Islamic Arts Faruqi

Structural Segments in the Islamic Arts: The Musical "Translation" of a Characteristic of
the Literary and Visual Arts

Author(s): Lois Ibsen al Faruqi
Source: Asian Music, Vol. 16, No. 1 (1985), pp. 59-82
Published by: University of Texas Press
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STRUCTURAL SEGMENTr IN THE ISLAMIC ARTS:
THE MUSICAL "TRANSLATION" OF A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE

LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTS
by
Lois Ibsen al Faruqi
It has long been recognized that the literary works of
Islamic culture reveal a segmentaion into self-contained
units=-each line or b yvt of the poem, each verse of a strop
form, each anecdote or episode from a narrative collection

providing one satisfying module of the additive structure. Even
the visual arts of the Muslim world have been characterized as
displaying camparable segmentation, though the resultant

so-called "lack of unity" is often misunderstood and wrongly
viewed as an unfortunate shortcoming. As for the literature on
the musical arts, it has contained little conscious awareness of
this basic and widespread characteristic of the musical genres of

the Muslim peoples, and, as far as is known, no systematic
discussion of it.
This paper attempts to make a categorization o; t
used to delineate boundaries or perimeters of musical structural

segments in Islamic culture. In addition, it seeks to relate
these materials to similar perimetric determiners of the Islamic
literary and visual arts. Perhaps any enumeration of the musical
boundary devices for such a vast geographic and ethnic complex as

that of Islam will be, of necessity, "preliminary" or "partial."
It is hoped that the evidence presented will be sufficient,
however; firstly, to account for certain common or comparable

characteristics of musical genres in widely separated geographic
regions of the Muslim world and secondly, to substantiate a much
wider relevancy for the "commonwealth" of the Islamic arts than
has generally been accepted.
The examples used for illustration of this paper have

purposely been chosen from a wide variety of geographic regions.
This has necessitated the use, not only of my own materials, but
of the materials researched and recorded by many colleagues in
the field. This study is thus an attempt to better understand
the music of Islamic culture through jntra-disciplinary as well
as intexdisciplinary means and cooperation.

I. THE LITERARY AND VISUAL ARTS
Despite the contrasting media employed, the devices which
delineate segments in the literary, visual and musical arts seem

to fall into four major categories. We shall describe these
- 59-
categories briefly as they pertain to, or are illustrated in, the

literary and visual arts, and then move on to show what means
have been adopted, adapted or created by musicians of the Muslim
world to achieve comparable types of segmentation in musical
performance. Figure 1 presents a summary of these segmentation
means in the various arts.
The segmental organization of literary and visual elements

is not consciously pursued by the poet or artist. Similarly, the
vocal or instrumental performer may have little or no awareness
of the structural segmentation which is evidenced in a musical
performance. Instead of making a conscious effort to mold an art

product or performance to such a culturally relevant
characteristic, the artist--whether working with literary, visual
or musical materials--follows what might be called an "aesthetic
conscience" which is reinforced and directed by the appreciation

or rejection of the audience. Equally, the audience, however
receptive and perceptive its members may be, is rarely able to
conceptualize about the devices and means whcih would elicit its
appreciation. Though aesthetic creation and appreciation is
governed by subconscious processes, the characteristics of the

work of art are there for conscious investigation. It is such
investigation of the musical performances and the sharing of its

results that comprise a major contribution of the discipline of
ethnonusicology.
A. Perimeters or Borders
The first category of segmentation devices which are
relevant to the Islamic arts has been labeled Perimeter
Borders, since these segmentation devices serve as external
boundaries separating one segment from another. In the lit
genres of the Islamic languages these include:
1. actual periods of silence separating the verbally rendered

segments of a poem or story;
2. standardized opening or7closing phrases which are recited

before or after a module ; and
3. refrain lines or verses external to the segment.

