The Narrativisation of Qurʾānic Verses and the Formation of Ethics : Prefatory Traditions in Ottoman Calligraphy

The study of prefatory traditions in Ottoman calligraphy is not of purely art historical interest. In seeking to confer legitimacy on scribal activity, Ottoman authors formulated discourses through the framework of scriptural exegesis, engaging in hermeneutical discussions that have a direct bearing on the subjects of creation, cosmogony, and the ethics of knowledge, three of the most important questions encountered in Islamic theology. This chapter seeks to do justice to the theological and ethical reasonings formulated in Ottoman prefaces and introductory overtures to texts on Ottoman calligraphy—a category that includes Ottoman treatises on calligraphy and biographical dictionaries of calligraphers—through a guided study of the use of narratives in the formation of ethics. As argued here, Ottoman authors established the ethical principles of calligraphy through hermeneutical readings of specific Qurʾānic verses. Such verses were taken as proof of the sanctity of the scribal arts and further transposed into poetic and literary narratives to provide a sense of meaning and moral orientation for the study of calligraphy.

In seeking to fully contextualize the content and scope of this study, this chapter begins with a definition of terms, clarifying what is understood by the category of “Ottoman calligraphy” and how this definition relates to its practitioners.

Other Information

Published in: Behind the Story: Ethical Readings of Qurʾānic Narratives
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
See chapter on publisher's website: https://dx.doi.org/10.1163/9789004683167_011