Author: Islamic Inventions
The well known narrative by the Beloved Prophet Muhammad (Sallallahu Alayhi Wasallam), “Allah is beautiful and He loves beauty”, encouraged Muslims to beautify the word of Allah through calligraphy and other expressions. Calligraphy began as a direct response of the soul of Muslims to the descent of the Quranic revelation. Calligraphical art moved from beautifying the Quran and texts to objects, houses and Masjids and eventually to Architecture.
Geometry became central to the art of the Muslim world. It became a major art form by using the circle as a basis and generating patterns from repetition, symmetry and changing scale to create beautiful effects. Muslim artists excelled further to produce the Arabesque - a form of geometric art consisting of many units joined and interlaced together all flowing from the others in all directions.
Outstanding examples of this sophisticated art is the Topkapi Scroll which was recently uncovered in Istanbul and contains 114 Individual geometric patterns for wall surfaces and vaults. It is the work of numerous master builders who worked in Persia during the late 15th/16th century.
The famous knot design was used by King Henry VIII, and appears in his portrait on the border of his cloak and the curtains.
Leonardo da Vinci found arabesque fascinating and used to spend considerable time working out complicated patterns.
