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| Symbol of Divine Light: The Lamp in Islamic Culture and Other Traditions |
| This page has details on “Symbol of Divine Light: The Lamp in Islamic Culture and Other Traditions” |
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Click cover for larger image.
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Author(s):
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Subjects(s):
Art
Islam
Symbolism
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Price: $22.95
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ISBN: 978-1-936597-5-67
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Book Size: 8" x 10"
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# of Pages: 192
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Language: English
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A Description of “Symbol of Divine Light”
Symbol of Divine Light: The Lamp in Islamic Culture and Other Traditions surveys the history of the mosque lamp, describing the numerous variants made in different historical periods. The book contains more than 200 stunning color and b/w illustrations.
The deep significance of light and the lamp in Islamic culture and other traditions — Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Hindu — is also explored, with reference made to the writings of authors who were key to what has been called the “Perennialist School,” notably Frithjof Schuon, René Guénon, Titus Burckhardt, and Martin Lings. The book presents a detailed exploration of the famous Koranic Verse of Light and the symbolism of its constituent elements: light, the niche, the lamp, glass, oil, and the tree. Parallels are also drawn with other traditions, indicating a universal symbolism.
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AWARDS
- Finalist for the 2019 Annual "Best Book" Awards (Sponsored by American Book Fest) in these categories:
- “Best Interior Design”
- “Religion: Eastern”
- “Religion: General”
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Symbol of Divine Light: The Lamp in Islamic Culture and Other Traditions surveys the history of the mosque lamp, describing the numerous variants made in different historical periods. The book contains more than 200 stunning color and b/w illustrations.
The deep significance of light and the lamp in Islamic culture and other traditions — Jewish, Christian, Zoroastrian, and Hindu — is also explored, with reference made to the writings of authors who were key to what has been called the “Perennialist School,” notably Frithjof Schuon, René Guénon, Titus Burckhardt, and Martin Lings. The book presents a detailed exploration of the famous Koranic Verse of Light and the symbolism of its constituent elements: light, the niche, the lamp, glass, oil, and the tree. Parallels are also drawn with other traditions, indicating a universal symbolism.
Symbol of Divine Light concludes that the most important function of the mosque lamp was as a symbolic reminder of the Verse of Light. This conclusion is demonstrated by examples of actual mosque lamps that were virtually non-functional as lighting devices, and also by the extensive use of the mosque lamp as a decorative motif in Islamic architecture. The book aims to give the reader an opportunity to contemplate the meaning of the mosque lamp as a symbol of Divine Light.
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AWARDS
- Finalist for the 2019 Annual "Best Book" Awards (Sponsored by American Book Fest) in these categories:
- “Best Interior Design”
- “Religion: Eastern”
- “Religion: General”
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“Symbol of Divine Light provides an in-depth survey of the history and significance of the mosque lamp within the Islamic tradition and explores the numerous variants relating to the different historical periods. It explains the symbolism of the lamp with reference to the famous ‘Verse of Light’ or āyat al-Nūr found in the Koran. A cross-cultural examination is also made by probing the depths of other traditions such as Judaism, Christianity, Zoroastrianism, Hinduism, and Buddhism; also provided is an analysis by preeminent exponents of the Perennial Philosophy. The work contains more than two hundred stunning color and black-and-white illustrations, making it a definitive guide to the mosque lamp. The author, Nicholas Stone, combines rare qualifications, being an architect by profession with firsthand knowledge of Islamic art and architecture, coupled with an understanding of traditional metaphysics and symbolism.… It is my hope that this book will inspire works of architecture and sacred art that are informed by the transcendent principles found within each tradition.… This is an unusual and striking work that enlightens Islamic sacred art in its multiplicity of meaning. Along with being a definitive text on the mosque lamp and its symbolism, this work also supports building bridges across the faith traditions which will increase spiritual literacy in its universality.”
— from a review by Samuel Bendeck Sotillos in Parabola
“Beautifully and profusely illustrated throughout, Symbol of Divine Light amply provides the reader an opportunity to contemplate the meaning of the mosque lamp as a symbol of Divine Light. Impressively informed and informative from cover to cover, Symbol of Divine Light is highly and unreservedly recommended for personal, mosque, community, and academic library Islamic History collections and supplemental studies reading lists.”
— Midwest Book Review
“The author is a scholar and architect with rare qualifications … [who] brings his intimate knowledge of Islamic art and architecture, combined with knowledge of traditional metaphysics and symbolism in general, to bear upon a central feature of Islamic sacred art as it is related to the famous Light Verse of the Quran.… Stone is to be congratulated on producing a major new work in the field of Islamic art seen traditionally and from its own perspective, yet expressed in a very readable language in a text to which numerous instructive and illuminative illustrations have been added.”
—Seyyed Hossein Nasr, George Washington University, author of Islamic Art and Spirituality and Knowledge and the Sacred
“An excellently researched, beautifully presented, and timely book [that] will become the standard text for Islamic students for many years to come on this subject.… This book is light and contains references to such important illuminated twentieth- and twenty-first century figures as Frithjof Schuon, Titus Burckhardt, René Guénon, Martin Lings, Annemarie Schimmel, and the Dalai Lama. The photographs and reproductions alone raise the publication into the realms of Beauty.”
—Keith Critchlow, President of the Temenos Academy, author of Islamic Patterns: An Analytical and Cosmological Approach
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Preface
I. Symbolism of Light and the Lamp
1. The Verse of Light
Koranic Exegesis
2. Symbolism
Light
Light in the Islamic Doctrines of Creation
Muhammad as the Embodiment of Light
Light and the Mystery of the Veils
The Symbolism of Light in the Judeo-Christian Traditions
The Symbolism of Light in Other Religious Traditions
Niche
The Cave
The Mihrab
The Prayer Niche and the Virgin Mary
Etymology of the Word Mishkāh
Lamp
The Oil Lamp in Religions around the World
Glass
Oil
Olive Oil for Food
Olive Oil for Anointing
Olive Oil for Lamps
The Symbolism of Oil
Tree
3. Commentaries on the Verse of Light
Al-Ghazālī
Mullā Ṣadrā
Dārā Shikūh
Shaykh Maḥmūd Shabistarī
Ṣafī ‘Alī Shāh Ni‘matullāhī
Abū Bakr Sirāj al-Dīn
Frithjof Schuon
Other Interpretations
4. The Verse of Light in Islamic Art and Architecture
II. History of the Lamp
5. The Historical Context
References in the Early Islamic Traditions
6. Historical Development of the Mosque Lamp
Development of the Glass Lamp
Early Glass Lamps
Mamluk Glass
Ottoman Glass
Rock Crystal Lamps
Development of the Metalwork Lamp
Fragments of Earliest Islamic Lamps
Tenth-Century Lamp in David Collection
Great Lamp of al-Mu‘izz
Lamp from Umayyad Mosque, Damascus
Lamp from Konya
Lamp from Dome of the Rock
Mamluk Lamps
Post-Mamluk Islamic Metalwork
A Contemporary Design based on Traditional Examples
Larger, More Complex Types of Chandelier
Lamp from Mosque of the Alhambra
Diverse Lamp Types
Regional Variations
Later Lamp Types
Opaque "Lamps"
Development of the Ceramic Lamp
Hanging ornaments
The Form of Iznik Mosque Lamps
7. How Would Early Mosque Lamps Have Looked?
8. The Mosque Lamp in the Contemporary Context
9. The Mosque Lamp Motif in Islamic Art and Architecture
10. Conclusions
Notes
List of Illustrations
Bibliography
Biographical Note
Index
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