Zoomorphic Calligraphy established itself only relatively late in Islamic art, when the taboos outlawing religious iconography had lost some of their power. It is an art developed in Ottoman Turkey, India and Qajar Iran. People say, it was known as early as 1458. Most of the below zoomorphic and anthropomorphic optical illusions were done by talented artist, named Hassan Musa from Sudan. The first thing you notice is an animal, offcourse. But here’s an asignment for you: what do the words say? If you didn’t notice it by now, the images are created from text and they should have a meaning, it’s only shame I can’t understand those… will you help me?
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The thing about Arabic caligraphy is that it’s really really hard to understand. If I knew what the word was in the first place, then I could see how the word fit in the caligraphy.
Actually, the third one could be “bism” or something like that, which would be “in the name”.
I can read arabic and I can see some letters but I can’t understand the word.
Dude that’s cool
Fantastic calligrams. Really beautifully executed and thoughtfully put together. Will definitely send this site out for others to see.
Paul
Look, I’m Suppose to Learn Arabic Cuz its Quaran. See i;m a Muslim, My mom and dad are pakistani, but once my mom gets off the tv, i think i can get her to tranlate some of them, See Nihal, is a Arab Name, I think it mean b e satisfied of what you have, And the Quaran is our Bible.. Some of these Look sso familar but i cant make them out, Maybe if my mom cant figure these out, i’ll send this to my Old arab teacher, kk..?
that is cool, cool dat
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahah!LLAMA!!!
YAYAYAYAAYAYAYAYAYAYAYA!!!
Here’s a joke: What is cheezy, and like a llama?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!
IT’S NOT A JOKE!!!
I like these, but the only problem is…
I CAN’T READ ARABIC!!!!!
hey if you someone can find out the translation for the first one (horse and rider) that would be awesome. ive been reading about the artist of this piece (hassan Musa) and im having an impossible time figuring out what the translation for this one is especially!
send me an email sydrules2002@yahoo.com thanks
I lovea thise puzzlea andu i foundo out whata the firsta puzzle meansa.
I speackA dA Hindu and a likea the saein.
It a meansin “its not whata yur countrey cana doa for youa but whata you can do for ya contrey”
Reva the Runna
thats neat, see, Zeina is an arabic name, it means Beutiful. ( my dad is from Jordan) I cant read it, but maybe my grandma can.
EVERYBODY
I GOT IT
I GOT THE REAL MEANING TO THE FIRST ILLUSION
it means:
I am with you and you shall keep me holy forever.My words of wisdom contract on a spinning pool of light.Love be only two of my senses for you.Please accept my offring of peace to you my love.I shall hold a gift of your heart with me forever
Well, most of these are Quranic verses… Im still trying on this one cause I can only read random words…
The seventh image file, the horse, is not Arabic, but could be Farsi.
In the eighth image file with four images, the elephant is a Quranic verse that reads (in Arabic 1337): “Alam tara kayfa fa3ala rabbuka be-2as7aab-il feel” a Quranic verse roughly translated as “Have you not seen what your Lord has made of the People of the Elephant”;
The ninth one of the running ostrich reads “Bism Illah el-Ra7maan el-Ra7eem” translated to “In the name of God, the Most Gracious, Most Merciful”
Thats all for now! I may get the rest later… And some of these posts are real hoaxes… :D
These are beautifull and stuff.
Hello all, I’ve just stumbled upon your blog here. I’ve done some of my own research and accidently stumbled upon the Verse for the image of the fish: The Qur’anic verse is Chapter 16 Verse 14. “And He it is Who has made subservient (to you) the sea that you may eat of its fresh flesh (of fish), and may bring forth out of it (precious and beautiful things of) ornaments for your wear. And you see the ships cleaving through it.” Good luck with the rest!
The Verse for the Fish is from the Qur’an: Chapter 16 Verse 14: “And He it is Who has made subservient (to you) the sea that you may eat of its fresh flesh (of fish), and may bring forth out of it (precious and beautiful things of) ornaments for your wear. And you see the ships cleaving through it.”
My mom said the one above the fish says “Bismillahir Rakh Manir Rahim” which means “In the name of Allah [God], Most Gracious, Most Merciful.” You’re like, supposed to say it before every prayer and stuff.
=^^=
;P
i cant read the writin lol but it still looks cool!
hurm..the balls beside tiger n elephant is a name..
like filun its mean elephant in arabic
n namirun is tiger
Can anyone figure out the interpretation of the tiger?
does anyone know what is written within the calligram of the woman?
I’m also going crazy trying to find a translation of the woman. If anyone can help, I’d really appreciate it!!!
when you put a mirror next to some it looks like they’re going to fight
cant reallt tell from these pics cause there too small.. but if u guys enlarge there pretty easy to read…
wat is it with this site and zebras
Im a muslim. maybey I can ask my parents . there pakistani but Im suposed to read the quran They might now what the words mean. Zoha, my name is in Arabic and it means morning light.
some people should just plain shutup if they don’t know wut they’re talkin about! leave these comments 4 people who have something 2 offer the illusion.
…that’s wut i translated!!
Im actually pretty good at seing the meaninhg in these kinds of pictures, if you have a large pixel copy of the horse and rider, i can translate it for you, but its too small to see here.
For example:
#2 says namr, which translates to tiger
#3 says allah which translates to god
#3 says feel, which translates to elephant
Like i said, i cant see the animal clear enough to translate them, im only translating the symbols next to them…
I would love to know the meaning of the Horse and rider, would make a killer tattoo lol
Great work. Letters and drawings in perfect harmony.
Although not an example of animals or people did one too, take a look:
http://ultimolayout.blogspot.com/2009/09/agua-malte-lupulo-levedura-stout.html
Thank you.