In my eyes art has never been something worth my while.I just couldnt see any sense in sitting down for hours and drawing, I always thought, that I was going to be asked about where I spent my time on the day of judgement.
But lately I was introduced to the ancient ottoman art of "hat", which changed my outlook on art completely !
I started attending a course in my local mosque a few month ago and it turned out , that I really liked it ! At first I thought "youre going to waste your time there Ayse!You are going to be asked about this!" But then it was introduced to me as a form of ibadah.
The "hattat" (writer, calligraph) is supposed to be in a constant form of remembrance of Allah as he is writing. This is why every calligrapher has to start with the dua
"My Lord facilitate , dont complicate for me. Give me goodness in my work ! "
And you can only take satisfaction and joy from this incredibly patience requiring art if you remember Allah while writing.
Hüsn-i hat is not only the artwork you see at the end on the paper. It comes with a whole mindset.
A mindset of modesty, of humbleness and awareness of the finiteness and irrelevance of your ego in comparison to the greatness of Allah and the concept of Islam.
You are supposed to write this until you are perfect at it. For some it might take years...
And dont be fooled, it might look easy, I love it, but the true masters of this art are never satisfied with their own work. How could they be with yours ! :)
Every letter has its own measurements, which depend on the thickness of your pen (a bamboostick, called "kamis") :)
The ink is made out of soot, which is beaten up to 500.000 times by hand to refine it as much as possible.
Having ink made out of fine soot is important to prevent a streaky appearance.
The process of beating the soot is called "terbiye etmek" which means edifying. The whole art is practiced with the purpose of edifying the calligrapher.May it be in patience, in discipline, accuracy or consistency...
My "hoca" (my teacher) is one of the most humble people Ive ever met. He told me, that before he started with calligraphy he used to be a very irascible person.Always in a rush, quick to act.
Hüsn-i Hat had made him patient, quiet, humble.
And it is doing the same with me. Alhamdulillah!
I now love spending my evenings with the art of hüsn-i hat...
A hattat has to spend his life fighting his ego in order to dissolve himself in the love of his creator.He has to purify his heart in order to become nothing more than a sharpened sword of his Lord. To let his ego die to be a lover of the Prophet (pbuh). To forget about himself in order to be a soldier on the way of Allah.
The biggest enemy he has on this road is himself.
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one of the best documentaries about hüsn-i hat (turkish) :)
Stay humble <3
Be in constant remembrance <3