In the visual arts, the use of Perimeters or Borders is
equally evident. These separating frames consist of plain bands

which serve as visual counterparts of the literary silence
period. In addition, geometric strapwork, calligraphic bands,
vines and tendrils, and such natural barriers as rocks, forests,

or mountains (used only in the figural arts) provide visual
- 60 -
Figure 1
SUMMARY OF STRURAL SEGMENTATION DEVICES IN THE LITERARY,
LITERARY ARTS VISUAL A
A. Perimeters or Borders: 1) periods of silence 1) plain

2) standardized open- 2) geometr
& closing phrases w
3) refrains external 3) calligraphy
to the segment 4) vines, tend
5) natural bar
B. Intern Repetition: 1) rhyme 1) confroeted mo
2) refrain phrases or 2) arch
lines internal to enclosures (
the
segment
3) fluting, cu
4) bent/broken
5) window/nic
ON
C. Cyclic Continations: 1) of nmetric cycle 1) of callig

passage
2) of discursive 2) geom./flor
elenent
3) increase in 3) 3-dimensional
complexity and bays
4) domed chai
domed edifi
5) courtyar
D. Alternation or Juncture: 1) changes of meter 1) changes o

within a poem
2) changes of rhyming 2) different
pattern motif conbinat

3) changes in subject 3) ch
4) variant tec
execu
frames for modules of design.

B. Internal Repetition
The literary and visual arts have made prominent use of a

secondary category of segmentation devices which are designated
here as examples of Internal Repetition. In literature these
include the repetition of poetic rhyme and rhythm, as well as
refrain phrases or lines internal to the segment. In the visual
arts, there are numerous elements which fulfill the same function
although the media used are different. These include the
syrmetrical or confronted repetitions that occur in archi
and movable objects decoration, as well as in miniature art; the

architectural enclosures within two dimensional designs; fluting,
cusping and variegated voussoirs whose repetitions emphasize
segments of an archway; bent or broken surfaces which divide a
movable object or an architectural member into a nurber of
separate parts; and the repetition of windows and niches in
symmetrical combinations.
C. Cyclic Coipmletion
The third category of module separators has been called
Cyclic Conpletion, for it emphasizes divisions within the work of
art through recurring instances of the completion of some form of
cycle. In the literary arts, completion of each metric cycle
serves to mark off modular segments. One might also regard the
completion of the discursive element-the idea, the episode or
the story-as another example of literary Cyclic Completion.
Endings are often marked by an increase in complexity and the

prevalence of such poetic devices as rhyme, alliteration,
assonance, paronomasia, etc. Using quite different means and
materials, the visual arts exemplify cyclic aesthetic

segmentation through completion of individual calligraphic
passages, of geometric or floral units within a larger design, of
three dimensional arches and bays of an arcade or hypostyle hall;

of domed chambers combined in a larger edifice, or of courtyard
units or buildings repeated and varied to create a major
architectural complex.
D. Alternation or Juncture
Examples of Alternation or Juncture form the fourth categor

of delineators of aesthetic structural segments. Literary
devices of this type are the changes of meter which may occur
between one
part
of a pp0
another;
alternation
of rhyming
patterns
within
a poem;
andand
changes
in the
subject matter
through introduction of a different character, event, time or
- 62 -
place to mark the beginning of a module. Analagous features of

the visual arts include the change of motifs; changes in the
shape, size lr coloring of a module; or varying techniques of
workmanship.
II. THE MUSICAL ARTS
After outlining these four categories of devices for

structural segmentation in the literary and visual arts, let us
try to discover their relevance for the musical arts of the
Muslim peoples. In other words, we will seek to learn in what
ways these four categories of structural segmentation are
"translated" into musical materials. Examples will, of course,
have to be limited here, but the reader will certainly recall
additional items from his/her own research and experience, which
could substantiate the thesis further.
These segmentation devices found in the musical arts should

