calligraphy class

still don't know where to start on how much arabic i've learned.... but i've started a quick calligraphy class in my last two weeks and i love it! we had our second class today and we got to write our first word, الليل, which means "the night". i can already write about the weather, daily activities, greetings and introductions, nationalities, etc in arabic, but calligraphy takes longer to learn because each letter has precise dimensions and shapes.






















in our first class (tuesday) we learned a lot about the arabic language and script. some quick highlights:

- the first message mohamed received from allah was "READ".
- the first believer in islam was a woman, mohamed's wife kadija (my spelling is terrible and i apologize)
- the first male believer in islam was a jewish rabbi
- short vowels were not invented until several centuries after the qur'an was initially written, thus making translation of words dependant on context
- calligraphy was developed as an art form, as most arts were forbidden under islam, as they might cause followers to be led astray by false idols
- there are many different forms of calligraphy (persian, turkish, indian, etc)
- to learn calligraphy in the "true" traditional style, you must go to a sheikh and ask repeatedly to be taught.. he'll reject you over and over until you show how serious you are