While there are many talented graphic designers around the world who create great designs that show the meaning behind famous quotes and wise proverbs, Egyptian graphic designer Faried Omarah is bringing the art to visually illustrate the deep meaning behind the verses of the Quran.
Although Omarah already had a solid international audience for his designs that illustrate famous quotes and sayings on his website, it was the innovative idea of quoting the Quran that made his Facebook page "Fariedesign" one of the most popular graphic design pages in Egypt with more than 130,000 likes, as his Arab World audience continues to grow.
The strikingly simple but beautiful black and white illustrations tell visual stories that show the meanings that lie in the Quran's verses.
Not only are all of Omarah's different designs visually appealing, they represent deep ideas about life, death, hope, desperation, and many of life's greatest contradictions.
“I target beauty regardless of its source, and when it comes to depth and inspiration, there’s nothing as effective as Quran verses,” Omarah told Daily News Egypt.
However, there might be more to his motivation to illustrate the Quran's verses as he told Youm7 "I always feel that the meanings of the verses are lost on many of us because of the general deterioration in the Arabic language."
"Because the modern age is the age of visuals, which is my way of expressing my thoughts, I found that I have the opportunity to show people the meanings and purposes of the verses in a beautiful and simple way," Omarah added.
While Omarah, who works full-time as a senior architect at a design firm in Egypt, may lead the narrative his illustrations tell, he doesn't direct the audience to a specific understanding, rather he leaves each person to make their own sense of his designs.
However, there's more to the purpose of the designs than just to showcase his artistic abilities and obvious talent, as Omarah uses his work to inspire people by making them think about their lives and their place in the universe, appreciate the value of art and benefit from the wisdom of others.
Due to the designs' popularity and a strong and growing social media following, the young architect refuses to make money from his artwork. But after seeing the depth, sincerity and inspiration in his work, one can understand his point of view.
"I do it for love, not for financial gains. The minute I earn my living from designing, I become a slave to my ideas, and the moment someone turns to slavery is the moment he loses his glory of creativity,” Omarah explained.
