugglewith the divine for

supremacy. First, such temptationsand such confusionof
divinityand nature as nearbyGreece and Egypt had produced
mustbe combatedand banishedfromconsciousness;and second,
all consciousnessmust be absorbedin the divinerealmwhichis
its source,its norm,its master and its destiny. Long before
Alexander,therefore,Near Eastern art inventedstylizationas
a breakthrough againstnaturalism. Certainly,this became far
strongerand moreemphaticwhenthe Near East was invaded by
the Greeksand Hellenismwas imposedby forceupon the people.
Byzantiumwas both Hellenic and Near Eastern, and its art
naturallyreflectedthat duality. Figures were used; not for
the purposes of Greek aesthetics,but for illustrationof non-
aesthetic,conceptualreligiousideas derived fromChristianity.
Some stylization-indeed plenty of it!-was used, and the
generalimpressionthe art as a wholegives is that of a tendency
towards the anti-naturalismof the Near East. What made
that art recourseto figures,and henceto some qualifiednatural-
ism, is the Christiandogma which Hellenism had rekneaded
into its own image: Divine incarnationinto the natural, and
divine drama of salvation throughnatural death and resurrect-
ion. The deficiencyin naturalism-by comparisonto Greek
art-of the arts of Byzantium was made up with captions
withinthe picturesor icons spellingout the contentintendedby
the logical symbolsof the alphabet constitutingwords,names
and propositions. The essential character and functionof
Byzantineart thus came to consist of illustrationof dogmatic
or historicalassertionsof the faith. In an "art" of illustration,
the figureis not necessary. It is only a conceptual (i.e.,
symbolic) tool suggestivethat the personalitynamed in the
caption is a human being,male or female,but otherwisedevoid
of character and certainlynever intended for the revelation
of an a priori idea of human nature h la Phidias. It was
not Byzantium, but ancient Greek art which through the
Renaissance rekneaded Western aesthetic consciousnessin its
image. This triumphof Greek naturalismin the West lasted
to the presentage when some rumblingsare beginningto be
heard and man's being the measureof all thingsis being chal-
lenged.
86 1. R.
AL-F~RRUQI
Judaism,anotherNear Eastern cultureand religion,fought

imperialist Hellenism valiantly; and Philo was perhaps its
greatest casualty in matters cultural. Until its aesthetic
transcendentalismhas been partially corruptedby Western
cultureand religionin moderntimes,especiallysincethe advent
of European romanticism,of that furious,irrationalist,parti-
cularist naturalism of la nation, das Volk, Blut und Erde,
MotherRussia, God-King-Country, etc., Judaism managed to
keep its art true to the originalNear Eastern vision. "Thou
shalt make no gravenimages" was inderstoodby the Jewsnot
onlyas a defenseagainstidolatrybut as a principleof aesthetics
as well. Their synagoguesremainedartistically-empty halls
except in the Muslim World where they emulated Islimic
developments. Their aestheticneed was filledto saturation
with the poetryof holy writ,and theirsenses were denied all
claims to assist in the vision of the divine. The divine,their
faith asserted and reminded,is either intuited withoutsuch
sensoryaids, or it is not the divine at all. The less the senses
were involved in intuitingthe First Principleof all being,the
more transcendentthe object of that intuition,the purer the
vision itself.
THE WORK OF ART IN ISLAM
A. The Spiritual Foundation.

When Islam, the resurgenceor recrystallization
of that same
Semitic consciousness,burst forthon the Near Eastern scene
in the seventh century,it faced all these positions,and the
hesitancyor indecisionof Isl5mic consciousnessat that stage
is evidentin many naturalisticreproductionsof trees,bouquets
of flowersand vines in the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem
(completedin the 690's), the Umawl Mosque of Damascus and
a numberof Umawl palaces (al Mafjar,Mushatta,etc.) built in
the seventh and early eighthcenturies,which also included a
few figurativerepresentationsa la Byzantine. These mosaics
representthe highest levels of achievementof the art of a
SemiticNear East dominatedby Hellenism. Clearly,the style
betrays this fact, though the artist may have been a firstor
ISLAM AND ART 87
second generationconvert to Islam. It is not impossible
that he may have been a Christian. He has producedin the
style and mannerhe knew-stylization of objects of nature-
to the order of a Muslim maitre-de-travail who specifiedthat
plants and flowers will do but animals and humans will not.
This historicalfact is oftentaken as evidencethat the Umawl
art is Byzantine-an exaggeratedand misleadingopinion. (1)
(1) Assigning to himselfthe task of showing "how the new civilization [Islim]
used elements of the Christian Byzantine world," Oleg Grabar mentions coins
bearing a caliph's name or portrait,an orant, a mihrdbor niche, and the likeness
of a lance of the Prophet ("Islamic Art and Byzantium," Dumbarton Oaks Papers,
No. 18, 1964, pp. 79-80). But he himselfadds that such coins were rareties and
their "symbolism was not continued" (Ibid., p. 80). Likewise, he mentions
mosaics representing "idyllic landscapes" and "crowns and jewels suspended
around a sanctuary." There is no evidence that these are exclusively Byzantine.
Indeed, it is commonplace knowledge that the pre-Islamic Arabs hung their
jewels and swords on a sanctuary or holy site as part of a thanksgivingritual.
However, Grabar adds that "all [such] symbols and images of power in Antiquity...
do not seem to have been used again" (Ibid.). What then is the point of noting
them in an argumentregardingthe place of "iconography" in Islamic art? Grabar
then moved to the question of why did the Muslims not use this Byzantine icono-
graphy. By noting that the "systematic formulationof doctrine" in this field
took place after the event of repudiation of the Byzantine practice, he thought
he had removed the religionof Islam and its culture fromthe fieldof art altogether,
apparently under the false presupposition that religion does not determineunless
it has a complete theolegomena written out in books. Islam having thus been
put out of action, Grabar claimed that the Muslims tried and then withdrew
fromiconographicrepresentationnot because ofsomethingwithintheirown culture,
nut because Byzantine art was so ideologically deep and great that the "poor
novices" felt no hope of success in the competition (Ibid., p. 82). Nonetheless,
he asserts emphatically that "it was not Byzantine art but the themesof Byzantine
art which were used by the Muslims" (Ibid., p. 87). However, a superior art
would surely finda way of introducingitselfinto the aesthetic vacuum of another
culture, especially since, in the territoriesof geographic Syria at the time, the
majority of the citizens were Byzantine. In all the fields of natural science,
medicine, astronomy, mathematics, and almost all the daily crafts of masonry,
carpentry,tailoring,irrigation,etc., the Islamic mind which emerged fromArabia
in the seventh century was poor, and it adopted Byzantine knowledge wholesale.
If the same fact of poverty on the Muslim side and superiorityon the other side
existed in the matter of aesthetic principles, we should expect that they had
adopted them wholesale, not that "the Muslims declined to adopt any of it [the
art] precisely because it was highly developed" (Ibid., p. 87). It is self-contra-
dictory to claim that "the early Muslims never fully understood Byzantine art,
but circumstances having forced it on them, they could not but be impressed by
its existence" (Ibid., p. 88). The claim to call Byzantine art the one which "far
more than any other artistic tradition ... created [sic!] Islimic art" (Ibid.) is
utterly devoid of foundation; for art is as little created by the mere supply of
88 I. R. AL-FLARJQI
For, the mosaicsin questionare subservientto an overallsystem

