By the Sun and Its Brightness...
The ninety-first surah in the Holy Quran, Ash-Shams, meaning ‘the sun’; is written exactly once in the Islamic Calligraphy Diwani Jali script to create an abstract stylized sun. (Full English Translation at the bottom.)
This piece is part of a much larger project called The Quran of Solidarity, in which I plan to write the entire Holy Quran in these abstract pieces, one design for each of the 114 surahs. To my knowledge it will be the only Quran entirely handwritten by a non-Muslim, and possibly the only whole Quran written surah by surah in figural designs rather than linear text.
Signed Limited Edition Prints of this piece are available here.
9:01 By the sun and its brightness
9:02 And [by] the moon when it follows it
9:03 And [by] the day when it displays it
9:04 And [by] the night when it covers it
9:05 And [by] the sky and He who constructed it
9:06 And [by] the earth and He who spread it
9:07 And [by] the soul and He who proportioned it
9:08 And inspired it [with discernment of] its wickedness and its righteousness,
9:09 He has succeeded who purifies it,
9:10 And he has failed who instills it [with corruption].
9:11 Thamud denied [their prophet] by reason of their transgression,
9:12 When the most wretched of them was sent forth.
9:13 And the messenger of Allah [Salih] said to them, “[Do not harm] the she-camel of Allah or [prevent her from] her drink.”
9:14 But they denied him and hamstrung her. So their Lord brought down upon them destruction for their sin and made it equal [upon all of them].
9:15 And He does not fear the consequence thereof.
Translation by Sahih International
