Translation of Surah Al Fatiha (The Opening)
In the name of God, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy! Praise belongs to God, Lord of all worlds, the Lord of Mercy, the Giver of Mercy, Master of the Day of Judgment. It is You we worship; it is You we ask of help. Guide us to the straight path: the path of those you have blessed, those who incur no anger and who have not gone astray.
Statement:
The choice of Surat Al Fatiha (the Opening) to illuminate in various styles is dictated by its substantial significance within the Qur’an. It is also known as Ummul Qur’an and Ummul Kitab meaning the Mother of Qur’an and Mother of the Book respectively. It is believed to be the first completed chapter of the Qur’an revealed to the prophet Mohamed (PBUH), and is the most often repeated Surah in the Quran. Prayer is said to be invalid or not acceptable without reciting it. Also, the chapter, apart from referring to the Resurrection, presents facts concerning the Unity of the Divine Essence, Unity of Attributes, Unity of Divine Acts, and Unity of Worship. Therefore, the chapter is indeed the essence of the whole meaning of the Qur’an.
Five versions of Surat Al Fatiha from various traditions have been illuminated, namely: the Kufic, the Moorish, the Ottoman, the Persian and the Chinese. I commissioned calligraphers from different parts of the world to write Surat Al Fatiha in the required scripts, I commissioned Master AytenTiryaki from Turkey for the Ottoman Script, Master BelaidHamidi from Morocco for the Maghribi script, Master Hajji Noureddine from China for the Chinese script, calligrapher Hani from Iran for the Persian Script, and I asked the authorization of calligrapher VahidJazayeri to reproduce his early Kufic script calligraphy of Surat Al Fatiha in shell gold. Then, I created the design of each illuminated piece. The design of the Ottoman piece was inspired by a Quran Manuscript written by Zayn Al AbidineIbn Muhammad Al-katib Ash-Shirazi in the 15th century. The Moroccan piece was inspired by a Moroccan Qur’an manuscript from the 12th century that I found in the Royal Library in Rabat, and the Chinese piece is inspired by a 19th Century Chinese Qur’an manuscript provided by the Islamic Arts Museum in Kuala Lumpur. The design of the illumination of the Persian piece is my own. The Kufic piece refers to the early use of gold in Qur’an calligraphy in the 9th century before the evolution of the art of Qur’an illumination. I painted my designs in shell gold as the initial element, and in handmade natural pigments especially Lapis Lazuli on Ahar handmade paper. In Qur’an Illumination, blue is a symbol of the Infinite, and was raised to the level of co-equality with gold in the East, whereas in the West gold maintained its original supremacy with blue as second, which explains the dominance of blue in my Ottoman and Persian pieces, and a more significant presence of red in my Moroccan one.