of decoration,outlay and to an architecturalwholenesswhich
bear unmistakableevidenceof Islmic creativity. They point
eloquentlyto wherethe art of Islam was tending. Nay more!
These same buildingscontainworksrepresentative ofthe break-
throughIslam achieved in the visual arts.
True to that Semitic consciousnessof which it was the off-
springthe firsttruth Islam asserted was an untruthwhich it
categoricallydenied. "There is no God but God" meant that
reality is dual-transcendent and natural. The firstis God
and God alone. It is a realm which has one and only one
member. Everythingelse is of a different, totally-other realm,
the realm of nature. It is absolute and autonomous,spiritual
and infinite,numinousand holy. It is the firstand the last,
the only sourceof all truth,goodnessand beauty. It is trans-
cendentin the fullestsense of the term. "Nothingis like unto
Him"; (1) for He is neitherin space nor in time. When the
Qur'dn describesHis realmor lists His names or attributes,the
Muslimmindunderstandswhat is said intuitively, that is to say
immediately, without his imaginationproducinga percept to
mediatethe intuition-in short,as the great al Ash'arl has put
it, "bili kayfa"or "withouthow." This lawhTd,or unizational
theology,rules out any immanentismand all confusion,diffus-
ion, incarnation,emanationismor absorptionof the divine in,
of or by the non-divine,of the creator and the creature.(2)
themes and motifs as a personality is created by proteins and hydrocarbons.

While the claim that "the Byzantine world, more than any other, carefully
nurturedthe great inheritanceit had assumed fromAntiquity" makes a travesty
of Antiquity, it is nothing but apologetics-a cultural inferioritycomplex on the
offensive-which declares that Byzantine art is the main creator of Islamic art
"because Byzantium was the one world Early Islam most wanted, and failed, to
conquer;" "because to the Islamic and especially to the Arab Middle Ages ...
Byzantium, even at its lowest and weakest moments, partook of that mysterious
aura which ... has endowed certain cultures and countries with a prestige of
artistic genius ..." (Ibid.).
(1) Qur'dn, 42:11.
(2) The absolute transcendanceand monotheismof God in Islam is commonplace
knowledge. Abundant selections of Qur'dnic verses supporting this doctrine
may be read in Jules La Beaume's Le Koran analysd (Arabic tr. by M. F. 'Abd
al-Bdqi, 'Isd al-Biby al-IIalaby, Cairo, 1374/1955), Chap. on Tawlhid,pp. 128-180.
A much morecompact selectionof Qur'dnic verses as well as representativepassages
fromclassical literaturetranslated by the present author may be read in W. Chan
el al, The GreatAsian Religions (The Macmillan Co., New York, 1969), pp. 338-345.
ISM
AND ART 89
It rules out all revelationor disclosureof the divine Self, for
such would implyan entryinto space-timecompromising to its
transcendence. The two realms of being can never meet!
It follows fromthis that Judaism is absolutely right in its
judgment that nothing (absolutely nothing in rerumnatura,
and above all no man) may in any way combinethe two realms
of realityso that a revelationof it or him may in any sense be
a revelationof the divine. Is then all contact betweenthem
absolutely impossible?
No! Thereis a contact;but that must be of a naturewhich
leaves the transcendenceof the Godhead untouched. It is in
man's intellectthat such a contact can be made. Even then,
it is not a contactwiththe divineSelf,but withthe willof that
Self. Whetherin the mind of the Prophet or in that of any
human,the willof God communicatedas words,as conceptsand
perceptsconstructedthroughwords,may be understoodby the
humanmindby intellection. Such knowledgeis not empirical,
but a priori. Islam insists that the subject must remain
foreverconscious that the words, concepts and percepts of
expressionare to be taken bild kayfa,immediately,without
imaginativeprop, preciselyin order not to vitiate the trans-
cendence of the object comprehended. Even so, what the
Muslim comprehendsin the words of the Qur'an is not God,
but only a modality of Him, namely, His will for creation.
The wordsare not a symbol,but a "divine speechwithouthow."
Blasphemousis then the claim that anythingin rerumnatura,
and especially man, is taken in any way to serve as symbol,
vehicle, revelation,expression,incarnation,or emanation of
divinity. No sensorything,and no sensoryintuitionof any
kind is adequate or becoming. Hence, Islam resolvedto do
away with all figurativerepresentation. It reasserted the
Semiticprinciplewithrenewedemphasisand unsurpassedvigor.
B. The Islamic Breakthroughin Aestheticis.

So much forthe negativeside. Had the Islamic conscious-
ness stopped here, the historyof Islam would have been as
emptyof art as that of Judaism. But it went further. That
nothingin rerumnatura can serve as a vehicle for expressing
90 1. R. AL-FliRUJQi
the divine, does not by itself rule out the possibilityof an

