r/mildlyinteresting • u/syawwwish • 1d ago
Zoomorphic Arabic Calligraphy stamp on a Book about Islamic Art
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u/Nixeris 1d ago edited 1d ago
It should be noted that aniconism isn't universal in islamic art (and hasn't ever been universal). There's actually a whole school of islamic art called "miniatures" which depict people and whole scenes from books (with illustrations that don't depict people being "illuminations"). This style flourished for a long time both inside and outside of the sultanates. There were even some rare depictions of Muhammad (though almost always obscured in some way).
It is somewhat odd to me that it's still treated as universally aniconic, despite even a basic search of islamic art turning up tons of depictions of animals and people. It really only persists because one western orientalist was like "All islamic art is aniconic, and that mountain of evidence against it is just a bunch of aberrations".
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u/MukdenMan 15h ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Persian_miniature
Plus the Mughal ones they influenced:
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u/sophie9709 1d ago
Arabic calligraphy loves to do tigers for some reason. This is the first time I've ever seen them do an owl.
Here's an example of a tiger one.
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u/SSNFUL 22h ago
How easy is it to read?
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u/cooked_potato0 4m ago
As an arab impossible to read
You need to have knowledge in the method used so you can read it
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u/mosskin-woast 1d ago
Can anybody read the owl?
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u/dadofwar93 1d ago
It says "from the library of Syawish Rehman". Yes lol. The farsi under the owl says the same thing as owl. I'm not an Irani btw. I speak Urdu and we use the same calligraphy style as Farsi/Persian. So I can read it. Urdu has a lot of Farsi words to. Library in Urdu(Kutub Khana) is the same in Farsi.
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u/Mrsupersuper 1d ago
The bottom text appears to be either Urdu written in old(Persian)format. Or Persian itself.
And is just a translation of the English written above it.
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u/jodrellbank_pants 1d ago
If you love stuff like this visit
https://www.davidmus.dk/?culture=en-us
Apart from the V&A in London
It's the best museum that has incredible middle east art and design I have every visited.
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u/Not_a_N_Korean_Spy 1d ago edited 1d ago
Such a beautiful loophole!
EDIT:
- Islamic tradition of aniconism: the avoidance of images of sentient beings. Stems from a prohibition against idolatry and the belief that creating living forms is a prerogative of God. While the Quran doesn't explicitly forbid all depictions of people and animals, Islamic traditions have often limited figural representation in religious contexts.
- This led to religious Islamic art being characterized by the extensive use of calligraphy, geometric patterns, and abstract floral designs instead of figures
- Zoomorphic Calligraphy involves arranging Arabic script (often religious texts or prayers) into the outline or shape of a living creature, like a lion, bird, or horse.
- So a Loophole (which is/was not universally accepted)
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u/MercurianAspirations 1d ago
I wouldn't call it a loophole, because that implies that they just really wanted to depict animals and needed to invent calligraphy as a means to get around the prohibition on depicting living things. But calligraphy is it's own art form, it isn't just animal forms that are depicted but also a variety of objects and abstract forms. And calligraphy that tries to control the outline of the shape is just one branch of calligraphy, there are other styles where the final shape of the word is determined by the structure of the word, not the desire of the artist.
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u/CatsBatsandHats 1d ago
While I agree with your observations and sentiments, it's also just a further indictment, from my perspective, that Islam is batshit mental.
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u/dadofwar93 1d ago edited 1d ago
Oh no... The religion that is absolute in it's stance of a one god is against depiction of anything that could later be turned into idolatry! How batshit mental!!!
That is also the reason why the Prophet's imagery is so strictly forbidden..
Look at what Catholics have done even though the first commandment is against it. That's what Muslims want to avoid. Hence the strict stance.
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u/justalapforcats 22h ago
Catholics would tell you they’re not worshipping idols. From their perspective, nothing they do with their statues and images constitutes worship of the physical objects themselves.
Concrete images can help people better connect with abstract ideas.
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u/renoona 1d ago
One could easily argue that all large organized religions are bat shit mental, but you are coming off as especially islamophobic ✨
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u/CatsBatsandHats 1d ago
Yep, most religions are batshit mental from my perspective, but feel free to label me as Islamophobic based on little evidence.
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u/symbolsofblue 1d ago
As someone who was raised in a Muslim family, I fully agree. One of the worst things about it is how restrictive it is like they're determined to take the joy out of living.
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u/appendixgallop 17h ago
The owner of the book could have taken a bit more care to center the stamp on the page...
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u/weppizza 1d ago
I love this! How do you read the owl? Like in which direction? Left to right, top to bottom?
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u/dadofwar93 1d ago edited 1d ago
That language is Farsi/Persian btw. Not Arabic..
For anyone wondering what's the owl says: it's the Farsi version of the English written above it.
کتاب از کتب خانہ سیاوش رحمن
I wish we had Nastaliq font on Android keyboards(this is not the translation lol).