Biografi Mishkin Qalam
Master calligrapher, poet, astronomer, and mystic of 19th-century Persia, and creator of the calligraphic design of the Greatest Name used by Bahá’ís worldwide.
Mishkín-Qalam (1824–1912), a title meaning “The Musk-scented Jet-Black Pen,” was one of the foremost calligraphers of 19th-century Persia. Born Mírzá Ḥusayn-i-Isfahání, he rose from a chance encounter in a Tehran bazaar to a post at the royal court, then gave up that comfortable life for his beliefs in unity of humankind. His devotion cost him arrest, nine years of imprisonment in Cyprus, and a lifetime of exile, yet he never stopped creating. His rendering of the Greatest Name is still used by Bahá’ís around the world, and his work hangs today in collections including the Harvard Art Museums.
Sang Menteri Besar sangat terkesan dengan karya seni Mishkin-Qalam yang digambar dengan megah sehingga ia memperkenalkan Mishkin-Qalam kepada Raja Persia, Naser al-Din Shah, yang memberinya gelar “Mishkin-Qalam” dan menunjuknya sebagai tutor Putra Mahkota. Setelah melayani istana Persia selama beberapa waktu dan mengambil cuti dari tugas-tugas kerajaan untuk mengunjungi keluarganya di kota lain, Mishkin-Qalam bertemu dengan seorang pelancong yang berbagi dengannya tentang kedatangan seorang tokoh spiritual besar yang dikenal sebagai Baháʼu'lláh, yang ajaran-ajarannya berpusat pada kesatuan seluruh umat manusia. Mishkin-Qalam segera menerima pesan ini.
Meskipun menjadi tawanan Kekaisaran Ottoman selama kurang lebih setengah abad karena keyakinan Baháʼí-nya, ia hidup di tiga benua yang berbeda dan menghasilkan karya-karya dengan keindahan yang luar biasa, contohnya kini dapat dilihat di Harvard Art Museums, British Museum, dan Baháʼí World Centre di Haifa, Israel. Di antara gambar yang paling dikenali yang dihasilkan Mishkin-Qalam dalam berbagai format adalah gambar ayam jantan yang dihiasi kaligrafi Arab, melambangkan fajar zaman baru perdamaian dan persaudaraan universal.
Who Was Mishkín-Qalam?
Mishkín-Qalam was the leading calligrapher of Persia in his day, celebrated across the Persian world and beyond for a hand of extraordinary beauty and range. ʻAbdu’l-Bahá described him as a second Mír ʻImád, comparing him to the most famous Persian calligrapher of the Safavid age. He was also a poet, a skilled astronomer, and a noted mystic, and before becoming a Bahá’í he belonged to the Niʻmatu’lláhí Sufi order. He is best remembered for figural calligraphy, in which sacred phrases are shaped into living forms, most famously a rooster composed of Arabic letters that symbolises the dawn of a new day. His design of the invocation “Yá Baháʼu’l-Abhá“ became the calligraphic form of the Greatest Name recognised by Bahá’ís everywhere.