Learn Katı’ Paper Cutting with Fall Leaves

In Islamic art, artists use decorated borders to Quran ayats stand out beautifully. One popular way to do this is through tezhip, which are the borders around the Qur’an that are painted with bright colors and patterns. Artists also use other cool methods like ebru, which is marbling, and katı’ (pronounced kuth), a type of paper-cutting art. This tradition started a long time ago during the rule of Sultan Suleyman the Magnificent in the Ottoman Empire, and people used it to decorate books and papers.

With katı’, artists cut paper into different shapes and layer them to make the designs look a little raised, almost like they’re popping off the page!

Islamic art is largely inspired by the beauty of the natural world: leaves, flowers, the sun, and spiraling vines. In this activity, we’ll use alternating fall leaves to create a kati’/tezhip-style border around this beautiful ayat:

وَمَا تَسْقُطُ مِن وَرَقَةٍ إِلَّا يَعْلَمُهَا

Not a leaf falls but that He knows it.

— Qur’an 6:159

This ayat highlights that Allah knows every single detail about the billions of leaves in this world. His knowledge is beyond what we can comprehend!

• 8 fall leaves of one kind, all roughly the same size and color
• 8 leaves of another kind, also roughly the same size and color
• Many small leaves of another kind, or leaves cut
• into a smaller shape of the same size
• Heavy books to flatten the leaves
• Brown and black markers
• Glue

Gather your leaves: Go outside and find 3 groups of 8 leaves, making sure each group has leaves of similar size and color for a balanced look in your design. Flatten your leaves: Place the leaves between or under heavy books overnight to flatten them, which will make them easier to work with. Add the inner border: This part will tie your artwork together. Using the smallest leaves, or if they’re too big, carefully trim them to fit your inner border on the next page and glue them in place. (See Image 1) Arrange your first set of leaves: Following the image guide, place your first leaves at the four corners and in the middle spots along the border. Once you like the arrangement, glue them down. (See Image 2) Arrange your second set of leaves: Use the guide to place your second set of leaves in between the first leaves. You can cut them into shapes like flowers or circles for variety. When you’re happy with it, glue them down. (See Image 3) Add a vine: With a brown marker, draw a vine-like pattern to connect all your leaves together.