 I was born in the 70s in the southern Lebanon, but the birth was in Naba, in western or north. After the Lebanese Civil War, we moved to western Beirut. In 1977, my mother placed me and my brother at an orphanage. It was a small building, the orphans were like a few tens, not more than that. After that phase, I moved to a private school. And from that point, I started springing. Because in 1983 there was a joint contest. I took the first prize that traveled to France. When I came back, this matter stayed in my head and became even more encouraged. After my graduation from the secondary phase, I had been a vocational artist. I entered the Art Institute and graduated in 1995. This is the academic vocational phase, but a matter of drawing, as you know, after the painter graduates from college, he has to start developing and establishing himself. So I consider this period of time that I spent at the Art Institute is an experimental stage. And in order to develop my skills, I stayed alone at an atelier and engendered my own style. And I put much effort in order to become this new drawing, the criteria. And I started the Civil War in Lebanon. For some people, it might have been a negative impact. For example, a person who has lived as an orphan and spent his life as an orphanage. Considering also the financial situation that was bit on the edge. This can cause despair for a person, but I had a goal. I wanted to become a parent and a painter. In order to become a painter, you have to learn. This is why I didn't say fatherlessness and frustration. And vice versa, I used to stay if I wanted to get there. And I have to stay optimistic and I have to stay very happy. I did not have an obstacle because the target was there. Besides, when a person misses his goals in front of his eyes, he does not ask about obstacles or difficulties. Today, when I rewind those issues, I find them hard. I ask myself, I did that, but yes, thanks God. God has attained me what I wanted. I have been mostly on the color. I prefer the feature, the color, the most in my tone. And on the other hand, I consider the calipro field at another phase. And I started by just drawing lines to inking, such as Chinese inking. Perhaps changing a name with inking. I found that it started to receive acknowledgement and had some audience. I moved from this to the brush. I transferred from the pencil to the brush on the board. I enlarged that. I do admire drawing and calligraphy. But when I started with calligraphy in 2002, I used to draw abstractively. The handwriting was abstract for a certain type of people. But at the end, not all people are able to handle Quranic material. When you say Quranic material and you want to place it in a casual house such as for Muslims, they will read what I have written from the Quran. Sometimes you meet, for example, a secular person, a secular poet. He might prefer Arabic handwriting or an Islamic one. But he does not desire to be read. Yet he might take it. However, a person who reads Quran wants something artistic, drawn and read. For the past two years, until now I have started to prevail words written by calligraphy in general. When it comes to drawing, I started with surrealism. A little part of it was abstract. And today I draw expressive drawing. Expressive drawing is a bit close to impressionism. Nothing more, nothing less. But then you stare at the painting in all of its styles and diversities. You can still tell who is drawing this. Its name or drawing has become known without a signature. Self-development depends on the person himself. He is the one who is supposed to have the adequate reading of the environment he is presented in. And this person is usually called one of these people. But the wills will be like them. Some people raised their arrow. How do they do that? The one who leads all the society and its origin as well, he knows what's after this arrow. So for a person to develop himself, develop his era, he must treat you as an environment, a society around him, and must also have a reading outside those two. He must read outside himself as well. He must not be close. So we must take what is there in other's experiences in order to benefit from it. That's not wrong to develop from other's experiences or the sake of your self-development. However, I decided to isolate myself and say, I draw or nobody does or that this drawing that I drew or this art is only art present. I won't develop. I did an artistic piece that I want to present in a piazza. They will be astonished. For example, for a singer, an Islamic artist who has reached his goals, he reached his goals. This means that any person is able to get there, even if it were from another perspective, another gateway. But he keeps his Islamic identity. He must not conceive them. The Islamic art, what is the Islamic art? Is it Muhammadi art? There are several namings. Is it Muhammadi art, Arabic art? What is it then? There is still no definite identity that defines the Islamic art. They haven't given us yet the unified naming for the Islamic art. Besides, who invented the Islamic art? That's the question. Who has stated the name or the texture for the Islamic art? These theories made me review again and search again for something that housed me. Give people the main idea of this theme. This is when I wrote a book called Art and Its Influence in the Islamic