Form:

A Vocabulary and Grammar of Symbols

Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

Oleg Grabar

Le probleme central et Ie plus ardu reste Much of what follows consists in rambling
evidemment celui de ['interpretation. En views, opinions and interpretations
principe, on peut toujours poser la question developed over the years by an outsider
de la validite d'une hermeneutique. Par des trying to understand a world which is not
recoupements multiples, au moyen des his own. They tend, therefore, to seek
assertions claires (textes, rites, monuments general and abstract meanings in what has
figures) et des allusions a demi voilees, on been a conCrete and personal experience.
peut demontrer sur pieces ce que 'veut This is not wrong by itself, but its danger
dire' tel ou tel symbole. Mais on peut aussi is that unique cultural experiences can
poser Ie probleme d'une autre far.;on: ceux much too easily be transformed into
qui utilisent les symboles se rendent-ils meaningless and obvious generalities. The
compte de toutes leurs implications opposite dangers are either that a unique
thioriques? Lorsque, par exemple, en experience becomes so specific as to be
etudiant Ie symbolisme de l'Arbre unavailable for sharing and even
cosmique, nous disons que cet Arbre se explaining or that an artificial search for
trouve au 'Centre du Monde', est-ce que presumably universal values falsifies the
tous les individus appartenant a des societes truth of any individual's culture or
qui connaissent de tefs Arbres cosmiques experience. I hope I have avoided these
sont egalement conscients du symbolisme pitfalls, but my main concern is that what
integral du 'Centre'? Mais la validite du follows be construed as a statement of the
symbole en tant que forme de connaissance truth or of a doctrine. They are merely
ne depend pas du degre de comprehension partial and questioning signals toward the
de tel ou tel individu. Des textes et des formulation of a way to understand
monuments figures nous prouvent symbolism in a specific culture. At the end
abondamment que, au moins pour certains an "afterword" puts together some
individus d'une societe archai"que, Ie implications of my remarks which have
symbolisme du 'Centre' etait transparent worried me as I read and reread them. It
dans sa totalite; le reste de la societe se seems more and more evident to me that
contentait de 'participer' au symbolisme. discussions of symbols and signs are far
II est d' ai/leurs malaise de preciser les more complicated than, in our managerial
limites d'une telle participation: elle varie aloofness, we imagined them to be.
en fonction d'un nombre indetermine de
facteurs. Tout ce qu' on peut dire, c' est que
l' actualisation d'un symbole n' est pas
mecanique: elle est en relation avec les The Problem
tensions et les alternances de la vie sociale,
en derniere instance avec les rythmes There are two reasons, one general, the
cosmiques. 1 other specific, for raising the question of
M. Eliade symbols and signs. The general reason is
 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture 2

that the act of symbolization and cultural to justify the consideration of any old Housing, the topic of the third seminar,
or personal attachment to whatever we remains. The concerns were or could have was a much more complicated matter. It
call "symbols" are recognized modes of been technical (is a given monument or seemed clear to me that there were two
behaving, feeling, thinking, associating ensemble accurately restored?), social extreme positions. One maintained that
and understanding. There may be now and (what should be preserved and why within there is a definable Islamic typology of
there may have been in the past more than the context of contemporary culture?), in- housing, whether its definition should
one "Islamic" symbolic or semiotic formational (how should one present and derive from historical forms created in
system, but whether one or a multitude, exchange knowledge about monuments?), order to make an Islamic way of life
they form a discrete group which must by economic (how does rehabilitation relate possible or from a prescriptive system of
definition be, at least in part, different to tourism or to urban mobility?), aes- religious and social requirements
from comparable groups at other times or thetic (what is a good restoration?), or determined by the Koran, the Traditions
in other places. The question derives from ideological (what is the purpose of pre- and Law. The other extreme maintained
nearly two years of deliberations and serving and whom does it profit?), but the that housing is independent of the pre-
discussions in the context of the Aga Khan value of the activity within the context of scriptions of the faith, either because
Award seminars about what, if anything, enhancing Muslim self-awareness was not contemporary problems require solutions
within contemporary architecture in questioned. It could have been, for the independent of religious and cultural alle-
Muslim countries can legitimately be con- argument can be made that monuments, giances or because Islam itself is pre-
sidered Islamic. Furthermore, can this like people and cultures, may best be left scriptive in behaviour, not in form. These
something be defined with sufficient clarity to die, that antiquarianism in architecture extremes allow for a very extensive range
to be used as a criterion for evaluation? is a peculiarity of a very limited Western of intermediate possibilities, but what was
When we dealt in the second seminar with elite and that preservation is a form of important about the debate itself was that
restoration and rehabilitation the problem congealing a meaningless past, at best the pertinence of Islam for housing-the
did not arise, for the criterion of having useful for flag-waving. But the discussion system of belief and ways of life-could be
been part of Muslim history was sufficient did not go that far. questioned, while no one questioned the
right of Muslims to a setting for whatever
forms their lives may take. It was interest-
ing that the texts quoted consisted either
of very general statements (usually froni
the Hadith) about good behaviour and
cleanliness or legal sources in which com-
plex local practices and traditions were
given a broad sheathing of theoretical
jurisprudence. Statements attributed to the
seventh and eighth centuries (for which we
have few available forms) and contem-
porary urban requirements are difficult to
correlate, unless one tries to delve much
more deeply into the evolution of Islamic
law over the centuries. But even if un-
answered in any way approaching coher-
ence, the correct question was asked: what
is the pertinence of Islam to architecture,
now or in the past?
While this issue was aired in very broad
terms at the first seminar and has
reappeared from time to time, this fourth
seminar seems to be the proper moment to
try to be more specific and more concrete.
But, even here, it is impossible to consider
in one swoop the impact of Islam on
architecture over fourteen centuries and
Isfahan, Iran: interior view of the Sheikh Lu!falltih from Spain to the Philippines-hence the
Photo: R. Holod choice of a series of questions dealing with
3 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