not be regarded as necessarily exclusive to music in Islamic
culture. Just as those devices of literary and visual
segmentation enumerated above (rhyme, refrains, visual borders,

symmetrical repetition, etc.) may be found in other artistic
traditions, the segmentation devices of music which will be
enumerated may occur in other musical traditions as well.
Probably no characteristic of any musical culture could be

discovered which did not pertain to at least one other musical
culture somewhere in the world. It is not exclusivity,
therefore, that is claimed for these elements of segmentation in
the music of the Muslim lands. Instead it is their obtrusiveness
and frequency that render them important and make it poss

discern aspects of unity in the musical arts of Islamic culture
which are similar to those which have been recognized as
pertaining to the literary and visual arts.
The Muslim world is large, however; and though it evidences
a striking degree of aesthetic unity for a region of such
diversity of geography and ethnic composition, its various
regions also evidence interesting variations in the application
of the characteristics of unity. In order to understand the
nature of that unity and variety, this author, in other works (al
Faruqi 1982; 1983-4; 1984), has attempted to delineate musica
subregions of the Muslim world, and to diagnose the extent, the

nature and the reasons for regional unity and diversity in each
of those regions.
In addition, the musical segmentation devices enumerated and

categorized here should not be regarded as ubiquitously present
in every performance of music in every Islamic context. This
- 63 -
fact should not intimidate the scholar from endeavoring to
discover and appreciate Islam as a cultural whole, at the same

time as the important particularities which pertain to its
individual aesthetic creations are studied and described.
A. Perimeters and Borders
The wgwfah or period of silence which separates segments of

religious chant, cantillated poetry, or vocal and instrumental
improvisations is an example of Perimeter or Border segmentation
which can be found in certain musical genres in every part of the
Muslim world. A few phrases from Islamic scriptural chant

performed by a Qur'an "reader" from Malaysia, Egypt or any other
Muslim region could exemplify this feature. A second framing
device found in many genres of musical r in the Muslim world
what is known in Arabic as the laziruah. This term is used in a

general way to designate a wide variety of end-of-segment
interludes (el Helou, 1961:180). It is prominently represented in
many parts of the Muslim world, though the Arabic term has not
been as widely adopted. It includes tuned or percussion
interjections or interludes of various lengths which separate one
musical segment from that which follows. It may consist of a
short motif of a few tones, performed by an instrument or the

ensemble after each musical module sung or played. Or, it may
comprise a more extended phrase, a full line or even a mnusical
period. Sometimes each of the separating interludes is freshly
improvised; at other times, they are refrain-like members,
repeated in essentially the sf-e manner each time they a
within a given performance. Examples of such repetitive
passages which accentuate segmentation are known as terennum or
.teslim in Turkey (Signell 1977:92), or forud in Iran (Zonis
1973:46). fla, taslim, tardid, ruiu and raddah are but a few
of the Arabic terms which have been used to designate instances
of such musical boijers or frames during the fourteen centurie
of Islamic history.
B. Internal Repetition
The second category of musical segmentation devices includes
the examples of Internal Repetition. Instead of comprising
musical members external to the segment , as in the Perimeter or
Border examples, this category includes only those examples of

repetition which accentuate musical segmentation from within the
module. One of these is the refrain motif or phrase heard so
frequently at the end of segments of the secular as well as
religious musical genres of the Muslim peoples. Describing the
chanting narratives of Malaysia, Sweeney informs us that the
beginning and end of the literary passages of Malay story-telling
- 64 -
are signalled on the musical level "by a special pattern of
notes" (Sweeney 1974:73, 67). Nettl and Foltin (1972:15), Zonis

