More than words

The Arabic language does not just look exotic for most Western people, but also lends itself to creating other works of art - apparently, especially in the context of the Quran, which is seen as a great work of poetry in itself (and earlier formed the basis for children's language education, starting with the short verses and then moving on to the longer ones...). The fish above is actually made up of a verse from the Quran.

And I was also impressed by how the holy book itself was designed over the centuries. In Manama, the capital of the Kingdom of Bahrain, there's a so-called House of the Quran. This cultural center and museum exhibits Qurans from as far back as the 7th century - the beginning of Islam. There are countless ways of caligraphy artistry, from always beginning each line with Alef, the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, to arranging the words in a way that the same expressions face each other through all the pages when you close the book, to intricate patterns and ornaments drawn by hand, to Quran versions consisting of only 30 pages, or verses written on chick peas. Not to mention the different materials or dozens of languages and dialects.

By the way, to give you a nice bit of trivia knowledge which I quite liked: Did you know the first Quran printed with movable type was produced in Germany, in 1694? And Martin Luther had his hands in producing the first Latin version of this holy book.

It has to be something about the letters: Even a graffiti which I discovered in a small alley of Manama's old quarter looks like a piece of art. I just hope the example below does not mean anything negative...