In most Arab cultures tattoos have been symbols like stars and not written words, what we have here is East meeting West. The need for Western celebrities to adorn their bodies with written tattoos and the very distinctive symbolism of Arabic tattoos written in very elegant calligraphy gives it a great visual Arabic tattoo.
Some of the biggest and most popular celebrities have chosen Arabic tattoos to adorn their body, not a removable henna either, but a permanent tattoo written in Arabic.
It would be impossible for us to determine the reason why they choose Arabic tattoos, this is a very personal choice that only they know about. However, if we look at Arabic writing, a style called Calligraphy that can provide your inspirational saying in what looks like a landscaped image. Arabic tattoos can be designed to look like an abstract drawing and still translate accurately, they can be like a Picasso piece of art.
Perhaps that’s why Angelina Jolie chooses to have one on her arm and also why Rihanna’s latest tattoo is written in Arabic. In the case of Angelina Jolie, everyone agrees that it is the correct wording and translation for what she has chosen to say “al-‘azeema”, which means “the determination” or “the strong will”. However, this is not the case for Rihanna, where there is some debate as to whether the tattoo is written correctly. Rihanna has chosen “al-horriya fi maseeh”, or in English “freedom in the Messiah”. However, some say it is ‘Al Hurria fi Al Maseeh’ which translates to Freedom in Christ. The “AL” appears to be missing, but could be easily corrected.
The key here is that while Arabic tattoos are very popular, they can be fraught with difficulties just like any other symbol or language. In Arabic there is often no V when using translated F, but that is not always correct, so it is very important that we get a proper translation and a proper template. After all, you can’t expect every tattoo artist to know every symbol or every language.
Arabic tattoos can be very eye-catching and an important topic of conversation at any meeting or occasion, so it is best if we plan what we want to say and why, and then make sure that we actually say what we mean.
You can find more information about writing tattoos and Arabic tattoos and indeed about tattoos in general on our blog where we can give you all kinds of support and advice.