(1973:48) and Nettl (1974:412) have documented the use of opening
and closing formulae in Persian music, while al Faruqi (1975:11;
1978:57-59) and Touma (1977:71-72; 87-88), among others, have

described its use in Arabic practice. These cadential formulae
provide signals of completion in both irprovised and compo
music, in both unmetered and metered genres, for both secular and
religious contexts.
A second type of Internal Repetition is determined by modal

practice which, in varying forms, permeates the music of Islamic
culture. It involves returns to a tone of stability in the modal
scalar segment being used. Such returns are another clue for the
listener that the end of a segment has been reached. Writing
about Turkish music, Signell calls these resting tones "tonal
centers" (1977: 48-49). For Powers, they are "goal tones" (1980);
for Merriam, "central tones" (1982:85); for Kartomi, describing a
genre of Indonesian music, they are "pillar tones" (1973:89-90);
and Malm speaks of such performances as examples of "centric

melodies" (1977:133). In Persian terminology one finds similar
phenomena in the ist ("stopping") and shahed ("stress") to

(Zonis 1973: 47) Oarar and markaz are some of the Arabic words
for such tones , while in Afghanistan they are designated as

warkaz or kari (Baily 1981:8-9).
C. Cyclic Conpmletion
Much of the musical art of the Muslim world evidences a
succession of cycles of various types whose completions coincide
with the ends of segments. One prominent example of Cyclic

Completion can be found in the internal organization of the
rhythmic modes governing metered performance in most Muslim
contexts. Completion of each cycle of 7, 12, 24 or whatever

number of beats provides an element of closure within the
performance which is sensed by the initiated listener. Secondly,

the completion of rhythmic cycle is commonly manipulated to
coincide with the comprletion of the vocal poetic line, thus

reinforcing the effect of Cyclic Completion. A third musical
element which often reaches conclusion in conjunction with those

already mentioned involves characteristic progressions of the
melodic mode (macam, lahn, nagham or other regional
designation). After a melodic "excursion," the end of a modal
segment is marked by a descent to an important note of the scala

segment in use. This completion of a modal module can be found
in a wide variety of musical performances in many regions of the
Muslim world. A fourth reinforcement of Cyclic Coxpletion may be
evidenced in a feeling of half or full closure of the melodic
- 65 -
line. This is often signaled by internal repetitions of a tone,

a motif or a phrase.
A choral exanple from Egypt exemrplifies a nuxber of such

elements of Cyclic Corpletion used within a single nusical
performance. In the transcription (Figure 2) each line of music
corresponds to one module of the rmwashshah, a genre of song

widely used in North Africa and the Middle East (see Faruqi 1975
for a more detailed description of this genre). For example,

each line coincides with one cycle of the rhythmic mode (iag) in
use (in this case Murabba mode with 13 beats to a cycle and
accents on beats 1, 4 and 12). Secondly, each of the poetic lines
has been stretched by stock words and phrases to insure a

completion of the poetic cycle (line) with the musical module.
Thirdly, each line is also coincident with a melodic mode cycle,
for it ends with a return to an important note or "base tone" of
the maqam in use (Hi.jz IKr Kurd). In this case, the B below
middle C and the F above it, as "tonics" for the two tetrachords
of the maqam are the tones of stability which mark the ends of
the musical cycles. In addition, the completion of each line
evidences the appearance of an identical or varied repetition of
a refrain motif (see Figure 3). Only the ending of line 4 avoids
poetic-nusical completion, instead delaying the resolution of
aesthetic tension to the end of the following line.
Melodic Cyclic Completion may also be emphasized by an
increase in complexity and aesthetic tension similar to that

found in the literary arts. Such proliferation of end-of-segment
activity has been noted in many studies of the music of different
regions of the Muslim world. Tsuge (1976:222) and Nettl
(1974:411) provide information on the glottal melisma which
concludes the phrases of avaz vocal improvisations in Iran;
Qureshi (1981:67) describes a similar practice in performance of
the Shi's maxlia; Nelson (1980:261-263), as it pertains to
Qur'anic chant; and Slobin (1976:199) furnishes evidence from
Turkmen songs of Afghanistan. A comparable increase in