only one aspect of the impact. One could at times a synecdoche (part used for except to an implied (Jungian, I guess)
have chosen something as concrete as whole) and at other times in multiple assumption that certain kinds of formal
inheritance law and the development of layers (as when a mystic headgear made of transformations (i.e., not only the visible
building space in cities, but the informa- two pieces symbolizes all binary opposites form but its finite or infinite modifications
tion would not be easily available and the like Paradise-Hell, Life-Death). It is only according to one or more logical or
subject is hardly exciting. In proposing to when dealing with mysticism that Paret, paralogical methods) are innate within the
deal with signs and symbols, the assumed under the impact of Hellmut Ritter (on psyche and often affected by certain
social and psychological need to symbolize whom more below), moves beyond the physical or cultural circumstances (e.g.,
provides a different framework within descriptive to the visual symbolism of the the land of Iran with its ecological
which to consider Islamic architecture. Arabic alphabet. He does not, however, properties, Muslims brought up in Sufi
talk about visual architectural implications. traditions).
The questions can be formulated in the
following way: The second study is by Jacques In most of these studies, just as in several
Waardenburg, "Islam Studied as a Symbol works by T. Burckhardt (Sacred Art in
1) Is there an Islamic system of visually
and Signification System," Humaniora East and West, London, 1967, and Art of
perceptible symbols and signs?
Islamica vol. II (1974). A theoretical essay Islam, London, 1976), which are not as
2) How universally Islamic is such a deeply affected by Iranian culture, I see
on method, it asks appropriate questions
system and what are its variants? three inherent difficulties:
(note in particular an interesting query
3) What are the sources of the system, the about Islam as an ideology rather than as 1) Nowhere is there an explicit statement
revealed and theologically or pietistically a religion) but loses itself by being so of the relationship between data
developed statement of the faith, or the methodologically abstract that it fails in (measurable and quantifiable in time and
evolution of visual forms over fourteen providing answers and even in indicating space) and interpretation; in other words,
hundred years? how these answers could in fact be found. as opposed to the works of philologists
4) In what fashion and how successfully Not even a nod is extended in the and even philosophers like Ritter or
were signs and symbols transformed into direction of visual forms. Corbin, there is an absence of scientific
building forms? precision. Therefore, many of the
Much more work has been done with the conclusions seem premature.
5) How valid is the experience and uniquely rich subfield of Islamic and
memory of the past for the present and especially Persian mysticism. The grand 2) The specifically Islamic character of
the future? master of the field is Hellmut Ritter, forms is rarely clear or specific enough,
whose Das Meer der Seele (Leiden, 1955) except for calligraphy which is mentioned
is one of the most elaborate and difficult as unique but never described; in other
systems of interpreting mystical thought. words the Islamic component is either
Old Approaches absent from what are basic human needs
His sutcessor, hardly less complicated, is
Henri Corbin, some of whose works exist conditioned by local limitations (no stone
The need for an approach derives from in English. An excellent introduction to all in Iran, colder weather in Anatolia than in
existing literature. To my knowledge, only mystical matters is Annemarie Schimmel, Egypt, and so on) or else it is simply a
two studies deal overtly and formally with Mystical Dimensions of Islam (Chapel Hill, sheathing, a removable skin which is an
symbolism and signs in Islamic culture and 1975). An interesting and occasionally expression of taste, not a symbol of the
claim, at least in theory, some kind of quite provocative discussion of related faith or the culture; this last point may be
completeness. issues around a single theme and with a further strengthened by the undeniable
One is Rudi Paret, Symbolik des Islam broader base than Iranian Sufism or Ibn fact that buildings (as opposed to objects
(Stuttgart, 1958). Modestly restricted to al-'Arabi: can be found in M. Arkoun and in metal or paintings) were constantly
"observation on the meaning of symbols others, L'Etrange et Ie Merveilleux dans repaired and refurbished to fit a prevalent
(Symbolik) within the sphere of the l'Islam Medieval (Paris, 1978), the taste and by the more debatable theory of
Muslim world" (p. 9) and limited to proceedings of a lively colloquium. The earlier decades that visual expression was
religious matter, it tends to be descriptive most interesting aspect of these studies for a sin in Muslim eyes.
rather than interpretative. Paret does, our purposes is that they extend beyond 3) The contemporary context is almost
however, make an important distinction traditional theological or esoteric interpre- always missing; we may not yet have
between primary and secondary symbols, tations into science and technology (S. H. discovered a Suger or a Procopius in
the former being direct and immediate Nasr, Islamic Science, London, 1976) and traditional Islamic culture, but we do have
transformations of whatever is being architecture (N. Ardalan and L. Bakhtiar, documents of contemporary witnesses
symbolized (a complete set or system), the The Sense of Unity, Chicago, 1973). They which would prevent the unavoidable
latter being more fragmentary or diverse, owe little to broad symbolic theories impression of modern constructs, perhaps
 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture 4