Society. I took art, definition of art, how art affected the society, and what did we take from art? So I preferred to give the candid picture of our Islamic society's movement in the field of art. Who invented the Islamic art? What did this field influence in the Islamic society? I stayed in the field of drawing and calligraphy. This book, if God wills, when I'm through with it, but I'm waiting for the right conditions for me to finish it. Our beauty, no matter what happens, is to display the authentic art. If it is not wrong, we do not have a real school of art that is specially for us Muslims. But this Islamic art is absent. Islamic school of art is absent. We do not have it. Like the classical international school, we do not have art, but we take this identity from the social norm of Arab and product that is in an aesthetic way and we present it. But we do not imitate the Westerners and what it wants. No, we make benefit of Westerns in the areas that we want. The smart Westerners in the past took from the Arabs. We were left behind and they have reached what they have reached. They took from the Arab sciences, medicines, and so on. It had been all for Arabs. Today, we learn how to take from the Western art. That's not wrong, but we should establish our own identity. This is a painting for a Lebanese person, a Muslim, do you see? A Muslim, and then we take the rest. It is not wrong to say a Lebanese Eastern. This painting or this book, he did not conceive his identity. If I did not preserve my Arabic or Islamic identity, no, I shall fail. You might be able to sell pictures. I'm not refusing that and sometimes at very high rates. But how long does this last? It is by how a human being survives and how long he does. This is it. If this is not present, a human being is the man. Imam Ali is the prince of speech. When you speak about Imam Ali, he is the teacher of all Ahmadis upon them. All of the emma, he is their teacher. But why? What's this characteristic? You could see how he lived his life, how he dealt with people, how his attitude when dealing with his enemies was even with his beloved ones. Imam Ali, peace be upon him, even for those who loved him, what did he repeat on them? My issues and yours are not one for that I want you for God and you want me for yourselves. Why didn't Imam Ali conceive his identity? For his relationship with God had been very strong. And when this condition was present, he did not consider creatures. How did he conceive all those people? By knowing there is Allah. When you see Allah, you do not look at all of these people. Whether they clapped or not, whether they followed you or not, whether they have supported you or not, you just look at God. And this is the only simple part of Imam Ali's life. He was brave and even when it comes to the Hajj Al-Balaqa in the field or the one who gathered Imam Singh, which is Sharif Al-Radi, are these enough? Imam Ali has treasures about sciences, not only speech, treasures about life sciences, nature and even politics that were not mentioned. Sharif Al-Radi was only able to aggregate the speeches of eloquence and place them in a book. But there are quotes for the Imam in regard of ideology, sciences, life and many other aspects that still have not reached us. All of these treasures are present and the parts left have not been received. Can you imagine the situation if they have all been handed to us? This is the characteristic of Imam Ali that really influences us. Imam Ali has a beautiful quote in which he says, I knew that the sustenance is within Allah's hand, so I have left off my hand of people and I knew that life and death is within Allah's hands. So I repose and I knew that heaven and hell is within Allah's hands, so I rested. Those are the most important things in life. If those are in Allah's hands, then what's their left fear? And one self who trusts in Allah and then Allah is his computant, then let's trust in Allah. Imam Ali mentioned how Prophet Muhammad had taught him a thousand doors of knowledge. Each door opens for me another thousand doors. This is what made Imam Ali overcome all of his peers and companions at that time, all the scientists of that time. His modesty is not found within any other person. He is known between people for his modesty, his wisdom, his stories with his brothers as the manager of the House of Funds for the Muslims. He used to distribute the money for all Muslims when his brother is well known for that story. When he asked him for more money since he was his brother, Imam Ali replied, do you moan from a fire heated by its owner and you do not moan from a fire inflamed by its creator? This is also a constitution for our society. Sometimes the other party would tell you, what is life? We live, we perish, but that's it. But Imam Ali, do you figure that you are a small mass and within you the greater world has been involved? So how would a person not love Imam Ali? On what foundations? No, after all the poet, the Buddhist Salami recites, all the sky, witness and all the earth confess and reveal, I have mentioned Ali. This is a Christian poet. And many other incidents that we mention from as Dirar with Muawiyah when he asked Dirar to describe for him the Prince of Believers and Dirar replied, do you guarantee my neck would not be cut off? So Muawiyah granted him that. He said, I do not copy the story literally, but