I went to the Carlos Musem at Emory University to learn about Arabic Calligraphy. I got my name written by a professional Arabic calligrapher, Talat Salahat, who told me that my name, Gabriel, is pronounced Jabril in the Qu'ran, and Jabril was the angel who spoke to the prophet Muhammad, making him God's messenger.
Since my name already existed in Arabic, it was very easy for Talat to translate and draw. It was interesting to learn that there was an angel Gabriel (or Jabril) in the Qur'an because I thought the only stories about this angel were in the Bible.
I learned that the Qua' ran is a collection of divine messages meditated through the angel Gabriel in Arabic. These meditations made Arabic a holy language, and people began to turn the written language into something more beautiful and artistic in order to express how holy Arabic could be in written words. This evolution from a primitive written language to a worshipped art form has finally developed into Islamic calligraphy. Now, a calligrapher's work is said to express their love of Allah and purity of soul. 