Origins of Beauty and Art in Iranian Tradition

By contemplating upon Iranian art works (before and after Islam), one realizes that they have a close affinity and conformity, and at the same time mysterious relation with the religious beliefs of this land. Since art is considered to be a branch of knowledge and a result of essential comprehension of existence, art works were accordingly the product of knowledge attained by the mystic journey of the artist from truth to the material world and back. Hence, one has to refer to the idea of creation in order to gain knowledge about the concepts of art and beauty in Iranian pre Islamic and especially post Islamic beliefs. Based on the idea of creation, the universe stems from God and places the creatures in a hierarchical order. Each creature in this relational system has a particular relationship with the truth and beauty; hence, the art work and artist are in the same spectrum. The present article, after clarifying the connection between the truth and beauty and their relationship with art, artist, and art work in the Iranian-Islamic beliefs, tries to show that such an art results from an inner intuition, and therefore, its comprehension requires intuitive understanding which does not fulfill the sensational and rational mind. Finally the article makes it clear that due to a domination of quality over quantity in everything including letters and figures in post-Islamic Iran, calligraphy and architecture gradually gain priority over other forms of art.