the selections from it are as it goes. Yes, by the name of Allah, he had been long and for seeking, very strong, but justness speaks knowledge. He was amongst us, like one of us, and in this meaning he continues to reach. And I have seen him in night crying like an afflicted boy, like a little boy. And he cries as he says, O Dunya, temptate someone else. I have divorced you three times. No return from them for your living is despicable and your term is short. Oh, from the adversity and prop, the length of traveling and the farness of the course. So this is Imam Ali, the people who really knew Imam Ali, who really knew the Prince of Believers, who would ever look at someone other. So of course I'm really influenced by Imam Ali and let me tell you the reason. The Israelis have occupied southern Lebanon during the 80s. I was not able to leave the house. But by that time there had been something called the Iron Fist. I used to sleep at my brother's house and during the summer there had been no television. We can't get outside the house. So my brother and I used to compete who would memorize Imam Ali's speeches of eloquence. Each speech on its own. Imagine that. He and I would fight who has memorized more. And within three months of summer we have memorized a whole bunch of it. So we lived in that atmosphere and we have seen Imam Ali. Later on I expanded in his course. We are now present. He found richer quotes, way richer quotes. So I asked, where is Imam Ali's inside all of this? So I hope we are on the steps of the Prince of Believers. We invite all the U.S. to be creative. And the one who owns creativity shall not despair. If you do not love the subject you are living or dealing with, you cannot be creative. There is no creativity. Anything that you want to work at, develop by it or be creative at, if you haven't loved it, you won't be able to give any. So because I love drawing, whether I sell my paintings or not, I want to draw. I had a fair I hadn't. I want to draw. There's a war or not, I want to draw. Because I love drawing. I have granted it much time. Until I was able to reach a state that allows me not to freeze. Sometimes the human being enters a field that makes him freeze after he leaves university or dies. You find him drawing in the same rhythm, the same style and movement. I do not. I have a fair. The following year the fair is completely different. The drawings are of a different attitude from their predecessors. There is nothing so called as stagnancy. When you are stagnant, you perish. You have to always learn and always say, I still don't know anything. As you increase your knowledge, you say, I still haven't known anything. This is recited by Al-Mutanabbi. He says that if you want to be a poet, you have to memorize a thousand lines of poetry. Then you have to forget them all. After you do that, you start all over again. We must draw a thousand drawings. I want to consider that I haven't drawn any painting and start over again. A thousand, two, three, and maybe ten thousand as well. I will still repeat. I do not know anything. Just as I say, I'm a painter and ego hits me. The painter is terminated. Adding to that, there is a speech by the messenger, PSP, upon him. That is religious, but we are able to expand it to all our movements. The social, the practical, economic, and political. He was passing in a desert. The sun was very hot. The area was desolated. He asked his peers to gather for him firewood. His friend wondered where to get the wood from in a desert. He asked them to wander, and since they were hundreds, each handed a small piece of wood. And when they were gathered, they had an ample mountain. He told them that little sins are gathered to become great. This is a model. Today, in our society, if every youngster helped by a coin or two, maybe three or four, they would expand until they are able to open a project. Eventually, the artistic work is for the sake of approaching Allah. If Allah has a sake in selling these paintings, they will be sold. If Allah has a sake in selling these paintings, they will be sold. If he has no sake, it might be placed in charities for the orphanage. Nothing is wasted. Maybe in your life, you might not be paid. But maybe at this age, people are not going to accept. Maybe after a few generations, people are able to accept that there is this painter. So we must not be frustrated. We must trust in God and work and be creative at our work. There is a difference at this point. We must trust in God. If we weren't so, we won't be able to reach any of our goals. I really do hope from the young people who are really competing, that they should compete in artistic sciences. They must do it at their knowledge and at their universities. Compete and help each other. For Imam Ali says, make the favour for those who are worthy of it and for those who are not. If you do it, then you are worthy of it. The favour does not require individuality. Those who have the Prophet Muhammad, peace be upon him and al-A'imah are frustrated? No. This is what I wish for all the youth, if God wills. We should benefit from our leaders. They must benefit from them as an experience, a story and a moral life. We should always look at God. We should stay ahead of us. We should stay humble. And if God wills, we will reach our targets and attain the most beautiful creativity in the world.