Unknown Artist
Today we present the piece from The Cincinnati Art Museum and the exhibition Collecting Calligraphy Arts of the Islamic World, which will be open until January 27, 2019. We know how rarely we feature Islamic art and I'm very happy we can present this piece to you today. Enjoy!
These compilations of the Prophet Muhammad’s words and deeds are an important source of moral and legal guidance for Muslims, and continue to be referenced today. This calligraphic composition consists of four nonconsecutive hadith that relate thematically to the work’s title, which translates as “We Are Humans” and is seen in a larger size along the upper register of the page written in thuluth script. Thuluth (Turkish, sülüs) is a bolder script often used to indicate headings in Qur’ans and other texts. The four hadiths can be translated as:
- “Whoever avoids lying while he is doing so falsely, a house will be built for him on the skirts of Paradise. Whoever avoids arguing while he is in the right, a house will be built for him in its midst. And whoever has good character, a house will be built for him in its heights.”
- “Whoever is silent, he is saved.”
- “If anyone disgraces his brother for a sin, he will not die before committing it himself.”
- “The best of you is the one who defends his tribe, so long as he commits no sin.”
See you tomorrow! (That's me saying that; it's not a hadith.)
Zuzanna