object of nature servingas a vehicle forexpressingthat very
truthitself,namely,that the divine is indeedinfiniteand inex-
pressible. It is one thingnot to expressthe divine because it
is inexpressible,and anotherto expressthe truthembodiedin
this proposition. Admittedly,the challengeto expresssensor-
ily the truth that God is sensorilyinexpressiblestaggersthe
imaginationof any artist. But it is not impossible. Indeed,
it is here that the artisticgeniusof Islam scoredits triumphal
breakthrough. We have seen that stylization, which was
known and practicedin the ancient Near East was pushed to
a new level of perfectionin the reactionto Hellenicnaturalism
imposed by Alexanderand his successors. Under Islim, now
confrontingthat same Hellenism in Christian disguise, the
Semiticreactionwas as strongin the fieldof aestheticendeavor
as in that of theologicalendeavor. Islim's vehementdenial
of the divinityof Christis matchedby its denial of naturalism
in the aestheticrepresentation of nature,by its encouragement
of stylization. A stylizedplant or floweris a caricatureof the
real object of nature,a not-nature. By drawingit, the author
seems to say "No" to nature. May it not be a fittinginstru-
ment to express not-natureness,i.e., the mere negation of
naturalism? Given alone, however, the stylized plant or
flowerwould express non-naturebut in an individuatedway
whichsuggeststhat the death of nature in that object is itself
individuated. By givingthe denaturalizedstate ofthe natural
object, it may even expressa heightenednaturalism,the very
opposite of the Islamic purpose, as health is oft represented
through sickness and life through death. Something else
thereforeis needed to preservethe apparent not-nature-ness.
The mode of representationmust express the inexpressibility
of the divine being if Islam is to succeed where Judaism has
failed.
It is to this challenge that Islam now rose. Its unique,
creative and original solution was to representthe stylized
plant or flowerin indefiniterepetitionin order,as it were, to
deny any and all individuation,and in consequence,to banish
naturalismfromconsciousnessonce and forall. An identically
ISLAM AND ART 91
repeated object of non-naturedoes express non-nature-ness.
If the artistcould, in addition,expressaestheticallyby means
of a repeatedobject of non-natureinfinityand inexpressibility,
then the resultmightwell be tantamountto the witness,"La
ilaha illa Allah" (There is no God but God) expressedverbally
and discursively. For the inexpressibility and infinitywhich
are the contentof artisticrepresentation would suggestthem-
selves as qualities of non-nature. The Islamic soul therefore
thoughtthat thereis a way forthe visual arts to conformwith
the primal dictate of Semitic consciousness. But the major
hurdle here is how can anythingin rerumnatura, however,
stylized,be thevehicleforexpressinginfinityor inexpressibility?
1. Arab Consciousness:Islam's Historical Substrate.
To achieve a solution,Islamic consciousnessfell back upon
its own historical substrate, namely, Arab consciousness.
This was the historical matter which the divine revelation
in-formedand used as a Sitz-im-Lebenforits occurrence,as a
vehicle and carrierof divinetruth. It was this consciousness,
concretizedin the person of Muhammad, that received the
revelationand communicatedit to mankindin space and time.
It was the mediumof prophecy. Its achievementin the art of
language and letterswas indeed a miracle before Islam, and
this fact determinedthat the mode of the new revelationbe
that of the literarysublime,forit was ready forand capable of
carryingit.
The firstinstrumentof Arab consciousnessand the embod-
imentof all its categoriesis the Arabic language. Essentially,
Arabic is made up primarilyof three-consonant roots, each of
which is susceptible of conjugation into over three hundred
different formsby changingthe vocalization,adding a prefix,
suffixor "middle-fix". Whichever conjugation is effected,
all words which have the same conjugal formhave the same
modal meaningregardlessof theirroots. The meaningof the
root remains;but attached to it is another,a modal meaning,
givento it by the conjugationand remainingalways and every-
wherethe same. (1) The languagethenhas a logicalstructure,
(1) An example is necessary to help the English reader understand this unique
feature of the Arabic language. The roots k-t-b and d-r-b mean "write" and
92 I. R. AL-FiARUQi
at once clear, complete and comprehensible. Once this

structureis grasped,one is a masterof the language,knowledge
of the meaning of roots being then of secondaryimportance.
The literaryart consists in the constructionof a system of
conceptsrelatedto each otherin such ways as to put into play
the parallelismsand contrastsengenderedby conjugation of
the roots,while enabling the understandingto move through
the web in continuous,unbrokenline. An arabesque in which
a thousand each of triangles, squares, circles, pentagons,
hexagonsand octagonsare all paintedwithdifferent colorsand
interlace with one anotherdazzles the eye, but not the mind.
Recognizingeach figureforwhat it is, the mindcan move from
one pentagonto anotherdespitetheircolor variance and cross
the tableau end to end, experiencingsome delightat each stop
with realization of the parallelismprovided by the identical
shapes, i.e., by the identical modalities of the various root-
meanings,and of the contrastprovidedby the root-meanings
themselves.
This constitutivecharacter of the Arabic language is also
constitutiveof its poetry. Arabic poetry consistsof autono-
mous, complete and independentverses, each of which is an
identical realization of one and the same metrical pattern.
The poet is free to choose any one of some thirtypatterns
known to the tradition. But once chosen, his whole poem
mustconformin each part to this pattern. To hear and enjoy
Arabic poetry is to grasp this pattern and, as the poem is
recited, to move with the metrical flow, to expect and to
receive what the patternhas anticipated. Surely the words,
concepts and percept-constructs are differentin each verse.
"strike." No less than 16 new verbs caould be made out of each of them, which
have in pairs the same modalityofaction, such as: kdtaba (to writeto and be written
to by someone) and ddraba (to strike and be struck by someone); kattaba (to make
someone write) and idarraba(to make someone strike); istaktaba (to cause oneself
to be written to) and istatdraba(to cause oneself to be struck); iktataba (to cause
oneself to write) and iId(t)araba (to cause oneself to strike; etc. Each of these
verbs plays the role of a root conjugable into some twenty nouns, again having
the same modal meaning. From the firstpair, come nouns mukdtabah(a reciprocal
writing) and muiddrabah(a reciprocal striking); from the second pair, taktIb and
taidrib;fromthe third, istiktdband istiidrdb,and so on.
ISIAM AND ART 93
That is what providesthe color variation. But the structural
formis one throughout.
This basic geometryof the Arabic language and of Arabic
poetry enabled Arab consciousness to achieve a grasp of
infinityon two dimensions. The root wordsare many,indeed
infinite,since any new combinationof any three consonants
could by convention be assigned any new meaning. Arab
consciousnessadopts foreignrootswithimperviousequanimity,
relyingupon its conjugationmill to Arabize them thoroughly.
The infinityof theirnumberis matchedby an infinityof their
conjugation. There are known patterns of conjugation; a
limitednumberof rootshave been conjugatedand theirconjug-
ations known and used. But a dictionary of the Arabic
language such as Websteror Oxford,whereinall the wordscan
be gatheredand listed,is categoricallyimpossible. For not all
the traditionallyknownrootshave been conjugated,therootlist
is never closed, not all modalities of conjugation have been
used, and the list of modalitiesis not closed. New modalities
are not ruled out by tradition-consensus, but await the genius
who can justify and use them to advantage. The Arabic
language, therefore, like the Arab streamof being,is a system
bright at the center(because of tradition)and fuzzyat theedges
which spread indefinitely in all directions.
To returnto poetry. The metricpatternof the versesbeing
constitutive,it does not matterforthe versesof a poemwhether
theyare read in the orderthe poet had composedthemor in any
other order. Read forwardor backward,the poem is just as
sweet. For the poet has taken us throughthe patternwith
everyverse; and the repetitionhas delightedus by disciplining
our intuitivefacultyto expect and to realizewhat we expected
in the variety of facets of meanings and percept-constructs.
By definitiontherefore, no Arabic poem is finished,closed and
in any sense completedso that no addition to or continuation
of it could be effectedor conceived. Indeed, the Arabic poem
can be extendedin both directions,at its beginningand at its
end withoutthe slightestoffenceto its esth'iique,if not by any
man on account of personal style, then surely by its own
composer. Indeed, if we are good listeners,we would be
94 I. R. AL-FARFJQi
supposed firstto join the poet in his poetry-making as in a live

