Copyright permission has been sought from the aforementioned publisher.

The use of materials published on the Institute of Ismaili Studies website indicates an acceptance of the
Institute of Ismaili Studies Conditions of Use. Each copy of the article must contain the same copyright
notice that appears on the screen or printed by each transmission. For all published work, it is best to
assume you should ask both the original authors and the publishers for permission to (re)use information
and always credit the authors and source of the information.

2010 The Institute of Ismaili Studies





The Institute of Ismaili Studies





Title: Ethics and Aesthetics in Islamic Arts
Author: Tazim Kassam
Source: The Ismaili USA, March 2006, pp. 5-7

Abstract:
The arts rise above the limitations of language and texts to offer a window onto
other cultures. Artistic beauty and aesthetics can travel across time and place, and
transcend cultural and ethnic boundaries. But at the same time, the arts can reflect
values and ideals of a particular culture expressed within a particular time and
place. Looking particularly at Islamic arts, this article explores the close
connection between beauty and the sacred, between a search for beauty and
refinement of ones desire and character, between nature and revelation.

DR. TAZIM R . K A S S A M
Tazim R. Kassam is a historian of religions and
teaches courses on Islamic civilization at
Syracuse University Her specialty includes the
musical and devotional traditions of South Asia,
particularly the ginans of Ismaili Muslims. She
is co-editor with Francoise Mallison, of Ginans:
Textsand Contexts (Oxford: forthcoming) and
the chief editor of Spotlight on Teaching. a bi-
annual publ ished by the American Academy
of Religions.
What is this tent? Could one say thus:
An ocean full of pearls?
Candles, ten thousand, in a bowl
Of enamel so bright?
[Nasir Khusraw - 11th. century]
In thi s poem, Nasir Khusraw expresses a deep sense of awe
before t he beauty of creation. Taking to heart the Qur' anic
verse, "And we shall show t hem our signs in the hor izon and
in t hemselves" (41:53), he looks upon the book of natur e as
replete wit h symbols intimating the presence of its Creator.
Like a paint brush of wo rds i n t he poet 's hand, Khusraw's
movi ng description of the night sky bri ngs near the love li ness
and shine of t he st ars by comparing them to t he smooth sen-
sat ion of pearls and the warm glow of candles. At the same
ti me, by i nvoki ng the image of t he starl it sky as an ocean-sized
tent, a huge gl ass bowl shimmeri ng wit h poi nts of light,
Khusraw revels i n the awesome magnif icence ofthe universe.
The arts rise abov e t he l i mitat ions of language and t ext s
t o offe r a wi ndow i nto othe r cult ur es. Capt ivati ng the ear
and eye, they draw one more readi ly i nto unf ami liar worl ds.
In many cases, gening to know anot her cult ure t hrough it s
visua l and performing art s is more pr ofound and movi ng
t han onl y through its writings and customs. The art s form a
bridge between peop le w ho are dist ant from each ot her and
have no connect ions save for t rade. The beauty and aes-
t het ics of art s can travel across t ime and place, and tran-
scend cultural and et hnic bound aries. It can also create a
shared ethos among those who do not have a commo n reli -
gion or race. In Andalusia, for i nstance, the Mudej ar arts
were appreciated and cult ivated not only by Musli ms, but by
Jews and Christ ians ali ke. In part icular, decorative arts
found i n the orna mentation and design of text i les, cerami cs,
carpets, ti les, metal ware, fountains, arches, and gardens
lend t hemselves t o wider use i n a soci ety.
TH E I SM AI LI U SA 5
... _._.. :.... .__ .. ..... ... :; ,('.
At the same t ime, while t he appeal of art ist ic expression
t ranscends cult ures, the arts also ref lect the values of a partic-
ular cult ure. Islamic arts mi rror t he t imeless ideals of Islam
expressed within a part icular place and ti me. They manifest
both perennial spi rit ual values as we ll as local not ions of
aest heti cs and craftsmanship. Islamic art s play on the concept
of the One and the many: the One as the bounteous Source of
the many, and t he felicitou s return of t he many to the One.
They direct attention to God's nearness, yet mystery, th rough
aestheti c experiences mediated through the senses, experi-
ences that evoke the wo nder of creation. It is oft en said that art
in Islami c cultures exists not just for the sake of art itself, but to
act as a constant reminder of the beauty of God's presence.
Both nature (God's creati on) and the arts (human creatio ns) are
understoo d as i ntimatio ns of Divi ne me rcy.
In Islami c arts, t here is a connect ion between beauty and the
sacred. The Our ' an is f illed wit h verses exhort i ng huma n
bei ngs to wi t ness t he endless marvels of God's creativi ty. The
word"ayat" refers not only to the verses of revelat ion i n the
Our ' an but also to creation itself. Divi ne creativity and wisdom
are i nexhausti ble as expressed i n the verse, " If all t he t rees on
earth we re pens, and if t he sea eked out by seven seas more
were ink, the Words of God could not be written out unto the
end" (31:27). Not only is God's creat ion conti nuous and limit-
less, its very unf oldi ng is purposeful : "Say: 0 God! Thou hast
not created thi s in vai n" (3:191). Islamic arts t hus involve the
thoughtful contemplat ion and remembrance (dhikr) of Creator,
creation, and creat ivity.
The artist seeks to become li ke the pen in the Hand of God
along with t hose who pledge allegiance to t he prophet and are
thu s gui ded by God: "The Hand of God is upon their hands"
6 MA RCH 2 1, 2006
