Eqra – Endless Cosmic Renewal

The name of this composition is the first word of the first verse revealed of the holy Qur’ān: ‘Eqra’ (Read). It represents a very important dimension to the following first five verses of the Surah al-^ϲAlaq, from the Qur’ān: “Read in the name of thy Sustainer, who has created (1) – created man out of a germ-cell! (2) Read – for thy Sustainer is the Most Bountiful One (3) who has taught [man] the use of the pen (4) – taught man what he did not know! (5)”  The Qur’ān, Surah Al-^ϲAlaq (The Germ Cell) – Chapter 96 : Verses 1-5.

The text of these five verses includes only fourteen Arabic letter shapes (ا ب), which are compatible with the lunar cycle. It illustrates the progression of the moon shape from it’s initial waxing state to the full disc, signifying the completion of two weeks of the lunar month. The remaining two weeks trace back this order from the full moon to return to the initial waxing state, thus concluding the cycle.

In the composition the twenty eight phases of the moon, corresponding to the twenty eight letters of the Arabic alphabet, are painted against a cube of letters. Each of the twenty eight stations of the moon has a different name in Arabic. These twenty eight names are: Al-Batn al-Hut, Al-Sharatain, Al-Butain, Al-Thurayya, Al-Dabaran, Al-Hak’ah, Al-Han’ah, Al-Dhira, Al-Nathrah, Al-Taif, Al-Jabhah, Al-Zubrah, Al-Sarfah, Al-Awwa, Al-Simak, Al-Ghafr, Al-Jubana, Al-Jabhah, Al-Kalb, Al-Shaulah, Al-Na‘am, Al-Baldah, Al-Sa‘d al-Dhabih, Al-Sa‘d al-Bula, Al-Sa‘d al-Su‘ud, Al-Sa‘d al-Ahbiyah, Al-Fargh al-Mukdin, Al-Fargh al-Thani.

The first fourteen phases of the moon create an exact mirror-image reflection of the following fourteen phases. These phases have also been mentioned in the Qur’ān: “And the moon – We have determined for it phases, until it returns [appearing] like the old date stalk. (Qur’ān, 36:39) and “The sun and the moon travel with precision. (Qur’ān, 55:5)”

The cube is divided ‘10 × 10 × 10’, providing only twenty eight slots for the twenty eight Arabic letter shapes, revealing the main three states of the colour spectrum (red, blue, yellow). The words on both sides of the cube panel consist of seven Eqras (the first word of the divine revelation, ‘Eqra – Read’) on the right and seven Eqras on the left, forming a mirror image. This gives us fourteen Eqras in total, corresponding to the fourteen Arabic letter shapes used in the writing of the above-mentioned first five verses of Surah Al-^ϲAlaq.

The area assigned to each letter of the fourteen Eqras in the main composition is determined by the first five verses of Surah Al-^ϲAlaq inscribed with smaller letters. Writing small inscriptions into larger letters is an ancient technique in Islamic penmanship. This traditional technique finds a new interpretation in Ahmed Moustafa’s exquisite composition. ‘Eqra’ is a divine command, which means ‘read’, ‘reflect’, ‘contemplate’, ‘comprehend’, ‘recite’. In this respect this composition also draws our attention to the fact that obeying the God’s command ‘Eqra’ leads us to read, reflect, contemplate, comprehend, recite this world and the next, the infinity of God’s power and virtues which have no boundaries. The legible right side of the composition represents the world we can observe and the illegible left side represents the invisible world. It is an attempt to make the viewer read, reflect, contemplate, comprehend, think that the space is not limited with what we visually experience. The pattern in the background is formulated by a multitude of the fourteen detached letter shapes that participated in the textual meaning of the five verses of Surah Al-^ϲAlaq.

The equilibrium is embedded in the power of the complementary in both sides of the composition, such as green with the shadows in red, and red with shadows in green. This is an important feature of the composition and plays a role in defining its aesthetics. It represents the intertwined nature of material and soul, this world and the next. Consequently, the main objective of this composition is pointing to the unison of cosmic reality and the destiny of man. It aims to visually crystallise this fact by indicating the compatibility between the role of the twenty-eight mansions of the moon and the twenty-eight letters of the Arabic alphabet. That is why the intellectual state of the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) had to be unlettered. Lastly, as emphasized in the compatibility of colours and letter forms surrounding the central panel, it aims to highlight the overall harmony between the Arabic alphabet and the cosmic reality.

Dr Bora Keskiner, from conversations with Ahmed Moustafa
London, 2019