The beauty of Islamic patterns can be approached not only in terms of art and mathematics, but also within the contexts of Islamic art and spirituality. Historically, throughout the Islamic world from Spain to Indonesia, patterns appear in architecture and interiors to organize space and to beautify the built environment. All patterns reflect the pure beauty of numbers, considered to be of divine origin in Islamic doctrine. And by their very nature, patterns exhibit multiplicity as expressions of unity, which is an attribute of God. Patterns in Oriental carpets may thus be seen as expressive of a world view in which multiplicity exists in relation to the unity of all existence.

Geometry can be interpreted as representing universal, harmonious laws that express the unity within the diversity of our world: the same geometry can be found in the shapes of a snowflake, in a wasp’s nest and in the arrangement of the petals in a flower. These patterns may be seen as symbolizing the Islamic principles of Tawhid (the unity of all things) and Mizan (order and balance), which are the laws of creation in Islam. Repetition and variation are important aspects of Islamic design. A series of tiles may consist of only one or two shapes but the patterns on the tiles may all be different. In other designs, a few different shapes may be combined to create a complex interlocking pattern.

Symmetry plays a part in most Islamic patterns. There may be a single line of reflective symmetry, usually from the top to the bottom, or there may be three or four lines of symmetry. Straight (translation) and turning (rotational) movements are also used. Sometimes reflective symmetry and the two kinds of movement are found in the same design. Symmetry and repetition give unity to the more complex designs. In many Islamic patterns, different elements seem to dominate, depending on how you look at the design.

Islamic art therefore must be considered in its entirety because each building and each object embodies to some extent identical principles. Though objects and art differ in quality of execution and style, the same ideas, forms and designs constantly recur.

Blue glass cup, Egypt, London, Victoria and Albert Museum The upper part of the cup is decorated with oval motifs made in the glass with pliers while still hot. Fatimid
glassware is distinguished by its strikingly wide range of forms and colors. Islamic Glassware >>

Mosque Lamp, Iznik 1549, London, British Museum. This mosque lamp was produced by a master craftsmen named Musli in Iznik and was donated to the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem in the course of the restoration work on the harem complex undertaken by Sulayman the Magnificent. Islamic Pottery >>

Mihrab in the winter prayer hall of Friday Mosque at Isfahan, Haidar, 1310, The mihrab is important not only for its artistic merits but also for its precise dating. Carved by Haidar, a renowned calligrapher of the period and the same artist who had designed the inscriptions at the Natanz Mosque a year earlier, the mihrab displays an amazing double-coiled arabesque and deeply-under-cut flowers beneath several type of calligraphy. Calligraphy >>

"Polonaise" carpet. Kashan, Iran, 1601, Residenz Munchen, East Asia Collection. Islamic Carpets >>

Stucco details above the entrance to the Mausoleum of Sultan Qalawun, 1284-1285, the ornamental stucco work has a long local tradition in the Ayyubids &  Mamluks dynasties. In the early Mamluk period it was mainly applied to the upper zones of walls where they were built of bricks. Geometry and Floral Patterns >>