Sufism and the Aesthetics of Penmanship in Siraj al-Shirazi's Tuhfat al-Muhibbin (1454)

摘要

Arabic calligraphy has exerted its enchantment over many generations of writers and readers alike. Despite the existence of numerous treatises in Arabic and Persian on the techniques of penmanship, hearkening back to the methods developed by the great calligraphers of the Abbasid era such as Ibn Muqla (d. 940) and Yaqut (d. ca. 1297), few authors have attempted to explain the aesthetic and spiritual bases of the art of the pen.~1 A master calligrapher from Shiraz, Siraj al-Shirazi, composed one such work under the title Tuhfat almuhibbin ("The Bounty of the Lovers") in the Deccan kingdom of Bidar in 1454.~2 Although this work has not attracted much scholarly attention, it is a rich source for the early history and understanding of the cultural significance of the Arabic script.~3 In this work the author reveals the intimate relationship of his art to Sufism, as expounded by his teacher, a calligrapher descended from the famous Persian Sufi, Ruzbihan al-Baq1i (d. 1209). Here I would like briefly to describe the contents of this guide to the art of penmanship and analyze the extent to which Sufi teachings play a role in the aesthetics of this calligrapher, that is, the form of artistic judgment and interpretation that he brings to the understanding of the art of the Arabic script.