But-and this is a key point-the charge

was of low voltage. The Dome of the
Rock, the mosque of Damascus, the north
dome of Isfahan's Friday Mosque, the
Alhambra and the Taj Mahal-buildings
for which a highly intense meaning can be
provided for the time of their creation-all
lost their specific meaning soon thereafter.
It is indeed as though Islamic culture as a
whole consistently rejected any attempt
to compel specific symbolic meanings in
architecture comparable to those of
Christianity and Hinduism (with their
symbolic connotation in plan, elevation
and decoration).
3) It is precisely this low symbolic charge
of Islamic monuments which made it so
easy for them to be copied and imitated
elsewhere (Ettinghausen's argument). A
corollary would be that the same low
charge made it possible for an Indonesian
pagoda or a Roman temple to become a
mosque. In reality there is a somewhat
more complicated intellectual and
Jerusalem: Dome of the Rock methodological problem involved in this
Photo: R Holod reasoning, as I have tried to suggest in
several unsatisfactory essays (AARP 13,
1978; "An Art of the Object," Artforum,
1976; "Das Ornament in Der Islamischen
Kunst," Zeitschrift der Deutschen
valid to modern man, applied to tradi- eses can be summed up and slightly Morgenliindischen Geselleschaft, suppl. III,
tional forms. enlarged in the following manner: 1977). The problem is that a low charge of
If we turn to media other than 1) There are in Islamic art certain themes forms easily leads to ambiguity, and it is
architecture, the matching of literary such as the whirl, the lion, the bull and doubtful to me whether any culture can
evidence with works of art or the investi- the signs of the zodiac which are operate with an ambiguous visual system.
gation of symbolic themes and ideas have historically older than Islam and which, Is it not, perhaps, once again a question of
been more thorough and more specific. with vagaries of no concern to us here, insufficient thinking and insufficient data-
The most conspicuous examples are vari- have been maintained in the new culture. gathering?
ous studies by Schuyler Cammann on rugs Most of the identifiable symbols deal with Let me try to sum up this rapid and
(in The Textile Museum Journal 3, 1972, secular themes or with what may be called probably incomplete survey of the mostly
and in P. J. Chelkowski, ed., Studies . .. "basic" religious symbols (earth, fire, life). recent literature (there may be much value
in honour of R. Ettinghausen, New York, 2) The one obvious new theme is writing; in surveying the texts and notes of the
1974) and much of R. Ettinghausen's work it is not merely an ornamental feature but great scholars of old like Herzfeld, van
over the last thirty years (best examples in either iconographic (Dodds, "The Word of Berchem, von Kremer). No one has tried
Ars Orientalis 2, 1957, and in J. Schacht God," Berytus 18, 1969, with the argu- to identify an Islamic visual sign-symbol
and C. E. Bosworth, The Legacy of Islam, ment that it replaces images) or vectorial system in any serious way, with the partial
Oxford, 1974, pp. 274-291). Over the (Grabar, The Alhambra, 1978, or the exception of an Iranian and Sufi-oriented
years several other scholars have made "Dome of the Rock," Ars Orientalis 3, system. Part of the reason is the factual
specific contributions to this general theme 1957; W. E. Begley; "The Taj Mahal," and intellectual underdevelopment of a
(Hartner, Baer, Dodds). The Art Bulletin 61, 1979) in the sense field of study, but a more important
Ettinghausen's conclusions or (as he would that it charges neutral forms with concrete reason lies perhaps in two aspects of
have probably agreed) working hypoth- and sometimes very elaborate meanings. Islam's historical destiny. First, it inherited
5 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

