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More from `majnouna

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:iconsacred-geometry: #Sacred-geometry
By the laws of nature . . . :iconislamicsufismart: #IslamicSufismArt
Art in the Path of the Heart

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August 31, 2010
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:iconmajnouna:
Complete list of originals for sale, silkscreen and other prints in my Calligraphy Catalogue. Commission info here.

Having attended a Sufi sema3 ceremony, I was fascinated by a dhikr (remembrance) chant that repeated 2 sentences in an endlessly repetitive sequence, like a mantra:
Allahu akbar
Allahu akbar
La ilah ella Allah
Sufism is all that's left of the mystical aspect of Islam and embodies the word islam (surrender) completely, as the practitioner aims to vanish entirely into Love. The circling music, along with the circling dance that is so well-known, is one of the tools used by Sufis to reach a state of ego-less ecstasy.

I had been wanting to experiment with concentric calligraphic designs for a while, but no appropriate theme had come to mind till I heard the dhikr and was struck with the idea of expressing it visually. Thus the two circles spell out the two stanzas, and like the music and the dance, the design circles endlessly on the paper...

Ink and gold leaf on paper (I bought it years ago but I believe it's Fabriano murillo, no less than 300g/m2). The outer circle has a diameter of 38cm while the total size of the paper is 70x70cm.
The design is entirely my own and I created the style of the script on the spot.
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:iconalsalmany:
~alsalmany Aug 21, 2011
يا سلام على هذي الروعة
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:iconmajnouna:
`majnouna Aug 21, 2011  Professional General Artist
:bow:
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:iconwiredclover:
~WiredClover Sep 7, 2010  Hobbyist Artisan Crafter
I love calligraphy and this is very nice; I love the theme and the way you expressed makes it easy to understand, even if I can't read the language it's in.
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:iconmajnouna:
`majnouna Sep 12, 2010  Professional General Artist
Wonderful, thank you :)
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:iconakeli:
*akeli Sep 6, 2010   General Artist
Oh wow, this is so gorgeous! I love esoteric things, especially when they deal with religious mysticism. Have you ever read anything by Hafiz, such as "The Gift"? Shai loves those Sufi books! The negative space is this is what is most interesting to me! I don't know why. :D
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:iconmajnouna:
`majnouna Oct 9, 2010  Professional General Artist
Well well that's very interesting! What's the nature of your interest in this topic? My work lately's rather deeply immersed into it, even Malaak ;) I haven't read Hafiz but I'm aware of him :) I was reading Hallaj recently, but I'm a bit turned off from reading these guys when I can't read them in the original language, I feel I lose most of the essence...
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:iconakeli:
*akeli Sep 6, 2010   General Artist
I also wanted to say - the original, shown in the photos, with its glow, is breathtaking! This version, I thought was digital at first, but they both are so interesting to look at. :D
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:iconredotaku:
~redotaku Aug 31, 2010  Hobbyist General Artist
دوار*
عفوا أنا متخلف
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:iconredotaku:
~redotaku Aug 31, 2010  Hobbyist General Artist
(Ignore my iPhone's retarded encoding)
الحروف جميلة واصبت بدرور
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:iconmajnouna:
`majnouna Sep 1, 2010  Professional General Artist
Oh LOL just saw this. Thanks!
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