The arts thrive whenever they are associated with the support of rulers and officials. Arabic calligraphy is one of the arts that has received great attention from the caliphs, sultans, ministers, judges, and even notables and merchants.
In our Arabian Gulf, the calligraphy was of interest to teachers in the elementary schools. Therefore, we found that our ancestors, may Allah Almighty have mercy on them, had a beautiful calligraphy, despite the scarcity of those who knew to write and read so that the glorious of them were working in the offices of the rulers as writers. One of them was called "Krani" and a number of them were famous in those offices.
In 1990, my first participation was within the annual exhibition of the Emirates Fine Art Society, which was sponsored by His Highness Sheikh Dr. Sultan bin Muhammad Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member, and Ruler of Sharjah. It was the first time that I met and spoke to him when he arrived at the place where I display my paintings within the exhibition. I remember that it was a painting of the Opening Chapter of the Holy Quran and the other was of the beginning of Surat Al-Baqarah and the third was a plate of the names of Allah. His Highness attentively spoke and asked me questions that tell about full knowledge and realization of the importance of calligraphy and its origins. I recall that His Highness then asked me about the reasons for writing Basmalah in Kufic calligraphy while the other verses were written in the calligraphy, where calligraphers used to write Basmalah, either in the Naskh script or in the thuluth script. I dared to answer that I imitated some of the Korans that used to write Basmala in Kufic script. Here, His Highness smiled as if he were a teacher asking his student him to test whether I wrote that script knowingly or ignorantly.
Then, I met with His Highness while attending the opening of the exhibition of the Emirates Fine Art Society. I also attended numerous meetings of the Association after we established the Arabic calligraphy group and started preparing to establish a specialized magazine for calligraphy, which is the first in the world that cares about calligraphy. We called it "the Calligrapher".
Ten years after "the Calligrapher (Al Khatat)" was discontinued, the Arabic Lettering Magazine (Hurouf Arabia) was published on the Culture and Science Symposium in Dubai. We were very keen to have the publications of this magazine reach the hands of His Highness. When he did not receive some issues, as he asks its editor on the day the magazine was presented at the opening of the Sharjah Forum for Arabic calligraphy in 2014, saying: Is the magazine still published? No longer received, I thought it stopped issuing!
His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah believes that Islamic arts are a source of pride for the Arabs and Muslims that the world must know in order to know how sophisticated and great the art of our ancestors. Therefore, His Highness is keen to include Arabic calligraphy on the agenda of cultural events that Sharjah participates in its cultural weeks organized in many cities of cultural and civilizational importance.
This concern of His Highness has had a great impact on the preservation and restoration of Arab linear heritage. The follower can say that we are living the second golden age of Arabic calligraphy.
In fact, it is not possible to mention a calligrapher who did not attend the activities of the Department of Culture in Sharjah, either as a honoree, as a guest of honor, as a contest winner or as an exhibitor.
When the experience of some Emirati calligraphers matured, the Sharjah Department of Culture encouraged them to have an artistic entity that empowers and cares for them. They were excited to establish the Emirates Society for Arabic Calligraphy & Islamic Ornamentation. In this regard, the giving was completed and the bountiful generosity of His Highness the Ruler of Sharjah, who has dedicated a headquarters for this fledgling association in the heart of Sharjah, has ordered an annual grant so that the association to perform its roles according to its approved goals.
In addition, His Highness inaugurated the exhibitions of the association accompanying the Sharjah calligraphy symposiums, usually under the title of “Hurouf Emaratia”. These exhibitions include the work of promising Emirati calligraphers. Usually, we see in the eyes of Father Sultan the over admiration of achievements of his sons, who were young students yesterday and today their paintings are being compared to the work of their peers from other countries.
At the Eighth Calligraphy Forum (2018), I saw the joy in the eyes of His Highness as I am the oldest of the calligrapher citizens when I told him: “May Allah Almighty prolong the life of your children who are originally your good planting. Here, thanks to Allah Almighty and then your support, those have become skilled calligraphers. He began to talk to them in peace as if he were their father. Here, I took the opportunity to ask His Highness to include under his care a group of distinguished Emirati calligraphers to scholarship to Istanbul to hone their skills and get additional certificates from senior calligraphers there. His Highness immediately directed the Department of Culture to initiate the procedures for their selection and address the concerned parties.
There are many examples and many stories are too much to be written down in volumes. It is enough for the current generation to be proud that the UAE has become a center of attraction for the art of calligraphy, and Sharjah as its capital. We extend our sincere thanks to the Sultan of Calligraphy, our sincere thanks to the Sultan of Culture, our sincere thanks to the Sultan of Literature and our sincere thanks to the Sultan of role models in the love of the homeland and the love of belonging to Arabism and Islam.
Source: Al- Khaleej Newspaper - Khalid Ali Al-Jallaf