Good Stuff #6: Calligraphy

I just found that our friend Sir Terence Clark does Arabic calligraphy as a pastime, Since he is “dog (saluki/ tazi) friend”, the subject of this piece is not surprising. In his words:

“In this piece I have used at the top a line of poetry – “Without hunting there is no pleasure” – in what is known as Early Kufic, the style in which the first Qur’ans were written. In the main body I have used the later Fatimid Kufic style for two lines from a poem describing the strength of a Saluqi called Muq (which appears in Rex Smith’s book on Ibn Marzuban) – “He springs into action faster than the sword and the spear; he is more effective than arrows and javelins”. The decoration is in the Ottoman style of the 18th century.”