many symbolically rich cultural traditions of Semiotics, Bloomington, 1979, and can be anything from an ornament to a
but could only preserve symbols which "Semiotics of Architecture," Via 2, 1973; potential incitement to hatred and
were not religiously charged and, to avoid G. Friedmann, "Une rhetorique des destruction. Then, while a symbol is
the temptations of idolatry, preferred to symboles," Communications 7, 1966; R. physically identifiable, it is itself not
restrict or even to stifle the growth of its Barthes, "Elements de Semiologie," clearly circumscribed. As a tower for the
own visual symbolism. Second, secular art Communications 4, 1964). A very call to prayer, the minaret is but a sign
was less affected by this restriction, but interesting critical summary of several suggesting a function; it becomes a symbol
then secular art is by its very nature books is Abdul-Hamid el-Zein, "Beyond when it reminds one of Islam, when it
definable for the most part in social rather Ideology and Theology," Annual Review appears on stamps identifying a specific
than cultural terms. of Anthropology 6, (1977). country (the spiral minaret of Samarra-its
The hypotheses stated above are not fully spiral quality is much more an Iraqi
My overwhelming reaction to nearly all of national symbol than an Islamic one), or
satisfactory, in part for the very reasons I these often brilliant and always fascinating
have used to criticize the opinions of when it serves to design a space (the
works is one of despair. This despair has Kalayan minaret in Bukhara, organizing
others. They are abstract constructs for two components. The first is the non-
which archeological data exists, to my open space between a mosque and a
commutability of abstraction; by this I madrasa redone several times). In other
knowledge, only in the seventh to ninth mean that, even though specific observa-
centuries, and I am not certain how far it words, while the sign attribute is fixed, the
tions and concrete reasonings about symbol attribute is a variable which
is legitimate to generalize from a few individual subjects led to the theory, I
references and monuments. Mostly these depends on some "charge" given to it or
rarely saw an instance which would allow on the mood or feeling (Langer's termi-
hypotheses lack contemporary evidence; me to move backwards from the theory to
they have not made Muslims speak. nology) of the viewer ("referant").
some hitherto unstudied subject of Islamic Theory, therefore, compels us to identify
Finally, all these hypotheses lack a clearly architecture. The second component is
stated methodological premise. In what and isolate the triple component of sign,
that all these works hover between a symbol, referant. Of the three, symbol is
follows, I try to provide the latter by requirement of nearly infinite and usually
suggesting three methods of approaching the one which depends on predetermined
not available precision of information conventions, habits or agreements which
the question with which we began. (particularly true of semiology; I dread are not in the object but in those who
trying to do a semiological analysis of a share it. Our problem then becomes one
monument of architecture) and an of defining the semantic field of a symbol
obviousness of conclusions (the wall of a by finding the area in time or space of its
Approach One: Pure Theory
holy building is a symbol or a sign of the contractual agreement with a social group.
separation between sacred and profane,
From Plato to Wittgenstein, philosophers restricted and public spaces). In many
have talked about symbols and signs, and ways the data of the anthropologist is too
it is difficult not to be fascinated with St. commonly spread in the segment of Approach Two: Islamic Written Evidence
Augustine's uses of the word "sign" culture he studies to explain an acci-
(T. Todorov, Theories du symbole, Paris, dentally preserved major monument, and There are many different ways of
1977) or with E. Cassirer's Philosophy of questions of taste rarely appear in dealing imagining how written evidence could be
Symbolic Forms 3 vol. (New Haven, with architecture as opposed to painting or used. Others with a better knowledge of
1953-57) and S. Langer's Philosophy in a objects (for a fascinating example see texts than I will be able to provide
New Key (Cambridge, Mass., 1953). These James C. Faris, Nuba, Personal Art, examples or even answers to the following
are all weighty and difficult works which London, 1972). set of questions accompanied by brief and
rarely, if ever, attend to visual forms partial comments.
(music, literature and dance predominate). How can these theories be useful even if
Less intellectually compact and they do not provide an automatic model or Is there an indication that visual symbols or
conceptually abstract are anthropological paradigm? First, there are certain semantic signs were, at any time, generally accepted
works which I have consulted: R. Firth's distinctions which are consistent enough ways of identifying functions, defining
Symbols (London, 1973), M. Eliade's that they can be used as premises for our one's own as opposed to alien aims, or
Images and Symbols (New York, 1961), purposes. For instance, a symbol is providing qualitative judgments?
and a few more concrete studies by different from a sign, which indicates Looking over major classical and very
C. Geertz or V. Turner (The Forest of something, and an image, which represents different texts like MuqaddasI's Geography
Symbols, Ithaca, 1967), or semiological it; a symbol defines something and (see P. Wheatley, "Levels of Space
ones (for our purposes the most useful connotes it but does not circumscribe it as Awareness," Ekistics, Dec. 1976), Ibn
ones are the works of U. Eco, A Theory does a sign or an image; thus a swastika Nadim's Fihrist (tr. B. Dodge, 2 vols.,
 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture 6