performance and second, to continue his poem for our own
benefitnow thathisrecitationhas woundus up in themomentum
it generatedand launchedus into its own infinitepoeticalspace.
It is not an uncommonphenomenonin the Arab World fora
poet, when attended by a good audience, to be "assisted"
extemporarilyby that audience in the recitationof his poetry
whichtheyhave neverheard before,or to be commentedupon
by additionto his verypoetryofmoreofthe same. For ages it
has been commonplace playtime for children in the Arab
World to compete togetherin the recitationfrommemoryof
poetic verses which begin with the same letterthe last recited
verse had ended with, or which observe the same or different
metricpattern. Childrenthrowinto these games theirreper-
toires of several thousand verses which theyhave committed
to memoryin theirstudyof Arabic language and literature,or
which they have heard at home or at public functions. But
when menenterinto these games, the rules will prescribethat
the verses entered be original creations,extemporeimprov-
isations. The game is called "mu'dradah" (width to width
confrontation)when the rules prescribethe use of the same
pattern while tryingto out-do the other party in the very
thesisof meaninghe has presented. It is called "mundqadah"
(reciprocalcontradiction)when the rules prescribethe same
patternforthe purposeof contradicting that thesis. Both are
called "muhdjadah,"a word which,surelynot by accident,is
also used to mean the reciprocalawakeningin the nightforthe
sake of worship. WhereverIslam has spread and rekneaded
the consciousnessof the people into the formsof Arab con-
sciousness,thesegames have been played. They are common-
place among the Persian and Urdtispeakingpeoples. There,
the name used is "mushd'arah,"or mutual out-poetizationor
out-eloquization,which tells quite eloquentlywhat is involved
in such games. The Arabs and theirArabized fellow-Muslims
are still the only peoples historyhas known to devise such
exercisesof the muse.
ISIAM AND ART 95
2. Al Qur'dn al Karim: The First Work of Art in Islam.
It was this Arab consciousnesswhichservedas substrateand
matrixof Islam. The Islimic revelation,al Qur'dn al Karim,
came as the chef-d'oeuvre, the sublime realization of that
consciousness. The Muslim claims that its contentis divine
and so is its form. But this does not preventthe criticfrom
saying that the form was that which Arab consciousness
regardedas theabsolutenormand the ideal forwhichit had been
yearningforgenerationsand centuries. The Qur'5nis arranged
in stirahsor chapters of varying lengths,the longer coming
ahead ofthe shorter,exceptfor"Al Fgtihah" or "The Opening,"
which is only seven verses long. There is absolutelyneither
rhymenor reason forthe arrangementeitherof its surahsor of
the verseswithineach surah. For the untrained,it represents
the widest, helter-skelterdiffusionof detached statements
touching on all subjects in the fields of religion,social and
personal morality,and culture. The disappointmentof the
Western reader who, hearing of the Qur'5n's renown as a
literarymasterpiece,reads it expectinga logicallyand topically
systematizedtreatise,will be endless and fullof bitterness.(1)
The Arab, on the other hand, reads or hears md layassara
of the Qur'5n, i.e., whateverportionhe is guided by chance or
by another person to read. There can be no rationale of
the selection,of whereit beginsor of whereit comes to an end
-and he knows this only too well! He concentrateshis
attentionon each verse individually,and he is moved to tears,
joy, contrition,wonder,terror,sacrifice,bliss,awe, magnanimity,
charity,or war, equally by the meaningas by the renderingof
that meaningin percepts-and concepts-constructs and words-
withinone and the same verse at one and the same time. The
repetitionof this experience in verse after verse winds up
consciousness,generatesin it a momentumwhich launches it
on a continuationor repetitionad infinitum. Meaning and
formhere combineinto integralunity,to the end of achieving
(1) Even his tremendoussympathyforand appreciationof Mulhammad, his

exemplaroftheheroas prophet,did notpreventThomasCarlyslefromcallingthe
Qur'sina veryboringbook.
96 1.RI.AL-FIRUQi
an intuitionof divinemajesty,of God's infinityand inexpressi-

bility.
While the repeated pattern of the verses generates the
momentumto infinity,the weaving of meaningssuggeststhe
destinationof the launch. In their mutually complemented
effort,both generatewithinthe minda sortof Kantian "idea of
reason,"the expectationof an absolute normwhichthe imagin-
ation, alreadywound up forthe undertaking,is called upon to
supply. But the transcendentGod, by definition, is precisely
that whichcan neverbe the object of intuition,and the imagin-
ation must sooner or later collapse in its effort. Right here
is the intuitiongained of the inexpressibilityof the divine, of
the inimitabilityof the infinite,of the unrepresentability of
the transcendent. These are attributesof God. To perceive
them is already to stand in the divine presence. We can
never hope to know God; but we may and can achieve an
intuitionof His presence. This we can do directlyand immed-
iatelyif,discardingthe wholerealmofempiricalbeing(creation),
we move with all our intuitivestrengthto the realizationof
the presence of a transcendentrealm beyond whose very
transcendence-i.e., total-otherness,infinity,inexpressibility
and unintuitability-isnow intuitedin the very failureof our
imaginationto produce or to grasp it. Generationof the
demand by the Qur'dn which is impossible to fulfill,and
launching the imagination on its hopeless, destinationless
flightare the work of the divine Artist. Achievementof an
intuitionof His presencethroughthe intuitionof His unintuit-
ableness is the message of the divine work of art. He who
hears the Qur'5n aright,the Qurd'n tell us, is he who "when
the verses of the Lord are recitedto him, falls down prostrate
in adoration and tears." (1) It is he who, assisted by those
verses, recognizesthe divine Being and exclaims "Tu solus
sanctus!" "La ilaha illa Allah."
(1) Qur'in, 19:58. Also: "Only those may be called believers in [i.e., convinced
of the truth of] Our verses who, when those verses are recited to them, fall down
prostate in adoration, in thanksgiving,in praise of the Lord, without pride or
self-conceit" (32:15).
ISLAM AND ART 97
If anythingis art, the Qur'dn certainlyis. If the mind of
the Muslimhas beenaffected by anything,itwas certainlyaffected
by the Qur'dn. If this affectingwas anywheredeep enough
te become constitutive,it was so in aestheticis. There is no
Muslim whom the Qur'An's cadences, rhymes,and facets of
eloquence (awjuh al-balaghah) have not shaken to the very
depthofhis being;thereis no Muslimwhosenormsand standards
of beauty the Qur'5n has not rekneadedand made in its own
image.
This aspect of the Qur'5n, the Muslimshave called its i'jaz,
or its "power to incapacitate," its "placing the readerin front
of a challengeto which he can rise, but which he can never
meet." In fact,the Qur'dn itselfhas defiedits audience, the
Arabs, with their highestliteraryexcellence,to produce any-
thing "like the Qur'an" (2:23-24), and chided them for their
failureto do so (10:38; 11:13; 17:88). Some of the enemiesof
Islim among the Prophet's contemporariesrose to the task
and were humiliatedby the judgment of their opponents as
well as by that of theirown friends. Muhammadwas called
"a man possessed" (81:22) and the Qur'dn "a work of magic"
(21:53; 25:4) preciselyon account of its effectupon the cons-
ciousnessof its hearers(69:38-52).
Everybodyrecognizedimmediatelythat the Qur'5nic verses
did not, like Arabic poetry, conformto any of the known
patterns;that they cannot be reduced to any single pattern.
The Qur'Znicmeteris free-running. And yet,it does produce
the same effectas poetry, indeed, to a superlative degree.
Althoughthe verses are not of the same lengthand do not all
follow the same metric pattern,yet every verse is complete
and perfectby itself. It often rhymeswith the preceding
verse or verses and contains one or more religiousor moral
meanings imbedded in literary figures or articulations of
sublime beauty. So mightyis the momentumit generates
that the recitationimpels the audience irresistiblyto move
with it, to expect the next verse and to reach the most intense
quiescence upon hearing it. Then the process starts again
with the next one, two or group of threeor more verses. Its
unmeteredflowis identical to that of the laqdslm in Arabian
7
98 1. R. AL-FARUQI
musicwhichare freeofthe metricpatternsof a dawror muwash-

