MEDICINE AND THE ARTS called “ The Bride of Calligraphy .”
Tughra is a distinctive Turkish invention in 1324 , highly elaborate and ornate . Supposedly it ’ s difficult to forge and was used by the Ottoman Sultans as their personal signatures as stamp of authority .
Maghribi , Moroccan , Andalusian all name a script that evolved out of Kufic style in Muslim Spain , North and West Africa and Morocco . Its popularity has endured over the centuries .
Many other beautiful scripts have been in use . A variation of Nastaliq called Shikaste ( Broken ) is used for Persian and Urdu poetry . Moalla invented by Hamid Ajami in Tehran , Iran is quite distinctive . Khatte Raana by the late Ibne Kaleem of my city of birth , Multan , Pakistan was invented in 1974 and has been highly acclaimed . Sadequain ( 1930-1987 ) was a prolific , self-taught , highly innovative Pakistani calligrapher , painter and poet who earned high laurels .
The innovative new way of calligraphy with incorporation of Western modes or hybrid forms continues to proliferate and a new umbrella term “ Calligraph Art ” has been introduced by a Pakistani scholar / calligrapher M . Athar Tahir . He has written a remarkable book which described a new paradigm of the fusion of Western and Muslim aesthetics and emergence of a new international genre in contemporary art , called Calligraph Art , in the mid twentieth century in Pakistan by the pioneers Hanif Ramay and Shakir Ali ( UN- ESCO and Pakistan Calligraph-Artist Guild , 2002 ). There has been an efflorescence and resurgence of Islamic calligraphy in Pakistan , and I was very lucky to visit with some master calligraphers in Lahore and Multan during my visit in Pakistan , particularly Sajjad Khalid and Khursheed Gauhar Qalam and late Ibn Kaleem ’ s calligrapher son Mukhtar Ali and his friend Rashid Seyal . A book entitled Allama Bil Qalam - Arabic Calligraphy in Pakistan was published in 2012 by Consulate General of Pakistan , Jeddah , Saudi Arabia .
Among the contemporary master calligraphers is the highly respected Hasan Celebi of Istanbul who has taught a large cadre of calligraphers from all over the world . Our own American Calligrapher , Mohamed Zakariya of Washington , D . C . is a celebrated master calligrapher and an accomplished author who was a pupil
of Hasan Celebi .
The spirit of calligraphy can be summed up by a verse from the inimitable and famous Persian poet , Hafiz , “ Let the pen write from the heart that is joyous and free .” Calligraphy is a spiritual path that leads to tranquility of the heart . Calligraphy is truly a prayer , a blessed and liberating undertaking that transmits joy and brings peace to the heart .
Dr . Seyal practices cardiovascular Medicine at the Seyal Cardiology LLC in Clarksville , IN .
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