New York, 1964), and Ibn Khaldun's

Muqaddimah (tr. F. Rosenthal, 3 vols.,
New York, 1958, esp. II, pp. 233ff.,
357-367), or Ibn Fadlan's description of
the Volga Bulghars, my answer is
negative. While alien lands are at times
identified by the peculiarities of their
visual expression (for instance, nearly all
descriptions of India in classical times), I
see no evidence of concrete visual symbols
which would be considered as uniquely
Muslim. The exception of the min bar in
tenth century geographical texts indicates
a certain kind of administrative status
rather than a reference to a concrete
object. The only other exception is the
Ka'ba which by definition is a unique
monument. This is not to say that there
are no Muslim symbols and signs, but they
consist less in visually perceptible features
than in memories of men and events: the
place where something took place or
where someone did something. The
literary genre of the kitab al-ziyarat
(guidebooks to holy and memorable
places) which began in the twelfth century
only strengthens the hypothesis that the
Muslim tradition identified what is sacred
or holy to it in a denoting rather than
connoting fashion, i.e., in terms of
memorable associations and generalized
physical shapes (oval, rectangle) rather
than of concrete visual forms. In other
words, and with occasional exceptions
(like the abwab ai-birr, "gates of piety" in
early fourteenth century Iran), there is no
symbolic iconography of Islamic archi-
tecture to be derived from texts, as there
is, for instance, in Christian architecture.
Is there an Koranic or early Hadith
symbolic system with visual associations?
This is a difficult question to discuss
because it is difficult to develop an
appropriate method of dealing with it.
Should one simply analyze the Koranic
text as such? Or should one seek the
frequency of use of certain passages over
the centuries? For instance, one of the
most consistently used verses both in
architectural inscriptions and in depicting Samarqand, U.S.S.R.: Gur-i Mir
Divine Power is the magnificent Throne Photo: R Holod
Verse (II, 256). But it is not the only
7 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

instance in the Revelation of strikingly secular world. Should one interpret such symbols; there was no clearly identifiable
effective depictions either of Divine Might stories as simply stylistically Islamic, i.e., sense, even, of forms considered to be
or of God's Throne. Some of them were as universal archetypes which have one's own, culturally discrete. It may,
occasionally used on monuments, as, for acquired culture-bound details? Or are therefore, be possible to propose that
instance, VII, 52, in the north dome of they key reflections of a uniquely Muslim traditional Islamic culture identified itself
Isfahan or LXVII, 1-5, found in the Hall vision of sensuous beauty-paradisiac through means other than visual: the
of the Ambassadors in the Alhambra. In perhaps, but more likely fruits of a unique sounds of the city, the call to prayer, the
both instances the use of an unusual imagination formed by the confluence of Word of the Revelation but not its forms,
verse serves to explain the cupola's an egalitarian faith and the reality of rich the memories of men and events. If valid
meaning, but can one conclude that these and isolated dynamic centres like Samarra (and it is, I am sure, subject to criticism),
architectural meanings are inherent in the or Topkapi? this conclusion would suggest for the
Koranic passage or that the monuments contemporary scene that it is not forms
How should we interpret technical and
served to represent or otherwise symbolize which identify Islamic culture and by
especially mathematical treatises applied to
the Holy Writ? extension the Muslim's perception of his
architecture or decoration?
Another interesting passage is XXIV, architecture, but sounds, history and a
35-8, the "verses of light," which do Few of these texts have been properly mode of life.
suggest a symbolic physical setting published or translated, but, where avail- To this statement intended primarily to
reflecting Divine Presence. The passage able, as in the very recent book of M. S. promote discussion, I should like to attach
was frequently used in milJrabs, but the Bulatov, Geometricheskaia Garmonizatziia three codicils. One is that there is some
later traditional Muslim mosque v Arhitektury (Moscow, 1978), what is methodological danger in assuming too
vocabulary hardly ever used the terms of striking to me is that the subtle and easily that written sources are the
the Koranic passage. This peculiarity does complicated mathematical formulas are not paradigms by which a culture saw itself;
not preclude the existence of a Koran- presented as illustrations, symbols or signs written sources reflect in large part the
based symbolic system; it merely questions of a faith or even of a cultural identity, world of the literati, and neither St.
its consistent validity for architectural but as practical solutions to architectural Augustine nor St. Thomas Aquinas
history. and ornamental requirements. provide much information about the
We know very little about the frequency Hence, is it legitimate to suggest a formation of early Christian art or of
and consistency of Koranic quotations. I culturally accepted symbolism for visual Gothic architecture. The importance of
propose the hypothesis that the symbolic forms as long as, in the highly verbal written sources lies in the parallelism they
or iconographic use of the Koran in culture of traditional Islam, written sources provide for visual phenomena and, to a
Islamic art nearly always followed the give it explicit mention so rarely and smaller degree, in showing a time's charac-
development of a symbolic or iconographic require an esoteric approach to literature teristic concerns which contribute to the
need. Symbols, signs or meanings were for demonstration? taste and will for creating monuments. My
discovered in the Koran but, at least as far second remark is that written sources
The obvious exception lies in the art of from the early Hadith onward provide an
as the arts are concerned, do not actively writing, where, thanks to the work of
derive from it; in other words, I suggest enormous amount of information in two
A. Schimmel and F. Rosenthal among related areas: the vocabulary of making
there is no "iconography" of the Koran. others, it can clearly be demonstrated that
Matters are obviously quite different in anything from a textile to a building and
a whole range of meanings, from direct hence the basic meaningful units (the
theology or law. sign to most elaborate symbol, had been morphemes) of visual forms, an area
How culture-bound is the rich Islamic developed, thought out and accepted. I am whose study has hardly begun, and
literary tradition of opulent princely far less certain whether such matters as judgments on changes of taste. For
dwellings? theories of colour in mystical thought instance, a comparison between Ibn Jabayr
A story from the Thousand and One (Corbin), for instance, actually did cor- (twelfth century) and Ibn BaHii!a
Nights such as the "City of Brass" reflects respond to the uses of colour in artistic (fourteenth century) describing the same
an unbridled imagination about a creativity. But this, perhaps, is simply a parts of the Muslim world shows the same
magnificent palace. It contains, no doubt, matter of insufficient research. monuments and holy places in such
the esoteric meaning of a difficult quest To sum up these remarks on written different ways. Written sources do help in
for Truth or Reality through secret and sources seems fairly easy within the understanding the vernacular, the
mysterious doors (like the ubiquitous ya present state of our knowledge. Except for common, more easily than the unique in
miftal] aI-abwab, "0 Opener of Doors," the Arabic alphabet, there was no art, probably because the highest literati
in later Persian miniatures), but its details coherent, consistent and reasonably pan- were often visual illiterates or at best
and its external mood are all of a brilliant Islamic acceptance of visually perceived visual vulgarians, a phenomenon which is
 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture 8