shah; and its effect,thoughstill of the same kind producedby
any other Arab or Islamic art, is still greaterthan any other
art the Arabs/orMuslimshave produced.
Did thenthe MuslimArab come out of Arabia in the seventh
centurywith any art? Did he contributeanythingrelevant
to the subsequentlydeveloped arts of the conquered peoples?
In ignoranceor prejudice,and oftenin a pitiable combination
of both, every Westernhistorianof Islamic art has answered,
No. The grandfather of the disciplineasserted:"The menwho
formedthese armies [the firstArab armies of Islam] were
mainly Bedawin, but even those who came frompermanent
settlements, such as Mekka and Madina, knewnothingof art or
architecture."(1) The youngergenerationrepeat after him
ad nauseam:"From its Arabian past, the new MuslimArt could
draw almostnothing."(2)
How contradictoryto their allegation is the truth! All
the new Islamic arts obtained fromthe Arab past all that is
constitutiveand important,namelytheirspirit,theirprinciples
and method,theirpurposeand the way to achievethat purpose.
Surely,Islamic art needed materialsand themesforits efforts
in the visual fields,and it got these whereverit foundthem.
But it is offensivelysuperficialto point to this as "borrowing"
in any discussionof the meaning and significance,historyor
theoryof the art. An art is an art by virtueof its style,its
content,its mannerof rendering,not by the matdriaux it uses
which,in mostpart,are derivedby geographicor social accident.
Islamic art is a unityat all because of this foundation,through
Islam, in Arab consciousness. It is the categoriesofArab cons-
ciousnessthat determinedthe artisticproductionsof all Muslims.
C. AestheticRealization in the Visual Arts.

Unlike the Arabic literaryart, Westernliteraturehas found
its highestrealizationin the drama, and especiallyin tragedy.
A drama is essentiallyan unfoldingof events related to one
(1) Creswell, op. cit., p. 6.

(2) Grabar, op. cit., p. 79.
ISLAM AND ART 99
anotherso as to constitutea unity of time, place and action;
so as to presentthe developmentof a theme fromstatement,
to dialectical discussionor analysis,to conclusion;and finally,
to inducenew awarenessof facetsofthe humannaturanaturans.
Aesthetically,the crucial quality of drama is its developmental
nature. This is not only universallypresentin all drama; it
is necessarilypresent. No detached anecdotesor chroniclesof
any kind or number could become drama unless organically
bound tegetherin a developpingline. The line must lead to
a clear conclusion,or to a conclusionwhichthe spectatorcould
reach among many possible alternativesofferedby the line of
development. The developmentprinciplerules out repetition
-whether actual or imaginary-forrepetitionis the opposite
and negation of development. A drama which ends, after
some development, at the very point where the spectator
startedso that he may go throughthe same or similardevelop-
mentagain, is no drama at all.
The same contrastbetweenArabic poetry,best exemplified
in the Qur'dn,and Westerndrama is true of the visual arts in
the two cultures. Westernvisual art has reliedalmost totally
on human nature,whetherexpressedin the human figure,the
landscape, the still life or even the abstract design or no-
design. Islamic visual art was not interested in human
nature, but in divine nature. Since its purpose was not to
express new facets of human nature, it did not aesthetically-
discuss the human figure,i.e., it did not portraythe infinites-
imal shiftsin human appearance expressiveof human nature.
Human character,the a priori idea of man analyzable into a
million details revelatoryof another depth or height in the
human personality-all this was for the Muslim artist just
beside-the-point. The divine was his firstlove and his last
obsession. What Herzfeld had called "bigotry" was for
Islamic art the hallmarkof all existenceand all nobilityand
beauty, namely, ever to stand in the presence of divinity.
For thisend,Muslimssoughtto surroundthemselveswithevery
prop and stimulusinducive of an intuitionof that Presence.
First,since stylizationproduceda denaturalizationof nature,
the firstArab Muslims pushed that device to its conclusion.
100 1. R. AL-FiARIQI
Further,stylizationmeans the absence of variation, and of

developmentfrom trunk to branch and leaf extremitiesas
occurs in the vegetal kingdom. Trunk and branch became
of one thickness,one texture,and one formor shape throughout
the drawing. Developmentwas annulled also by the absence
of variation. All the leaves and flowersin the same drawing
were made alike. Finally, the death-blowto naturalismis
repetition. By repeatingthe stalk, leaf and flowerover and
over again, and makingthem proceed one fromanotherinde-
finitelyin a manner impossiblein nature, all idea of nature
is banished. Repetitionproducesthis effectso assuredlyand
unmistakably that it even tolerates its own enemy-i.e.,
development-providedwhat has developed within a portion
of the work of art is repeated in the work of art as a whole.
Thus, nature is annihilatedfromconsciousness,and un-nature
is presented. If stalk, leaf and flowerstill leave a vestige of
nature in the consciousnessof the beholder, then the line,
straight,broken, circular,jetting or trajecting,in free lance
designsor geometricalfigures,will do the job better,beyondall
doubt. It may be combinedwiththe stalk-leaf-flower material
to tell the beholderstill more eloquentlythe "geometrizing,"
un-naturalizingaspect intended. Finally, if repetition is
subjected to symmetry,so that it extends equidistantlyin all
directions,then the work of art becomes in essence an infinite
field-of-vision.By accident,only a part of this infinitefield
is arbitrarilysingled out by the artist and framed by the
physicalextremitiesof the page, wall, panel or canvas. Where
animalor humanfiguresare used, as in the miniaturesof Persia,
un-natureis achieved by stylizationor mythologization of the
animal,and by givingthe human faces and bodies no individu-
ation, no character and no personality. What Arnold has
called "ignorance"is reallyvirtueand excellencein the artist,
his fulfillmentof his own purpose-not Arnold's!-namely,
to tell his tale about transcendence,using men as artistic
matdriauxbut without the slightest suggestion of nature.
A man, like a flower,can representun-nature,throughstyliz-
ation. But this is preciselythe effacement of personalityand
character. That is why the greatest Persian miniatures
ISLAM AND ART 101
always have a pluralityof human figuresindistinguishable from

