Words of Wisdom

My first try at Arabic calligraphy. These words of wisdom are verses from Al-Ikhlas, a short surah in Al-Quran. Here's the original verses in Al-Ikhlas:

This is called the Kufi style of Arabic calligraphy, in which, again, using geometrical elements in reforming the original Arabic words. I'm no architecture student, but it has always been widely known that Islamic art and architecture have widely been influenced by geometrical patterns, and it always fascinates me to learn new things on the beauty of Islamic art. For example, since the verses were written in a complete swirl, I learned that the right way to read a Kufi style calligraphy of Quranic surahs is by starting from the bottom end of the right side, moving to the left... and then top... until it completes a swirl.


I found the original design from an old book of my father, and it stated that the origin of the design was copied from the late Turki Ahmad Karahisari (d. 1556).


I actually used a recycled cardboard (that I found as a support to a drawing pad). I don't have an X-Acto knife - okay, bought twice, but got lost somewhere - so since it's an experiment, I use my old but reliable normal paper knife. I tore the first layer of the cardboard to get the roughed texture before finally painted it in red.


Since March is a very, very hot season (I keep on sweating even under the fan!), so it took less than 15 minutes to dry! It was only until then that I realised there were still some small parts that I missed (as per picture). Oh well, wait till I get this framed, and people won't notice them from afar. :P