The document discusses the Arabesque in Muslim art as a metaphor for expressing reality and essence, which cannot be directly grasped. An Arabesque appears as a play of interwoven forms and traces of writing that seem random at first, but reveal an underlying stable design on closer inspection. The repeating and flowing forms indicate a continuous movement from one to another, pronouncing an abstract rhythm of resonance and ricochet. While seeming whimsical, the projected figures are based on stable relationships and reflect freedom, nomadism, and echoing silence rather than being lost or homeless. The arabesque is a metaphor for the invisible through which Islam is expressed.

1. RESONANCE AND RICOCHET: THE ARABESQUE AS METAPHOR
Reality — which for Muslims is the same as Essence, cannot be grasped. The Arabesque
in Muslim art is the means by which this ungraspable evocation is expressed through
indirect allusion.
An Arabesque appears to the unknowing eye as a whimsical play of forms composed of
traces of writing, organic motifs, angles and bends. Much as life itself appears, initially as
a series of unrelated and isolated “random” events. At a cursory level, the splendour is
sufficient, both of life and of the Arabesque.
Beyond the outer appearance of lines and forms, is a design: a stable geometry that
connects all the forms. The unfolding forms are made from simple figures. In their
repetition, where ending and beginning is indiscernible, they indicate a movement
whereby one form flows into another. They pronounce an abstract rhythm: resonance
and ricochet.
These projected, blended figures, seemingly whimsical in their meanderings are based on
stable relationships. In human terms they are not “lost” souls but free souls; not homeless,
but nomadic; not mute, but echoing silence.
The arabesque reflects Grace: it is a metaphor for the Invisible. An untenable claim
perhaps, but only the art through which Islam is expressed can make it.