Alip?

[P.Abrera]

Hello, I usually just lurk and absorb information here, but can I ask for a definition of the term "alip" in reference to keris?

Thanks for sharing

[A. G. Maisey]

Alip is "alif", the first letter of the Arabic alphabet, and as such, descended from some older alphabets,

In keris it is the name of a pamor motif. The form of this motif varies, and reflects the different forms of alif in various alphabets---sometimes it can be just a short straight vertical line, thicker at one end than the other, sometimes it can be an elongated ring running into a straight line at each end, sometimes it can be a loop with the ends of the cord forming the loop crossed and open----and there are other forms.

It is the first letter of the name of Allah, and Allah is "one", so alif is also one and can be thought of as representing the thought for Allah.Apart from this---or maybe as a part of this--- alif has the meaning of "to be in harmony with", and as a letter it is in harmony with all other letters so it represents social harmony.

It is regarded by many people as an extraordinarily powerful pamor motif.

So, alip is alif is one, the thought of Allah, it is the beginning and is social harmony.As an icon of social harmony, and of Allah, it imposes the restrictions of a good and a pure life on its owner:- no loose women, no gambling, no alchohol---and so on.But it can protect its owner from annoyance and distraction.

This explanation is not the only one possible:- depends a bit on what school you went to. If we wish to play with the philosophy attached to this motif in pamor, we could go on endlessly. For instance:- there is nothing without Allah, Allah is the beginning and all things follow from Allah just as all numbers follow one, and the first of anything in creation is numbered as "one" thus without "one", there can be nothing. See where this can take you? It can go on forever.

[P.Abrera]

Just scraping the surface is already a lot to think about...

Thanks for the primer