Perfect Harmony (Calligrapher's Notebooks) - Softcover

'Arabi, Ibn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1570629811 ISBN 13: 9781570629815

Publisher: Shambhala, 2002

Synopsis

In each of these poems, taken from his long work The Interpreter of Desire, the Sufi master Ibn 'Arabi (1165–1240) evokes the transcendent experience of spiritual love—provoked by his encounter with a young Persian woman named Nizham, "harmony." Nizham becomes the emblem of the perfect expression of love, of beauty, of divinity. He discovers her and loves her in desert sand dunes, in the beneficent shades of rare groves, in the cool wind, in the dazzling sun—in all the movements of nature. Calligraphy (from the Greek for "beautiful writing") is an art where word and image meet, where the artist strives to give visual expression to the meaning of words in a way that transcends the text while remaining completely faithful to it. It is a discipline that has been invested with spiritual significance wherever it has arisen—and it has arisen throughout the world in every age, in virtually every language, culture, and religion. The Shambhala Calligraphy series is a collection of books devoted to contemporary expressions of this "art of the word," featuring contemporary calligraphers' striking new interpretations of texts that have been traditional subjects for calligraphic interpretation. Whether in Arabic, Greek, Hebrew, Latin, or Chinese pictographs, the characters, words, and sentences are brought to life anew here in a choreography of mind, hand, and heart by which letter and spirit fuse in a single stroke.

About this title

About the Author

Ibn 'Arabi (1165–1240) profoundly influenced the development of Islamic mysticism and philosophy, uniting Greek, Persian, and Indian thought into the Sufism of his day. Born in Spain, he traveled throughout the Islamic world during his life, finally settling in Damascus in present-day Syria.

From the Inside Flap

hese poems, taken from his long work The Interpreter of Desire, the Sufi master Ibn Arabî (1165-1240) evokes the transcendent experience of spiritual love provoked by his encounter with a young Persian woman named Nizham, harmony. Nizham becomes the emblem of the prefect expression of love, of beauty, of divinity. He discovers her and loves her in desert sand dunes, in the beneficent shades of rare groves, in the cool wind, in the dazzling sun in all the movements of nature.
Calligraphy (from the Greek for beautiful writing ) is an art where word and image meet, where the artist strives to give visual expression to the meaning of words in a way that transcends the text while remaining completely faithful to it. It is a discipline that has been invested with spiritual significance wherever it has arisen and it has arisen throughout the world in every age, in virtually every language, culture, and religion.
The Shambhala C

Reviews

Among the other three volumes in Shambhala's series is Perfect Harmony: Sufi Poetry of Ibn `Arabi, which pairs the poetry of the 13th-century Sufi mystic with contemporary calligraphy by Hassan Massoudy. In a moving afterword, Massoudy explains how he became involved in calligraphy as a child, and how his work is inspired by poetry.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Shambhala
• Publication date: 2002
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1570629811
• ISBN 13: 9781570629815
• Binding: Paperback
• Illustrator: Massoudy Hassan
• Number of pages: 64