| Works of application originate in the art of tentmaking. Traditionally they are created and sewn only by men. At festivities high tents are erected which consits inside and outside of application works. They are made for weddings, birthdays and the Great Festival ( following his Lord`s will Abraham is about to sacrifice his son, when Archangel Gabriel appears to bring him a lamb to slaughter instead ) as well as for Ramadan and the Feast in honour of the Dead and `The Feeding of the Needy`. Today unfortunately they use mostly printed fabrics with similar motives, which, however, are less artitsic. The ornament is freely drawn onto a plain background, then the different coloured fabrics are cut to size to fit into the ornament and sewn on by hand. The ornament is always geometrical, rhythmical and in the center. It originates from plant life, that is from living organisms , in its eternal form and not in its transitional form. Islam is the religion of life and nature as well as devotion to the Unity of the Creator. ( Sure The Cow, Beginning of the verse the Throne. Allah is life, the eternal , he never sleeps or slumbers). Allah`s Grace is the continuing preservation of life in everyone of his creatures and is as well the possibility to raise yourself by returning to nature, to unity, i.e. to eternity. The colouring of the tents shows many contrasts and almost always contains white. All true and erring ways of human beings are found in the colours and yet, at the same time, through the form of the ornament they are lifted from the light and shadow of earthly transitory world to the eternal living unity of Allah. In geometry the secrets of numbers are concealed, esp. the numbers 4 or 8. Number 4 stands for the human being as Supreme Creation, that means as a transitory being, that is able to rise to Eternity through reason. Number 8 unifies the contradiction of male and female principles. By overcoming the polarity it forms the foundation of contentness which is only to be found in unity.
See also: Tentmakers of Cairo
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