Tiraz for All Pilgrims
Daily Draw September 4th, 2008
I’m going to be using a book called The Book of Silk by Philippa Scott published by my favourite publisher, Thames and Hudson, for daily draws for a while.
I occasionally do this with a specific book and then write essays to tie passages from the book into my draws. The last time I did this was with an interesting book called The Alphabetic Labyrinth back in 2005. I feel the need for some protracted stimulation and a trip through various card decks tied into this book.
“Stripes, often including bands of calligraphy or repeating motifs, became a distinctive feature of Arab textile design, for the Prophet allowed that decorative silk strips, two to four fingers’ width, were permissible, and this gave rise to embroidered calligraphic bands on otherwise plain robes. Manuscripts show turbans and garments decorated with bands of calligraphy, and the dress, banners and animal trappings of the pilgrims to Mecca shown in the manuscript of Hariri’s Maqamat are decorated in this way.”
The embroidered bands are known as tiraz from the Arabic tarz that comes from a Persian word for “embroidery.”
The deck I am using today is The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz.
LOVE IS ALL AROUND YOU
“You search for love outside yourself when love is all around you. Love is everywhere but you need to have the eyes to see.
Pilgrims to Mecca are the same as pilgrims to Jerusalem or the Camino de Santiago de Compostela. You can wear your clam shell or your band of calligraphy on the road. Pilgrims going to the same place where love is all around. But you need to have the eyes to see.
Apparently in the Middle Ages, these Arab textiles were worn by Christians and highly prized. Through trade or stolen by men during the Crusades, the workmanship of the scripts was admired and many were used as clerical vestments and for wrapping relics of the Saints. We are not so far apart it seems.
I once tried to buy a set of Islamic cards with sacred calligraphy on them, but they never replied to my query. I admire this calligraphy, it is very much like Judaic calligraphy in sacred art and documents, where a form or picture encloses the calligraphy.
The famous example I think of with Arabic calligraphy is the inside of the Hagia Sophia in Constantinople (Istanbul today.) It served as both a Christian church and a Muslim mosque, respected and revered by both. We are not so far apart. Those huge disks with their sacred calligraphy awe us, as do the sacred mosaics and paintings of Mary and Jesus. Instead of fighting over this sacred space, it was turned into a museum for all to use.
Love is all around you, like the sheen of silk embroidered with sacred words.
Tags: Arabic calligraphy, Books, Crusades, embroidery, pilgrimage, pilgrims, sacred writing, silk, The Book of Silk
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