(48:10).The calli grapher's prayer is to become an instrument in
t he Hand of God through perfect surrender, concent rat ion, and
devot ion. As a symbol of creat ivi ty as well as i ntell ect, t he pen
is menti oned in t he fi rst ver se revealed to Prophet
Muhammad: " Recite! And thy Lord is the Most Bounteous, He
who teaches by the pen, t eaches humanity wh at it knew not "
(96:3). Calligraphy, the most dist i nctive and cultivat ed of
Islamic arts, has apt ly been describ ed as the geometr y of the
spirit . Hazrat Ali, known as the foundin g pat ron of call igraphy
and invent or of the Kuf ic sty le, report edly said: " The whole
Our 'an is contained in et-Fetiti s (Opening surah); the Fat iha i n
t he BasmaJah, the Basmalah i n the Ba, and t he Ba i n the dot
below It" Originating wi t h a single point f rom which are drawn
an endless variety of li nes, shapes and meanings, calli graphy
demands exquisite cont rol, balance, and proport ion. The most
handsome calli graphy is t hus a sign of refinement and signals
disci pli ne of hand, mind and soul. Every human lif e,
metaphorically, is also a script or wo rk of art in progr ess; each
person a pen writ ing and sketching his or her own life. In life
as in art, t he question is whether the indi vidual, through
repeated mom ents of surrender (islam), will write his or her life
with God's hand guiding it .
In Islam, there is an i ntimate relati onship between the search
for beauty and the refinement of one's nature. The aest het ic
pursuit of beauty has an ethical impulse since t he art ist culti -
vates a way of bei ng in t he world t hat int uits and senses
mi nutely the i nherent complexity and intricacy of t he uni verse.
In this respect, the art ist shares t he t emperament of t he scien-
ti st who pays close attention to thi ngs i n order to appreciate
their int ri nsic nature. Both the search for beauty and the
response t o it is root ed in a di sposit i on th at cult ivates a
particular mood and di sciplin e, one that is att enti ve to the
signs of di vi ne mysteries in the ho rizon and in the self. All t he
senses are enlisted in t he search for beauty bot h during t he
pro cess of it s imagi nat ive creat ion as well as at the moment of
its percept ion and contemplat ion. In the Qur'anic verse that
descri bes the soul's companions in t he gar dens of paradise,
beauty and good are identif ied as one: "Wherei n are found
(companions) good and beaut if ul" (55:70). The role ' of t he
senses in perceivin g beaut y is crucial, and they must be made
keen th rou gh pi ety and purity. The pursuit of beaut y is t hus ti ed
t o the perfect ion of desi re and character. In Ismail i th oug ht,
t his const it utes the t ransformat ion of the lower soul (nafs) into
th e higher spi rit (r uh) of t he self.
In hi s Sym posium, Plato insists that t raini ng in the percep-
t ion of beauty is indispensable for perfecting human life si nce
it leads th e self to a proper or ientat ion wit hin th e uni verse. He
argues , in fact, t hat t hose who possess t he keenest abi lity to
perceive beauty come closest to t ouching immortali ty.Thi s per-
cept ion , however, is not merely t he enjoyme nt of beaut iful
objects. More import ant ly, it refers to t he di scernment of beau-
ty i n t hou ghts, emot ions, acti ons, and society. For Plato, t he
ultimate purpose of t rai ni ng a person t o perceive beauty is to
draw out t rue virtue. Similarly, in Islami c aestheti cs the per-
cept ion of beauty is considered to have moral impl icat ions and
effects. Since responsiveness to beauty is si multaneously an
expression of gratit ude to th e Source of all beaut y, it endows
one with a generosity of spi rit that is essential to all moral
responsibility. Thi s is because, ultimately, all arts are borne out
of acts of gene rosity, fo r th e arti st shares i nsi ght s into reality
that are often beyond t he ken of the ordinary person. Just as
books wi den the reader's int el lectual horizons, so too Isl ami c
arts tr ain t he viewer's eye to ext end its v ision of life beyond t he
visible spect rum .
Artistic endeavor is th us a particular way of atte nding to the
worl d. Any eff ort at artistic creat ion from th e most or dinary of
objects (a prayer cap) to t he most subli me (t he Al hambra)
requ ires one to cont emplate th e nature of a thing, whet her it is
a f lower, brick, rock crystal or snowflake. As we pass a f lower,
we may see it mindl essly, wit hout reall y att endi ng to it s pres-
ence. An artist who passes th e f lower looks at it differently.
Trained t o perceive beauty and st ruct ure i n t he most ordinary
of things, the art ist's eye not ices t he f lower's beaut iful shape,
t he soft textu re of its petal s, th e way they swirl arou nd its cen-
ter, the sat uratio n and hues of its colors, and it s delicious and
soothi ng scent. By payi ng attention in th is way t o t he f lower,
t he artist has lost herself in it , and in those few moments as
she surrenders herself to its exqu isite beauty, she gratefully
recei ves it s mystery. Thi s generosity t hat nature yields t o t he
percept ive eye alters t he inner world and articulates a relati on-
ship t o God's creat ion t hat governs how one oug ht to treat all
tha t is in it i nclud ing t he fl ower. Much is t hus taug ht to us by
th e pages of nat ure which are as sat urated with meaning as
are t he divine verses of revelati on. Learning t o perceive the
wo rl d wit h an appreciat ive eye is th us also a path t o pr ofoun d
humility and underscor es t he et hica l imperati ve enjoined upon
Ada m and hi s desce ndants, [l .e., humanit y) to care for God's
creation. The centra l et hic of Isl ami c arts is to live as if
"Whichsoever way you t urn is t he face of God " (2:115). ...
(
THF. ISMAI LI USA 7