complexity of ornamentation near the completion of a segment
be heard in recordings of Persian nusic (e.g., A Persian Heritage
of Classical Music of Iran, Side B, Band 3) and of "hadis," a
genre of vocal nusic performed by the Tausug Muslims of the
southern Philippines (Music from the Tausug of Sulu, Side A, Band
4). Perhaps the eluk, the decorative, melismatic musical
ornamentation of the last syllable of a poetic line in mati
a genre of Indonesian song described by Kartomi (1973:94-96), is

another example of such increase of complexity which signals the
end of a mnusical segment.
- 66 -
Figure 2
Sono Cairo
Isq-ini
al al
RahESI
7017080,
Side
-sqinl
Band
2 A
1.. Orchestra 2 3 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 13
6,
10
2.k
Jn vr Gi J e pI mA wn
.
3..
6e
AI, dI I I 11 I i I ' L J v l _
---._T
Hijgz K-'r Maq~m IqS': Murabba'

POETIC LINES: TRANSLIN"
Isqini al r~h Give me to drink of the essence (spirit, wine)

Wafrah a! arwlh And make the souls happy.
Stock Words and Phrases (enclosed by parentheses)

Ah
amen (peace)
yE 'aynl (Oh, my eye!, i.e., precious one)
- 67 -
Figure 3
- 68 -
D. Alternation or Juncture
The fourth category of segmentation devices which was fou
to be relevant to the literary and visual arts of Islamic culture
is also often "translated" into musical elements. It is
represented by four common changes which I have labeled
"nusical," since they are intrinsic to the music itself; and four
"technical" changes, which involve alternations of performance

medium rather than precisely musical elements.
The "musical" examples of Alternation or Juncture include
all those changes of tessitura which emphasize segmentation.
These might be moves at the beginning of a musical segment to a
high pitch of the scalar segment in use, to another tetrachordal
or pentachordal scalar segment, or to a different octave. Such
junctures can be found in examples of Qur'an chant (al Faruqi,
1978:57; Nelson 1980:251), in chanted or sung poetry (Qureshi,
1969:437; Zonis 1973:106; Malm 1974:10; etc.) as well as in
compositioni6 for vocal or instrumental ensembn
1975:9-10) .
A second type of segmenting "musical" Alternation or

Juncture occurs between unmetered and metered passages. Such
changes clearly delineate the contrasting musical modules,
separating them in the experience of the listener. A third form
of "musical" Alternation or Juncture which serves to accentuate
segments in the music of Islamic culture occurs when the

beginning of a musical passage coincides with the change to a
different melodic mode. A fourth "musical" Alternation or
Juncture is similar; but instead of involving melodic modes, it

pertains to changes of rhythmic mode.
The four types of "technical" Alternation or Juncture which

reinforce the aesthetic impression of segmentation includes
alternations
1. between vocal and instrumental performers;17

2. between one instrument and another of different range and
timbre, or between one group of instruments and
3. between solo8 and group performance, whether vocal or

instrumental; or
4. between male and female voices.
- 69 -
Each of these kinds of "musical" and "technical" Alternation
or Juncture erphasizes the division of the musical performance

into separable entities. Along with the other devices
categorized above, they reinforce a structural characteristic
which is basic to the arts of Islamic culture.
- 70-
NOTES
1. The expression "translation" is used here to mean a

restatement in different artistic "language" or medium.
The reader should not understand its use to imply a prior
existence of literary and visual materials which are
subsequently redone in musical pitches and durations.
Rather, all artistic expressions are seen as restatements
or "translations" of a basic ideological message of the
culture or people in question, and it would be difficult to
assign unchallenged priority in time or significance to any
one of these types of art.
2. For example, each line of the Arabic gasidah or the Persian
ghazal is a self-contained entity. See Lichtenstadter

1976:412; Nicholson 1969; 328-329; Browne 1956:11, 34.
Self-contained units of strophic genres can be found in the
mathnawi, zaial, du-bayt, musamma, and rubai genres. See
Arberry 1943-46:704-705; Wickins 1952:239-243).
3. For example, the tales of "One Thousand and One Nights,"
the Maqamat of Hariri, or Firdawsi's Shah Namah.