one another.(1) Like the Arabic poem, the miniatureis made
of many parts, detached fromone anotherand each constitut-
ing an autonomouscenterof its own. As the audience takes
its delightin holdingin consciousnessthe literaryjewels set up
in the patternedbody of the verse, so the spectator contem-
plates the minor arabesques in the carpet, door, wall, horse
saddle, man's turban or clothes,etc., withina given centerin
the miniature,bearingin mind that thereare othercentersad
infinitum to whichhe may move.
That in all paintingand decorationin Islimic art there is
movement,indeed compellingmovementfromone unit in a
designto another,and then fromone designto another,indeed,
fromone whole fieldof visionto anotheras in the greatportals,
fagadesor walls, is beyond question. But thereis no work of
Islamic art where such movementis conclusive. It is of the
essence that the vision of the spectator continue;that it see
the productionof the continuationin the imagination;that the
mind set itselfin motionrequestingto behold infinity. Mass,
volume, space, enclosure,gravity,cohesion,tension-all these
are facla of nature to be done away with if an intuitionof
un-nature is to be gained. Only a design, a momentum-
generatingpatternwill surroundthe Muslim lover of beauty,
burstinginto infinitespace in all directions. This puts him
in the contemplativemood requisite for an intuitionof the
divine presence. Not only the designon the cover of a book,
an illuminatedpage he is reading,the carpet under his feet,
the ceiling,front,inside and outside walls of his house, but its
floor plan as well constitute such an arabesque where the
garden,patio, vestibule,and everychamberis an autonomous
centerwith its own arabesque generatingits own momentum.
But what is an arabesque? We have used the term above
assuming the reader's knowledge of it. Rightly so! For
the arabesque is immediatelydistinguishablefromany other
(1) Some portraits do exist, especially where Central Asian influence was
dominant for awhile, as in the case of northeast Persia and Moghul India. But
these are deviations of little consequence to the volume and spread of Islamic
art across the fourteencenturies, fromthe Philippines to the Atlantic.
102 I.R. AL-FiRUQI
artisticform. It is ubiquitousin all Muslimlands,and constit-

utes the definitivecharacteristicor elementin all Islamic art.
It is rightlycalled "arabesque" because it is Arab as Arabic
poetry and the Arabic Qur'in are Arab in their esthtlique.
Its presencetransforms any milieuinto somethingIslamic, and
it is what gives unityto the arts of most diversepeoples. It
is readily recognizable,indeed unmistakable. Essentially,it
is a designcomposedofmanyunitsor figureswhichjoin together
and interlacein such way as to cause the spectatorto move
fromone figureor unit to anotherin all directions,until the
vision has crossed the work of art fromphysical end to end.
The figureor unit is indeed completeand autonomous. It can
stand alone just as any verse of classical Arab poetry. But
it is joined to the next figureor unit. The visionis compelled
to move on, having followedthe outline and perceived the
design of the one figure,to seek those of the next. This
constitutesits "rhythm." The movementcan be dull the more
detachedthe figuresare fromone another. It can be uninvolv-
ing as in the case ofa simpleweave ofstraightlines. However,
the morecloselyrelatedthe figuresare, thus compellingmove-
ment, punctuation and rhythm,and the more resistanceto
the movementis put up by the circuityand brokennessof the
lines, the more power is needed to effectthat movement.
This power is the arabesque's momentum. The higherthe
momentumthe easier will the mind generate the "idea of
reason" forthe imaginationto fulfill,and the quicker will be
the imagination'stake-offbeyondthe physicalboundaryof the
work of art as it attempts to produce what the mind has
demanded. It is necessaryforthisprocessto be repeated,and
so thereare many different arabesques in any workof art, each
covering one structuralpart. The purpose is obvious: the
launchingof the imaginationupon its doomed flight. It may
come vith the second, thirdor nth arabesque, if not with the
first.
Arabesques are floral or geometric,dependingon whether
they use the stalk-leaf-flower (lawrfq),or the geometricfigure
(rasm) as artisticmedium. The geometricfigurecan be linear
if it uses straightand brokenlines,or trajectory(ramy)
(khat.)
ISLAM AND ART 103
if it uses multi-centeredcurvedones. It may also combineall
these togetherand be called then rakhwT. Arabesques are
planar if they have two dimensions,as most decorative ones
on walls, doors, ceilings, furniture,cloth and carpets, book
covers and pages have. They can also be spatial, or three-
dimensional,constructedwith pillars and arches and the ribs
of domes. This kindis the distinguished specialtyof architect-
ure in the Maghriband Andalus, and has reached its highest
exemplification in the great Mosque of Cordoba and al
in Granada. In al IHamrd',a whole dome is made.Iamri'
of
palace
innumerableinterlacingarches standingon invisible columns,
which only the most fervidimaginationcan see and trace in
theircourse. There, the momentumis so mightythat it can
propel and launch anybodywillingto move withits rhythmto
immediateintuitionof infinity. The grand facade of a tre-
mendous mosque, the portal in a large wall, the panel in the
portal,the knob on whichvision happens to fall,the miniature
on a page ofa book,the designon a carpet,or one's own clothes,
or belt, or buckle of a belt, expressedto the Muslim:"Ld ilaha
illa Allah!" by causing him to perceivethe infinityand inex-
pressibilityof the transcendentrealm of not-nature,of not-
creation.
D. ArabicCalligraphy:The UltimateArtofthe Consciousness

of Transcendence.
So possessed has Muslimconsciousnessbeen with transcend-
ent divinitythat it desiredto see it expressedeverywhere;and
so anxious has that consciousnessbeen to findways and means
of proclaimingthe divine Presence that its genius broke forth
with the greatesteffervescence of pattern-making mankindhas
ever known. Even the infinitevarietyof arabesques was not
enough for its genius in the visual arts. It has used every
conceivable matdrield'art and transfiguredit into a mirror
reflectingits own core. It still stood ready for one more
decisive victory.
Pre-Islhmichistoryhas known the esthdtique of the word,
in literaryprose and poetry. Althoughit was nowhere as
developed as in the hands of the Arabs on the eve of Islam,
104 I. R. AL-FiROJQI
the Mesopotamiansand Hebrews,the Greeksand Romans, and

