Meet our young calligrapher - Soleh Alnajjari.
He has a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering and is an Honours graduate in the field of Arabic literature. The eldest of three siblings, his interests lie in languages, literature and art. He loves playing cricket and as a child, he even played interschool rugby.
However, reading remains his best leisure persuit. Some of his favourite books are The Karamazow Brothers, and Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoyevski, and My Name is Red by Orhan Pamuk. Being the linguist that he is, he has read these books in their Arabic translations!
In English, he loves to read George Orwell, and also translated works of Tagore.
Soleh's driving passion is to carry on the legacy of forgotten Arabic calligraphy and to pass it on to the coming generations. With this view, he hopes to open an Art School to help young people realise their inner artist.
He believes the future is incomplete without art. One must take a stand: to either be a contributor, or continue with their learning. We think there is a third role that Soleh fulfills beautifully, one of both. His magical calligraphic expressions of exquisite, poetic words and phrases makes him a valuable contributing artist to the Sufi Tales family, while he continues to enhance himself with his deeply intellectual reading and study. He thinks that the future belongs to those who stands up against all odds and pursue their dreams.
And a dreamer he surely is! The following lines are his favourite excerpt from the book "Suspected Poems" by Gulzar.
Ankho ko visa nahi lagta
Sapno ki sarhad hoti nahi
Band ankho se roz main sarhad paar chala jataa hoon
Milne Mehdi Hassan se!
Sunta hoon unki aawaaz ko chot lagi hai
Aur gazal khamosh hai saamne baithee hui hai
Kaanp rahay hai honth gazal ke!
Jab kehte hai...
"Sookh gayay hai phool kitabo me "
Yar "Faraaz" Bhi bichhad gayay hai, ab shayad miley woh khwabo me!
Band aankho se aksar sarhad paar chala jaata hoon main!
Ankho ko visa nahi lagta
Sapno ki sarhad, koi nahi!
Sapno ki sarhad hoti nahi
Band ankho se roz main sarhad paar chala jataa hoon
Milne Mehdi Hassan se!
Sunta hoon unki aawaaz ko chot lagi hai
Aur gazal khamosh hai saamne baithee hui hai
Kaanp rahay hai honth gazal ke!
Jab kehte hai...
"Sookh gayay hai phool kitabo me "
Yar "Faraaz" Bhi bichhad gayay hai, ab shayad miley woh khwabo me!
Band aankho se aksar sarhad paar chala jaata hoon main!
Ankho ko visa nahi lagta
Sapno ki sarhad, koi nahi!