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The Beauty of Written Art
Michael Williams ‘04
The Muslim Student Association launched
its Islam Awareness week on March 24 with a lecture and demonstration
of the Muslim language as portrayed by the Chinese Muslims. Haji Noor
Deen, a Chinese Arabic calligraphist, exhibited his artwork and talked
about the history of calligraphy.
With the aid of a translator, Haji Noor Deen delineated the history of
Islam in China and the origins of his art form. Fifteen hundred years
ago, Islam was introduced to China, and although there are basic differences
in the way that the Chinese and the Arabs write, (Chinese script reads
from top to bottom while Arabic script reads from right to left) the Chinese
adopted a very graceful and intricate system of portraying Arabic characters.
Although there is only one Arabic alphabet, there are endless possibilities
in the way it can be portrayed as evinced by the differences from city
to city within the Arab countries. The curvature and additional lines
added to the script make it distinct and traceable to the city of origin.
After unraveling the tools of his trade from a scroll like container,
Deen proceeded to demonstrate the union of the Islamic and Chinese worlds
through his brushstrokes. What is interesting and amazing thing about
the Arabic alphabet is that there are only 28 letters, but there are 100
different ways to portray those letters. Deen demonstrated a simplified
way of writing all of the letters; after which Haji Noor Deen asked the
audience to come up and try their hand at the writing.
The true testament to his skill comes from the fact that the symbols he
creates are readable in both Arabic and Chinese and can be translated
to mean the same thing. For example, the word for peace in Arabic is portrayed
in a way that doubles as the phrase “tranquility of heart”
in the Chinese language. The beauty of the words was further displayed
when the common Islamic phrase bismillah ir-rahman,ir-raheem (most gracious
and merciful God) was written in a fashion that made it appear to be a
young woman kneeling in prayer.
Despite the language barrier, Haji Noor Deen provided an educational and
fascinating look at the relationship between China and the Islamic world,
as well as an entertaining display of some truly skillful art work.
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