4. Although we use the term "musical" here in its Western
sense--as inclusive of all forms of pitched sound art-it
should be recognized that many genres whcih are considered
"music" by non-Muslims are not regarded as such by
Muslims. See al Faruqi 1982:30ff.
5. Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Swahili, Hausa, Malay,

etc.
6. As in the opening "Bismillah al Rahman al Rahim" and

closing "Sadaqa Allah al Azim" used in the recitiation of
the Qur'an, or the "kan wa ma kan..." formula which serves
to open an anecdotal segment of a secular narrative in a
way similar to the English "Once upon a time..." In

describing Malaysian story-telling, Sweeney (1874:71)
describes "passages which are fixed in form [and] consist
of, on the one hand, various types of stock phrase and
'rhythmical prose,' which have an independent existence in
so far as they may be used whenever necessary in a story,
and, on the other, opening formulae, which only occur at
the beginning." Two types of stock phrases--those that he

calls "scene openers and closers" and another type called
"frame-phrases" "are employed to indicate the end of one
- 71 -
section of the narrative and the comrencement of another"

(Ibid.:72).
7. Symmetrical repetitions of vegetal, geometric and animal

figures are all frequently encountered in the Islamic
arts. Even calligraphy is subjected to this treatment, as
is evidenced in the muthanna or mu'akisah (i.e., mirr
image) calligraphic designs which have intrigued the Muslim
aesthetic sense over the centuries.
8. End-of-segment complexity and increase of aesthetic tension
is prominent in the poetic "dueling" of the folk

literatures of many regions of the Muslim world.
Mnazirah, sha'ivah and rmiahadah are terms used f
these contests in poetic skills as performed in the Arab
world. They are called musha'arah in Pakistan and India,
dhikrbarat in Maylaysia.
9. Although some poetry in Islamic languages has a single

rhyme, poems of couplets or stanzas reveal rhyme patterns
which vary from segment to segment (al Faruqi, 1975;
Bencheneb, 1936:849-851; Browne, 1956:11, 26-44; Arberry,
1943-1946:700-701).
10. For example, in ceramic decoration, there may be changes

from painted relief carving to molded design; or from inlay
to engraving to repousse or encrusting in different
segments of a metal object. Another technical factor that
could be included here is the change of depth or relief of

the ceramic, stucco, wood or metal design.
11. The Arabic term, meaning "necessary,' is a fitting
description for this device which accentuates an aesthetic
characteristic so basic to the art products of the Muslim
world.
12. Examples of repetitive lawazim can be found in numerous
field and commercial recrodings, the following being only a

few chosen from records that are relatively easy to find in
university libraries in this country. The Music of

Indonesia, Side 1, Band 5, 6; Music from the Tausug of
Sulu: Moslems of the Southern Philippines, Side A, Band 1,

4; Side B, Band 1; Alhaji Bai Konte: Kora Melodies from the
Republic of the Gambia, West Africa (Rounder Records 5001),
Side A, Band 1.
13. See entries under "Refrain" in the Index of English Musical

Terms of al Faruqi 1981, p. 434.
- 72 -
14. See entries under "Tonic" in the Index of English Musical

Terms of al Faruqi 1981, p. 438.
15. Touma (1976:34-36; 1977:52-56) speaks of "phases" of a
macam, by which he means the different passages of an
improvisation, each devoted to a particular group of
contiguous notes of the modal scale. These, of course,
emphasize the internal segments of an improvisation.
16. In the "kiliwali" popular music and the ghazal of

Afghanistan, Baily describes the vocal lines as
"interpolated" with "fast instrunental sections"
(1981:35-36).
17. In the dor (or dawr) of Egypt, one or more choral
repetitions follow every solo presentation of a segment.

