Naim Ismail

(Syria, 1930-1979)

Hayy ibn Yaqzan (Alive, son of Awake)

Footnotes

Provenance:
Property from a distinguished private collection, UAE

Published:
Al-Hayat Al-Tashkiliyya, Quarterly Journal, Ministry of Culture and National Guidance, Damascus, 1981
Al-Sharif, Tariq. Naim Ismail: Modern Art With an Arab Spirit, Damascus: Ministry of Culture, Syria, 1990

A prominently published and exhibited 1966 painting depicting the famous Sufi tale "Hayy ibn Yaqzan" by Naim Ismail

"In Ibn Tufayl's 12th-century Sufi allegory Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a child mysteriously born on a deserted island and raised by a gazelle grows to adulthood in total isolation. Through careful observation of nature, disciplined reason, and inward contemplation, he ascends from ignorance to profound spiritual knowledge, discovering belief in God without the aid of society, scripture, or teacher.

This journey embodies the Sufi belief in the essential unity of man and God and reflects the universality of the divine, showing that every soul, unaided, holds the potential to reach ultimate truth.

The painting was so important to Ismail that it was not only published and exhibited on numerous occasions, but was even transformed into a large mural at Zaki Al-Arsouzi Garden in the Mazraa district of Damascus, a work which has sadly since been destroyed."

In Hayy ibn Yaqzan, Naim Ismail turns to one of the great philosophical allegories of the Islamic world: the 12th-century Sufi tale by Ibn Tufayl. The story recounts the life of a child born mysteriously on a deserted island and raised by a gazelle. Deprived of all human contact, the child grows to adulthood in solitude, guided only by his senses, his reason, and his capacity for reflection. Through patient observation of nature and deep contemplation, he comes to understand the structure of the universe and, ultimately, to recognise the presence of a divine creator.

Ibn Tufayl's allegory is, at heart, a meditation on spiritual awakening. The child's journey from ignorance to illumination mirrors the Sufi path of ma'rifa - the inward discovery of divine truth without recourse to scripture, society, or teacher. It expresses the belief that every soul, through reason and contemplation, can perceive the unity of all existence and the oneness of God. The tale's resonance endured for centuries, later captivating European thinkers from Locke to Rousseau for its vision of natural reason and the universality of faith.

Ismail's painting channels this parable into a modern visual language. His composition fuses human form with fantastical surroundings, the earthly and the spiritual, capturing the moment of the child's transcendence, the instant when the solitary seeker becomes aware of the infinite. It reflects Ismail's lifelong engagement with humanistic and metaphysical themes, and his search for a distinctly Syrian modernism that could draw on heritage without being bound by it.

The subject held such personal importance for the artist that he revisited it repeatedly. Hayy ibn Yaqzan was both exhibited and published on multiple occasions, and later transformed by Ismail into a monumental mural at Zaki al-Arsouzi Garden in the Mazraa district of Damascus, a public work celebrating enlightenment and introspection amid the urban landscape. Sadly, the mural was destroyed in later years, but its memory remains emblematic of Ismail's belief in the role of art as a bridge between the philosophical and the communal.

Born in Antioch (Antakya) in 1930, Naim Ismail studied at the Academy of Fine Arts in Istanbul, graduating in the early 1950s before pursuing further study in Rome. He later settled in Damascus, where he became a leading figure in the country's modern art movement. In addition to his own artistic practice, he served as Director of Fine Arts at the Syrian Ministry of Culture and oversaw several public art projects, including the facade of the Damascus trade-union building and decorative work for the Euphrates Dam at Tabqa.

Until his untimely death in 1979, Ismail remained devoted to exploring the intersection of spirituality, reason, and the human condition - qualities distilled powerfully in his interpretation of Hayy ibn Yaqzan, a painting that stands as both a philosophical meditation and a visual hymn to enlightenment.