Arabic Calligraphy – Mutanabbi’s Lion

This piece features Al-Mutanabbi‘s proverb:

“إذا رأيت نيوب الليث فلا تظنن أن الليث يبتسم”

“Just because you see the lion’s teeth don’t assume that the lion is smiling”

Abu at-Tayyib Ahmad bin Al-Husayn al-Mutanabbi al-Kindi, born on 915 CE in the Iraqi city of Kufah was a prolific writer and poet. Educated in Damascus, Syria, this wandering poet is credit with writing bold and defiant poems. Al Mutanabbi’s street in Baghdad, named after the poet, is famously known as the literary capital of Iraq. The street is home to a thousand-year-old book market and a testament to Iraq’s incredible history of art, literature, and creative expression. This piece is dedicated to the rich tradition of intellectual exchange, poetry, calligraphy, and freedom of expression that enriched the country for thousands of years, and to the enduring creative spirit of Iraq.

The original version of this piece was exhibited and sold during the summer of 2012 in Art Lounge, Beiteddine, Lebanon as part of the exhibition, ‘Maktoob’.