the Hindushad pushedthe frontiers ofthe esthetique ofthe word
to no mean degree. In no case, however,was thereanywhere
-including Arabia-any esthetique ofthevisual word. Writing
was crude and aestheticallyuninteresting throughoutthe world
and, forthe most part, still is. In India, Byzantiumand the
ChristianWest, writingwas used in its propercapacity,namely
as logical symbol. The visual (figurative)representationsof
the arts of Christianityand Hinduismwere complementedby
writing,i.e., by the logical symbolismof the letterto express
the discursiveconcept desired. Discursive thoughtneed not
come to rescuevisual art except and unless that art is visually
incapable by itself of expressingthe a priori idea desired.
Apollo and Aphrodite needed no such prop. Visually and
visually alone, they spoke "divinity" to the spectator; for
divinityor the a prioriidea was intuitablein the very beauty
of human form and character given to sense. Not so in
Byzantine and Hindu art where the figureswere devoid of
such suggestivebeauty,wherethey were even stylized. That
is whywritingwas resortedto. Its functionin the arts of the
West and India is thoroughly discursive,its symbolismthorough-
ly logical and given to the understandingalone, not unlike
numberswrittenin Arabic or Roman numerals. This was
certainlythe case with whatever script the Arabic language
used beforeIslam. With the advent of Islim and its drive
towards transcendencein the visual arts, a new horizon in
writingawaited to be explored; and the Islimic genius rose
to the challenge.
The Arabic word of God was writtenin the cursive naskhr
inheritedfrom the Nabatean script or in the angular kafi
inheritedfromAramaic throughthe Syriac. The signification
was logical and discursivethroughoutas in any otherlanguage,
perhapseven moreso as the Near Eastern peoples knewhardly
anythingworthyof the name "calligraphy." The Romans
had developed some calligraphiccapabilities but the signific-
ation of the lettersremainedas logical and discursiveas before.
The Celtic monksin Ireland produceda fewilluminatedmanu-
scriptssuch as the Book of Kels. Their calligraphy,however,
ISLAM AND ART 105
did not move beyond the Roman level. The letters are
rounded and beautified through decoration. But the total
significationremainedlogical,thoughthe letterswerenow more
beautiful. The decorationwas superfluous, as it didnotchange
the letters' character,and each letter stood for ever alone.
The vision has to jump fromone letterto another,the under-
standinghas to mediate; and reason and memorycombinedto
translate the graphic lettersinto the word or concept of the
mind. There was no aestheticintuitionof the writtenletter,
word, line or sentence.
Gradually, but within the space of two generations,the
Isl5mic artisttransformed the Arabic word into a visual work
of art, carryingan aesthetic significationgiven to sensory
intuitiontotally other than the discursivemeaning given to
the discursivefaculty,to the understanding. Like the rest of
the arts, this new art was subject to the overall purpose of
Islamic consciousness. Its visual capacities were developed
so as to constitutean arabesque. In the Nabatean and Syriac
scriptsthe letterswere detached fromone another,as in the
Greek and Latin scripts. The Arab artist joined them so
that instead of seeing a letter,the eye could at one glance and
with one sensoryintuitionsee the whole word,and indeed,the
whole phrase or line. Second, the Arab artist plasticisedthe
lettersso that he could now stretchthem, prolong,contract,
incline,spread,straighten,bend, divide,thicken,narrowdown,
enlarge-in-partor in-whole, as he pleased. The alphabet
became an obedient artistic mahdriel, ready to embody and
execute any aesthetic scheme or idea the calligraphermight
entertain. Third, he pressedinto serviceall that had already
been learntin the art of the arabesque, especiallyfloriationand
geometrization, not only the betterto decoratethe writing,but
to make of writingitselfan arabesque in its own right. Arabic
writingthus became a freelyundulatingline, capable of burst-
ing here and there into floriated designs, autonomous and
complete in themselves,whether symmetricallyarranged or
widely scattered. The newly acquired plasticity of the
alphabet enabled the calligrapherto do it in either way or
both ways following the aestheticoverplanhe soughtto develop.
106 I. R. AL-FAiRUJQi
Finally,he "opened up" the alphabet so as not only to receive

the arabesque decorationsbut to mergewith it in constituting
one large arabesque. He made it possible for the other
arabesques to emergeout of the writing,or forthe writingto
emerge out of them. The essential characterof the letters
whichgave themtheirlegibilitywas preserved, and it constituted
in writingwhat metricpatternsconstitutein poetryand geo-
metricaland floweryformsconstitutein the planar arabesques.
The renderingof the legibleshapes gave themtheirmomentum.
As an arabesque, Arabic writing transformedthe ultimate
mediumof the discursiveunderstanding, namely the alphabet
or logical symbol, into a sensory art material, an aesthetic
medium, productive of an aesthetic intuition sui generis.
This was a triumphforhumanart as such to overcomethe last
domain of discursivereason, to annex and to integrateit into
the realm of the sensory aesthetic. It was Islam's highest
and ultimate artisticvictory.
Islam holds the word of God to be ideationallythe nearest
approximationof Him, the most immediateexpressionof His
will. Since as transcendentbeing He is foreverimpossible
to know or to perceive, His will has been communicatedin
revelationthroughHis word. The word of the Qur'dnis then
God-in-percipi and ought to be accorded the utmostin respect
as well as beautification. Its writingis then the aesthetic
sublimein Islam,par excellence. All the morereason,therefore,
for Arabic calligraphyto be developed so as to bring about
a sensoryintuitionof the divine by realizingto the full,divine
inexpressibilityand unrepresentability
in consciousness. Since
Arabic writinghas become an arabesque, it can enterany work
of art and stand there de jure, regardlessof its ideational
content. Or, it can invade any workof art and ennobleit by
complementing its aestheticmomentumor value, whetherthe
writing integratedwith that work or otherwise. With the
is
reverenceaccorded by all Muslimsto holy scripture,the art of
writing spread quickly, mobilized the greatest amount of
talent and entered every moment of the Muslim's life. In
stone,stucco or wood, on paper, skin or cloth,in house, office,
shop and mosque, on every wall and ceiling,Arabic writing
ISLAM AND ART 107
became the public art of Islam. So pervasivewas its influence
and presence that no city or village through the centuries
could fail to producemastersof this art by the dozen. Even
the enemies of Islam were not immuneto its influence. In
ChristianSpain, France and Italy,Arabicwrittingwas ideation-
ally bungled by ignorance and incompetencebut still used,
aesthetically, to great advantage. The aesthetic sensory
intuitionwhich it rendersis capable of producingthe same
"launching"of the imaginationon its flighttowardsthe idea of
reason as any arabesque. Perhaps even more! For, to the
spectator capable at the same time of reading its discursive
content,Arabic writingwill produce-through intellection-a
furtherspecificationof the imagination'sobjective, a further
rise in the momentumof its movementtowardsthat objective.
No wonderthen that Arabic writing,especiallythe calligraphic
copying of the Qur'dn, became the most popular art in the
Muslim World across the centuries. Kings and plebeians
entertainedone supremehope fortheirwhole lives: To be able
to copy a whole Qur'dn-and die! (1)
It was the Vizier Muhammad Abfi 'All Ibn Muqlah who,
accordingto the reportof al Zamakhsharl(in the latter'sAsas al
Balaghah, s.v. "Qalam"), compared writing to poetry and
assigned to "composition" the same aesthetic functionin the
two arts. He definedthe cardinalvirtuesof the art of writing
as five:"Tawfiyah,or givingthe wordits fullshareof the letters
of whichit is composedso that the relationbetweenthe whole
and part is balanced and harmonious;ilmdm,or giving every
letterits due of space and poweror emphasis;ikmdl,or giving
everyletterall that accordswithits visual personalityexpressed
in posture-standing arightness,lying flatness,resolute bent-
(1) Professor Cassim Lakhi, Chairman of the Department of Art History at