For Information on a genre which presents a veritable
"contest" between solo instrument and enserble, see Touma's
description of the tahmilah (Touma 1977:89-90).
- 73 -
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DISCOGRAPHY
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PLATES
1. Fragment of wood decorated with geometric panels inlaid

with ivory, 16th century Egypt.
2. Detail of ceramic decorations on the Shah of Zindah Tomb,
Samarkhand, U.S.S.R., 14th century.
3. Tala Kari Madrassah, Samarkhand. U.S.S.R., 17th century.

4. A nmsical performance in a Moroccan Restaurant.
(Photographs by the author)
- 78 -
Plate 1
- 79 -
Plate 2
- 80 -
Plate 3
- 81 -
Plate 4
- 82 -

Islamic Arts Faruqi

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Islamic Arts Faruqi

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Structural Segments in the Islamic Arts: The Musical "Translation" of a Characteristic of

the Literary and Visual Arts

STRUCTURAL SEGMENTr IN THE ISLAMIC ARTS:

THE MUSICAL "TRANSLATION" OF A CHARACTERISTIC OF THE

Lois Ibsen al Faruqi

It has long been recognized that the literary works of

Islamic culture reveal a segmentaion into self-contained

units=-each line or b yvt of the poem, each verse of a strop

form, each anecdote or episode from a narrative collection

displaying camparable segmentation, though the resultant

this basic and widespread characteristic of the musical genres of

This paper attempts to make a categorization o; t

used to delineate boundaries or perimeters of musical structural

literary and visual arts. Perhaps any enumeration of the musical

boundary devices for such a vast geographic and ethnic complex as

however; firstly, to account for certain common or comparable

The examples used for illustration of this paper have

the music of Islamic culture through jntra-disciplinary as well

as intexdisciplinary means and cooperation.

Despite the contrasting media employed, the devices which

delineate segments in the literary, visual and musical arts seem

categories briefly as they pertain to, or are illustrated in, the

means in the various arts.

The segmental organization of literary and visual elements

of the structural segmentation which is evidenced in a musical

performance. Instead of making a conscious effort to mold an art

conscience" which is reinforced and directed by the appreciation

receptive and perceptive its members may be, is rarely able to

appreciation. Though aesthetic creation and appreciation is

governed by subconscious processes, the characteristics of the

investigation of the musical performances and the sharing of its

The first category of segmentation devices which are

relevant to the Islamic arts has been labeled Perimeter

Borders, since these segmentation devices serve as external

boundaries separating one segment from another. In the lit

genres of the Islamic languages these include:

1. actual periods of silence separating the verbally rendered

2. standardized opening or7closing phrases which are recited

3. refrain lines or verses external to the segment.

equally evident. These separating frames consist of plain bands

vines and tendrils, and such natural barriers as rocks, forests,

LITERARY ARTS VISUAL A

A. Perimeters or Borders: 1) periods of silence 1) plain

& closing phrases w

3) refrains external 3) calligraphy

to the segment 4) vines, tend

B. Intern Repetition: 1) rhyme 1) confroeted mo

2) refrain phrases or 2) arch

lines internal to enclosures (

C. Cyclic Continations: 1) of nmetric cycle 1) of callig

D. Alternation or Juncture: 1) changes of meter 1) changes o

2) changes of rhyming 2) different

pattern motif conbinat

frames for modules of design.

The literary and visual arts have made prominent use of a

although the media used are different. These include the

syrmetrical or confronted repetitions that occur in archi

and movable objects decoration, as well as in miniature art; the

Endings are often marked by an increase in complexity and the

materials, the visual arts exemplify cyclic aesthetic

passages, of geometric or floral units within a larger design, of

three dimensional arches and bays of an arcade or hypostyle hall;

Examples of Alternation or Juncture form the fourth categor

place to mark the beginning of a module. Analagous features of