peculiar neither to the Muslim world nor them. Interesting though they may be to one in some areas (Fertile Crescent,
to the past. the historian, these monuments are of Arabia, Muslim West) but it also became
secondary significance for our purposes, symbolic of the introduction of Islam into
Finally, I have only alluded to written
sources as essentially synchronic because their uniqueness is more im- new areas. Early Iranian mosques (this is
documents, with the obvious exception of portant than their typological set. a somewhat controversial topic at the
the Koranic Revelation shown as a Proposition II. There are several instances moment for complex archeological reasons
constant and consistent inspiration and of what I would like to call restricted not pertinent to this discussion), early
justification of tastes, moods and function. symbolic cultural continuity in archi- Anatolian ones and early Indian ones tend
There could be a diachronic analysis of tecture. There is, for example, the large to adopt a form identified with early and
literary sources seeking to find common hypostyle mosque, a unique creation of pure Islam. Another example is the
and repeated themes and motifs; it is a the seventh century which solved several classical Ottoman mosque, whose large
dangerous kind of analysis, for it can too functional requirements of Iraqi Muslim dome flanked by minarets and usually
easily find consistency by comparing communities. This type became a regional preceded by a courtyard became a symbol
features which are not true parellels (as,
for instance, both Persian and Arabic
poetry, where I have often wondered
whether metric and thematic consistency
over the centuries is in fact what was
prized at the time of creation of a new
work of art). Such diachronic analyses,
which may have been attempted without
my being aware of them, could be of great
importance in identifying consistent
cultural threads.

Approach Three: The Monuments

I shall be briefer in discussing monuments,

as some of them will be discussed more
fully later in the seminar. Keeping in mind
the broad questions raised at the
beginning of these remarks, I would like
to propose four points for discussion.
Proposition I. The Muslim world did
create a number of monuments of art and
architecture which are uniquely charged
with symbols: the Ka'ba, the Dome of the
Rock, the Taj Mahal, Fatehpur Sikri's
throne of Akbar, and perhaps a few others
(the mausoleum of Oljaytu in Sultaniyah,
shrine of Lu!fallah in Isfahan) once some-
one undertakes to study them properly.
But, in all instances known to me so far
except the Ka'ba (which is in a wayan
"uncreated" monument), the depth of
meaning with which the monument was
created did not survive the time of its
creation or was modified, as with the
Dome of the Rock, which grew in reli-
gious connotations as the centuries went Afyon, Turkey: interior of hyposty/e mosque (c. 1272 A D.)
by, or with the Taj Mahal, which lost Photo: M Niksarl!
9 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

of Ottoman cultural and political prestige a symbolism of gates in cities or even

