#redbuble was genuinely/bizarrely the easiest place to find nice references

[sama-not-sam]

Sama "the ambitious" Ali: task 008; the talent

Maybe if it were fifteen years ago, Sama would be excited about having a talent show. Because fifteen years ago, she was in her prime as a dancer, still taking classes multiple times a week and at peak flexibility and strength. Now, she’d probably twist an ankle if she tried to dance en pointe, and she probably wouldn’t fit into any of the old leos still hanging in her closet, either. If she’d known this was going to happen, even just since Friday when she got the letter, she would have had some time to prepare and she might have been able to make a go of it. But not like this. She didn’t like to think ill of Mrs. Tristan as a rule, but this was a truly horrible idea. 

Luckily, Sama had more than one talent. And while she could have made a performance out of several of them, she decided to do calligraphy, almost as a protest to being asked to put on a show with not even 12 hours notice. The final product rested in a mid-sized portfolio by her feet as she politely clapped her way through the first several performances from as close to the back of the room as she’d been able to manage. 

Sama was proud of what she’d made, if she weren’t she would have volunteered to help staff with the clean up without complaint. She’d used a line from one of her favorite Arabic poems, A Call to Travel by Imam al-Shafi'i which translated to, And the arrow will not strike without leaving its bow. It was a poem about travel and leaving home and finding where you have value, all of which were things she’d been thinking about the past few days, and none of which she planned to share. But the piece was beautiful in its own right, she’d used gold ink for the first pass, then layered black ink over it, to give the script a golden shadow. As a finishing touch, she’d trimmed the heavy, creamy paper to fit the text, making it a complete statement in itself.

When her name was called, Sama stopped just short of the makeshift stage and turned to the others. “I decided to do calligraphy, which is best enjoyed from a closer distance, so pass it around.” She opened the portfolio as she spoke and handed it to the first table, before making her way back to her seat.

references under the cut

an English translation of the poem the line comes from: [link]

the line written in Arabic: [link]

style of the script: [link]