Last Seen [Qif Biltawaf]
Qif Bil Tawaf, 2014 (From the Last Seen...series)
Silkscreen printed on paper, 65 x 65 cm
Edition of 3
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Qif Biltawaf is a poem by Omar bin Abi Rabi'a; one of the finest poets in Quraish tribe in Makkah. He was a charismatic personality raised very closely to his mother helping her run his fathers many assets, for that reason, he was very comfortable around women from the Harem.
Omar as a poet was a man who's chased and loved by women sometimes, and a hopeless romantic in others. Both way, he took advantage of Hajj season to attract beautiful women from all around the world by showing off his father's wealth while performing Umrah.
One of his most famous poems that was sung by many classical Arab musicians is Qif Biltawaf "Stand while circling" referring to circling the Ka'aba, where he was seducing a woman and trying to make her say where she lives to meet her after performing pilgrimage.
قف بالطواف ترى الغزال المحرما
حــــج الحجيج فعاد يقصد زمزمـا
عنـــد الطـواف رأيتهـا متلثمـــــة
للركـــــن والحجـر المعظـم تلثمـا
أقسمت بالبيت العتيـق لتخبـــــري
ماالاســـــم قالت من سلالـة آدمـا
الاســــــــم سلمـى والمنـازل مكـة
والـــدار ما بين الحجـون وغيلمـا
قلت عديني موعـداً أحظـي بــــــه
أقضـــــي به ما قد قضاه المحرمـا
فتبسمت خجلاً و قالت يـا فتـــــــى
أفســـــدت حجك يا مُحـل المُحرمّـا
فتحرك الركن اليمانـي خشيـــــــــةً
وبكا الحطيم وجاوبتــــــــــه زمزمـا
لـو أن بيـت الله كلّـــــــــــم عاشقـاً
من قبل هـذا كـاد أن يتكلمـا
Classic Saudi singer Fawzi Mahsoon along a list of artists singing the poem, made it an important poem within the oud music genre.
Omar as a poet was a man who's chased and loved by women sometimes, and a hopeless romantic in others. Both way, he took advantage of Hajj season to attract beautiful women from all around the world by showing off his father's wealth while performing Umrah.
One of his most famous poems that was sung by many classical Arab musicians is Qif Biltawaf "Stand while circling" referring to circling the Ka'aba, where he was seducing a woman and trying to make her say where she lives to meet her after performing pilgrimage.
قف بالطواف ترى الغزال المحرما
حــــج الحجيج فعاد يقصد زمزمـا
عنـــد الطـواف رأيتهـا متلثمـــــة
للركـــــن والحجـر المعظـم تلثمـا
أقسمت بالبيت العتيـق لتخبـــــري
ماالاســـــم قالت من سلالـة آدمـا
الاســــــــم سلمـى والمنـازل مكـة
والـــدار ما بين الحجـون وغيلمـا
قلت عديني موعـداً أحظـي بــــــه
أقضـــــي به ما قد قضاه المحرمـا
فتبسمت خجلاً و قالت يـا فتـــــــى
أفســـــدت حجك يا مُحـل المُحرمّـا
فتحرك الركن اليمانـي خشيـــــــــةً
وبكا الحطيم وجاوبتــــــــــه زمزمـا
لـو أن بيـت الله كلّـــــــــــم عاشقـاً
من قبل هـذا كـاد أن يتكلمـا
Classic Saudi singer Fawzi Mahsoon along a list of artists singing the poem, made it an important poem within the oud music genre.
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The work is an encoded conversations that took place between
two characters in literature, the artist encoded to further add a layer of secrecy to the illicit relationship. She immortalizes the story once again by suggesting that even today, their love would still be forbidden; that the two would only experience stolen moments, and encrypted whispered feelings.
The code to create the language was formed by dissecting an Islamic geometric star. The work is an attempt to begin a conversa- tion on censorship, prohibition of the most basic human rights and need, such as love, by those whom misinterpret and abuse religion.
The code to create the language was formed by dissecting an Islamic geometric star. The work is an attempt to begin a conversa- tion on censorship, prohibition of the most basic human rights and need, such as love, by those whom misinterpret and abuse religion.