THE DOMINATING PRINCIPLE OF ISLAMIC ART COMES FROM THE QURAN

Seyyed Hossein Nasr

The principle ... which dominates over Islamic art and the philosophy of beauty which governs it, comes directly from the Qur’an and hadith. It is, however, much too subtle to be seen externally. One of the reasons is that you don’t have a book in Islam on the philosophy of beauty or how they did architecture? No body knows how the Badshahi Mosque or the Taj Mahal or Isphahan mosque was built. This tradition was handed over orally from generation to generation through the artistic guilds, those of chivalry, the brotherhood organisations that were ultimately connected to the Tariqa or the esoteric path. What are these principles that have dominated over all forms of Islamic art from its beginning? 
For more: http://goshaenur.blogspot.com/2010/06/dominating-principle-of-islamic-art.html