the University of Durban-Westville, South Africa, fondly tells the story of a
terrible earthquake which once leveled the medieval city of Shiriz. Workers
searching in the debris several days later found an old man in a basement with a
pen, an inkstand, an oil lamp flickeringin the darkness, still intent on his writing.
"Have you not heard? Have you not felt the tremors? Shiraz lies in ruins!"
they exclaimed. "What does it matter," said the old man. "I have perfected
itl Yes, finally,I have perfectedit, the waw letter. I have been writingnothing
but waw-s for as long as I can remember!"
108 I. R. AL-FIROQi
ness, self abandon, experiencedcurvedness;ishbd', or giving

everyletterall that is demandedby its internal-audialpersonal-
ity expressedin finesseor assertion;irsdl,or the jetting of the
line in freemovementunhamperedby eitherhesitationor any
innerinhibition,thus generatingmomentumof highspeed." (1)
And it was AbNiIHayyinal Tawhidl in his 'Ilm al Kitlbah who
said: "Generally,writingis spiritual designingwith material
means." (2) Throughoutthe ages, the Muslimshave recited
the sayings of anonymoussages, such as: "The minds of men
stand under the teeth of theirpens"; "Writingis the irrigation
of thought";"Beautifulwritingmitigatespoor thinking,but it
endows the sound idea with the power of life." (3)
Many scholarsof the Middle Ages who have acquired great
names in the humanities,such as Ibn 'Abd Rabbih, Muhammad
Amin, Ibn al Athir,Ibn al NadIm,al Qalqashandi,etc., recogn-
ized what had been done by their fellowMuslimsin the field
of writing. They took pride in the fact that Arabic writing
has been more developed than any other; that it has reached
heightsof beauty, expressionand glorywhich are absolutely
without parallel; and finally,that it has been invested with
the supreme value-the religiousvalue-as the vehicle and
expressionof divinewisdom. Even the Qur'Zn,theymaintain-
ed with satisfactionand finalconvictionof the correctnessof
theiresteem,has hallowedwritingin a verse whichopens with
an adjurationby the pen and writing.(4)
While all art exercisesan ennoblingand humanizinginfluence
on thosewho appreciateit, Greekand Renaissanceart enhanced
man's esteem of himselfand inspiredhis imaginationand will
to greaterheightsof self-realization. It did so by teaching
him a nobler and deeper humanness,a humannessso great
(1) Nfji Zayn al-Din, Musawwar al-Khatt al-'Arabi, Publications of the 'Iraqi
Arab Academy, Baghdid, Government Press, 1388/1968,p. 355.
(2) Unpublished manuscriptin the Library of Vienna, copy in Cairo University
Library, No. 24090, quoted in Zayn al-Din, op. cit., p. 396.
(3) Zayn al-Din, op. cit., p. 342.
(4) Qur'fn, 68:1. See also Qur'&n, 96:1-5; and the treatise by Qadi Ahmad,
Calligraphersand Painters, tr. V. and T. Minorsky,Freer Gallery of Art, Vol. III,
No. 2, Washington, D.C., 1959, pp. 48-53, fora detailed elaboration of the virtues
of calligraphy.
ISLAM AND ART 109
that in his consciousnessit mergedwiththe divine,the ultimate
standard and hope. In Islim, art attempted and achieved
the same task of ennoblement,humanizationand self-realiz-
ation. But it did so by puttingman constantlyin the divine
presence. The divine Being, being somethingunhuman and
transcendent,the idealism Islamic art generated was never
Promethean,boastfulor defiant. Human as it was, it disci-
plineditselfthroughconsciousnessofits own non-transcendence.
Is this a limitation?Certainly! But it is a limitationby trans-
cendent values which, by definition,begin at infinity;by
values whichare better"seen" and "appropriated"by standing
squarely in frontof them than by "con-fusion"with them.
Since both realms of value are a priori,no "con-fusion"with
themby man is possibleex hypothesi; and Prometheusis forever
a complacentman! The greatness Islamic art is identically
of
that of the religionof Islam itself,namely,alwaysto striveafler
and ever to keep the distancefromthe supreme,transcendent
Reality.
Ism('il R. al-Fpiriqi
(Philadelphia)

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Islām and Art

The followingarticleis an attemptto clarifythe relationof

understandingwas competentenough to read and to under-

beginningof the end of that monopoly. Every one of them

In yet another article, (1) I have analyzed the nature of

(1) Ibid., no 2, pp. 68-81.

mythopoeic chronicleof man's strugglewith the divine for

Judaism,anotherNear Eastern cultureand religion,fought

THE WORK OF ART IN ISLAM

A. The Spiritual Foundation.

For, the mosaicsin questionare subservientto an overallsystem

themes and motifs as a personality is created by proteins and hydrocarbons.

B. The Islamic Breakthroughin Aestheticis.

the divine, does not by itself rule out the possibilityof an

at once clear, complete and comprehensible. Once this

supposed firstto join the poet in his poetry-making as in a live

(1) Even his tremendoussympathyforand appreciationof Mulhammad, his

an intuitionof divinemajesty,of God's infinityand inexpressi-

musicwhichare freeofthe metricpatternsof a dawror muwash-

C. AestheticRealization in the Visual Arts.

(1) Creswell, op. cit., p. 6.

Further,stylizationmeans the absence of variation, and of

always have a pluralityof human figuresindistinguishable from

artisticform. It is ubiquitousin all Muslimlands,and constit-

D. ArabicCalligraphy:The UltimateArtofthe Consciousness

the Mesopotamiansand Hebrews,the Greeksand Romans, and

Finally,he "opened up" the alphabet so as not only to receive

(1) Professor Cassim Lakhi, Chairman of the Department of Art History at

ness, self abandon, experiencedcurvedness;ishbd', or giving

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