A small desk, a pen holder containing a few reed pens, a knife for sharpening the pens, an inkpot and a flake of cotton and silk put in the inkpot and a white board all together make up the materials needed to create a piece of beautiful calligraphy work. Despite all the tools, calligraphy requires a lover's heart to inspire his own spirit in the flesh of these elements. The result, can soothe the eyes and the hearts with its musical sketch.

Master Hamid Ajami, the 40-year old calligrapher, has a lover's heart. For 25 years, he has been deeply involved in the curves and tracks of this art attempting to gain God's grace. A true lover, he has created a new kind of calligraphy, which he has named Mo'alla.

He said, "The main style I use is Nasta'liq, but in 1999 I experienced a different spiritual state which inspired me to create Mo'alla calligraphy. I have since mainly focused on this artistic style."

Whenever he was asked to write the name of Imam Ali (AS), he tried to write Imam's name in a creative form, which paved the way for the birth of Mo'alla. "Gradually, Mo'alla became regulated and I was able to make up all of its elements. I held my first individual calligraphy exhibition in Soureh Gallery. Of course I could have held an exhibition for my Nasta'liq works too, but I did not," he said.

Master Ajami has held more than 10 exhibitions of Mo'alla calligraphy works, including a number of overseas exhibitions. "I am determined to take Mo'alla calligraphy to Europe," the master noted.

One of his recent exhibitions was held in the UNESCO headquarters in Paris. He has also announced his intention to hold exhibitions in Turkey and Austria in the near future.

He said that the Iranian artists have had quite different reactions towards his art. Some of those who oppose his work are among his own friends. However, he insists that, except humors, he has not seen any written objective criticism of his work. But he said he is ready to hold a debate with critics of Mo'alla calligraphy.

He referred to those masters and students criticizing his art, saying, "Graphic art is a practical art, which mainly influences our everyday life, but it does not have any relationship with the spiritual world. Our traditional calligraphy is in touch with the spiritual world, so graphic art can never comprehend the spiritual world of calligraphy. I wish we would only comment on the fields which we have enough knowledge of."

The master went on to say, "Some of these fellows have objections to Mo'alla only because it was born after their birth. They also may not like it since it was created by me. Naturally, one should not forget that the religious roots of this handwriting may be another reason for their objections."

However, Master Ajami noted, "These critics believe that there is a trace of harshness in this type of calligraphy. They think that I want to attribute what they consider as harshness to Imam Ali (A.S.), who had a very tender nature. I am greatly devoted to Imam Ali (A.S.) and I dedicate my works to him." He hopes that his critics will study about the art of calligraphy and discover its world and nature as it is. "Someone who has only studied graphic art should not accuse Mr. Amirkhani (one of the great masters of this art) of counterfeiting Mirza Kalhor's calligraphy. Calligraphy can not have repetition by nature; in fact, in this art we only have uniform creation. For example, as regards Dochalipa (a combination of two Nasta'liq calligraphy works with only one specific content), they still have distinguishable spirits. So if they are not able to comprehend it, that is their problem, but they should not condemn it."

This great master of calligraphy said in conclusion, "It is better to do away with prejudice and hostility. History will judge about us in the future. We should not ruin the reputation earned by our great masters after so many years through our poor judgement."