The Explanation of Spiritual Aspects of Calligraphy by Emphasizing on Serat Al- Sotur of Sultan Ali Mashhady

Calligraphy booklets by the master calligraphers, which remain in the history of this honorable art, besides an exact account of the techniques to make the materials and tools, instructions and their stages, are a treasure of spiritual knowledge that the disciple of this art must follow so that the art of calligraphy with the potential to write the word of god is manifested. One of the oldest and most significant calligraphy resources is the the Serat Al-Sotur of Sultan Ali Mashhady (1515 AD) which all its chapters are entirely endowed with spiritual aspects from beginning to the end of the booklet. This research is conducted with the aim of theoretical explanation of three fundamental aspects in this booklet i.e. “spiritual accomplishment and honor of calligraphy, pen and practice”. Using the descriptive- analytical method, this paper tries to answer the question that whether it is possible to find a way to attain principles of modern artistic instructions by using the spiritual and pictorial teachings of this booklet? It is attempted to study the influence of religious teachings on the progression of this honorable art through examination and explanation of this precious booklet. In conclusion, achievement of this paper is the emphasis of Sultan Ali on catharsis by pen & opinion training in calligraphy which is achieved by the spiritual way of the masters and elders, and eventually the human being becomes the pen of God himself, and as the pen is the “virtuous instrument of calligraphy”, the man becomes the virtuous instrument of God.