and power from Algiers and Serbia to buildings, especially palaces, but this
Egypt and Iraq. symbolism expresses itself more frequently
The reason I used the word "restricted" in the names of gates than in their forms,
for these examples is that specific a few exceptions as in Jerusalem's Haram
historical and cultural conditions-the notwithstanding. And anyway, I am not
Ottoman empire or the Islamization of certain that the symbolic meanings which
new lands-led to the symbolic quality of can be attributed to the gates of Abassid
these forms; it was not a matter of their Baghdad or Fatimid Cairo remained
intrinsic value. The Ottoman mosque can significant symbols much after their
become a national or romantic symbol and creation. I am hesitant in attributing a
the building today of a hypostyle mosque symbolic rather than a socially functional
in Tunisia is merely continuing a regional meaning to traditional physical constructs
tradition. of the Muslim city like the mosque-
market-maidan unit.
Proposition III. There are very few
architectural forms which are consistently I have mentioned primarily architectural
indicative of the presence of Islam. The symbols, because the seminar deals with
most obvious one is the minaret, whatever architecture. Non-architectural visual
actual function it has had over time and symbols certainly existed as well, but to
whatever reasons led to its creation. I my knowledge none have been investi-
must admit that I am not satisfied with gated in sufficient depth to know which
any of the traditional explanations of the ones were simple signs (hand of Fatima)
minaret and its appearance, not only in and which ones acquired the kind of range
the skyline of Cairo or as the elegant which is required of a symbol (colour
framer of Iranian fa<.<ades or Ottoman green, the Crescent).
volumes, but as a single monument in the If the proposition of the previous section
Iranian countryside, at Jam in Afghanistan that self-recognition within the Muslim
or in Delhi. The study of Koranic tradition was primarily auditory and social
quotations on minarets is very instructive is acceptable, this difficulty in defining an
as they vary considerably from building to overall Islamic visual system need not be
building or area to area. But in many considered as troubling. In fact, it may
cases both inscriptions and decoration lend simply demonstrate two secondary propo-
themselves to a range of symbolic sitions. One is that symbolic systems may
meanings which await their investigator. indeed tend to be most easily perceivable
For instance, the use of the whole Sura in time rather than across time. The other
Mariam (XIX) on the minaret of Jam Cairo, Egypt: aI-HakIm mosque minaret bears one is that in the actual perception of the
identifies this extraordinary monument as the following verses from the Koran:
environment such items as clothing,
a proclamation of Islam in its relationship And certainly We have brought them a Book objects used and spoken accent are more
to other religions, while the ornament of which We have made clear with knowledge, a significant than architecture.
guidance and a mercy for people who believe
the Kalayan minaret in Bukhara can be Proposition IV. Symbolic and sign systems
(VII,52)
understood as an expression of the central are to be sought not in architecture but in
Muslim tenet of the Unity of God, since There is no compulsion in religion, truly the
right way has become clearly distinct from decoration, decoration being understood in
its different designs are in reality versions its widest sense as those parts of a building
error; therefore, whoever disbelieves in the
of the same motif. which are not necessary to its physical
devil and believes in Allah, he indeed has laid
Are there any other similarly obvious and hold on the firmest handle, which shall not utilization or structural stability.
constant forms? There are the miljrabs of break off, and All is Hearing, Knowing"
If my earlier suggestion of symbolic
sanctuaries, of course, but their symbolism (II,256)
systems as richer synchronically than
is, with a few exceptions (Cordoba, some But if they turn back, say: Allah is sufficient diachronically is acceptable, this propo-
Fatimid examples in Cairo), an obvious for me, there is no god but He, on Him do I
sition is strengthened by the fact that
one, and the object itself became automat- rely, and He is the Lord of might power"
(IX,129) decoration could and did change in kind
ically functional rather than emotionally or (continuous additions) or in meaning (the
intellectually symbolic. There are traces of Photo S Blairl1. Bloom reinterpretation of the mosaics of
 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture 10

Damascus by later writers). Furthermore, entrances to mosques, madrasas, hospitals Samarqand. I have elsewhere discussed
while nearly all architectonic units or even and caravanserais. Is this decoration and, I hope, demonstrated this use of
combinations and developments of units in unrelated to the purpose of a monument writing as a vector of meaning in archi-
Islamic architecture are easily relatable to except in the very general way of beauti- tecture (The Alhambra, 1978).
the morphology and growth of other fying, at best attracting to, an unexpressed
Next to writing is geometry. I am less
architectural traditions, this is much less so function? Within the synchronic scheme
clear about the actual perception of
with decoration, whose motifs and proposed earlier, the answer may be
geometry and hesitate to accept in full the
combinations are nearly always culturally positive, as one can easily argue that the
Gestalt explanation proposed by Ardalan
unique. To dismiss this decoration as contemporary did not have to be told
and others for Iran, but I am convinced
"mere" decoration is a Western imperialist by a fa<;ade whether a building was a
that the geometry of Isfahan's north dome
reflex from a society which equates warehouse or a hospital.
based on the pentagon or of Bukhara's
meaningful decoration with representation Yet it is unlikely that we will be satisfied minaret with several hypostases of the
and which for half a century has rejected with such an answer for three reasons. same basic design cannot be simply a
decoration within its own "progressive" One is that a series of studies on objects designer's whim. But I am not sure how to
architecture. and miniatures, for which similar approach the problem, just as methods
But how are we going to find meanings in explanations have been provided, tend to should be devised for dealing with vegetal
it? There is something troubling, for show that a close examination demon- motifs or with a theme like the muqarnas
instance, in looking at a series of strates in almost every case a complex which involves nearly all morphemes of
thirteenth century portals in Anatolia iconographic and symbolic meaning. A decoration.
which are formally very difficult to distin- second one is that it is hardly reasonable
The second approach would be syntactic
guish from each other yet which serve as to expect enormous efforts on meaningless
and would consist in studying and
forms. And third, the study of major
explaining whole ensembles. To my
monuments of architecture almost always
knowledge, no one has attempted to do so
demonstrates great depth ot'meaning. In
in Islamic architecture. One example may
other words, we have not taken a proper
serve as a conclusion to this essay. I have
look at these monuments and their
long been puzzled by what seemed to me
decoration. Let me outline two possible
to be the arbitrary location of tiled panels
approaches for dealing with this problem.
in classical Iranian mosques of the
The first approach would be morpho- fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. Yet, in
logical, seeking to find such themes of the Masjid-i Shah's main dome, the
decoration as have meanings. The most progression to the burst of light at the
obvious one is writing, as monuments as apex of the dome seems to me to be an
diverse in quality and importance as the extraordinary attempt at symbolizing the
Taj Mahal, the Guyushi mosque in Cairo, Revelation not as the static and learned
and the Qaytbay complex also in Cairo are order of a Gothic portal or of a Byzantine
explained by the Koranic quotations on church but as the dynamic and sensuous
their decoration. One of the most striking illumination of a faithful praying. The
"un-Islamicities" of contemporary archi- symbolism of the decoration is not an
tecture is its failure to make aesthetically inherent property of the design but the
appealing use of calligraphy. I should add result of man's prescribed action in the
that writing exists at several levels in building.
intelligibility: direct quotation probably
Could one extend the point to propose
only available to the very literate in the
that the true uniqueness of the Muslim
past but to all in the future; rhythmic
visual symbolic system lies not in the
punctuation with litanic repetitions known
forms it took but in the relationship it
to most, as in the clear al-mulk lilltih
Isfahan, Iran: the Barsian minaret bears Koranic creates, indeed compels, for its users? A
(Power of God) which organizes the
verse XXII,76: celebrated Tradition is that wherever a
lengthy and wordy inscriptions of Persian
He knows what is before them and what is
Muslim prays there is a mosque. Symbolic
mosques from the fifteenth century
behind them, and to Allah are all affairs or signifying identity lies in setting and
onward; simple statements of God and His
turned back man, nol in form. Is this a possible
Prophet, known to all, which adorn the
challenge for contemporary architecture?
Photo: R Holod outside walls of madras as in Khargird or
11 Symbols and Signs in Islamic Architecture

Afterword on the symbolic meaning of an artistic

creation. Hence architectural symbolism
What follows is a series of questions and can only be demonstrated from non-
concerns derived from the preceding pages architectural sources-written sources,
which may in themselves merit further opinion surveys or whatever else may be
consideration. developed. Theoretically it is possible to
derive symbolic meanings from formal
1) Synchronic versus diachronic. I am
consistencies, i.e., the repetition over the
suggesting that it is easier to identify a
centuries of certain forms (E. B. Smith,
synchronic symbolic and semiotic system
Architectural Symbolism, Princeton, 1953),
than a diachronic one which either
but I am not sure whether consistency of
becomes obvious and undifferentiated or
form means consistency of symbols or
requires the preliminary investigation of
convenience for functions.
synchronic sets. Too few instances of the
latter exist to justify many significant 4) Symbols and styles. Can one maintain a
definitions of Islamic symbols. I should distinction between aesthetic and taste
also add that the nature of a valid time impulses (style) and a range of associative
frame is a very difficult question which has reactions (symbols)?
hardly ever been raised by historians of 5) Visual and auditory perception. I may
forms. I am not even sure that linguists have overstressed the thought that Islamic
have discussed the aspect of time in their culture finds its means of self-identi-
consistent concern for semantic fields, but fication in hearing and acting rather
I may simply not be aware of some than in seeing. But I am more than ready
existing work. to be corrected on this point.
2) Specific forms and archetypes. This is a
very delicate issue. If we were dealing
with architecture in general, it would be
perfectly appropiate to discuss and refine Note
broad and universal human needs,
feelings, means of perception and the like 1 "Interpretation is still obviously the central and

as they are adapted to concrete ecological most difficult problem In principle, we can always
bring up the question of the validity of a hermeneutics
requirements. But I understand our Through cross-references, clear assertions (texts, rites,
concern for the architecture of Muslims to representative monuments) and half-veiled allusions,
we can demonstrate precisely what such and such
mean, when symbolism and signs are symbol 'means ' But we can also state the problem in
concerned, those aspects of architecture another manner: do those who utilize symbols realize
which are not universally meaningful but all their theoretical implications? For instance, when
studying the symbolism of the 'Cosmic Tree,' we say
discretely significant to a certain culture. that this tree is located in the 'Centre of the World'
We can come to the conclusions that this Are all individuals belonging to societies that know of
discrete significance was minimal or such Cosmic Trees equally conscious of the integral
symbolism of the 'Centre'? But the validity of the
merely cosmetic, that the contemporary symbol as a form of knowledge does not depend on
world has made cultural discreteness the degree of understanding of such and such an
individual Texts and representative monuments prove
obsolete and that universal modes of extensively that, at least to certain individuals of an
judgment are the only valid ones. But, if archaic society, the symbolism of the 'Centre' was
we do come to these conclusions, we must transparent in its totality; the rest of society was
satisfied with the act of 'participating' in symbolism.
be sure that we are aware of what they Moreover, it is hard to state precisely the limits of
mean. such participation; it varies according to an indeter-
minate number of factors All we can say is that the
3) Architectural symbols and functions. actualization of a symbol is not mechanical; it is
The greatest difficulty I had was in related to the tensions and alternations of social life
and ultimately with cosmic rhythms" M Eliade
identifying those aspects of architectural
creation for which it is justified to seek a
symbolic significance. My answer is that
the referant alone (user, viewer) decides