What was the subject matter of early Islamic art?

Early
Islamic art is almost exclusively decorative in nature.  It refers to the work specifically
created to adorn the furnishings and walls of the mosques created for the new Muslim faith which
started in the year 622.  There was some figurative work made for secular purposes or for the
purpose of illustrating Muslim texts.   For the most part, however, artists were discouraged
from creating an image of any living thing because that was seen as something that God alone
should do.

It was acceptable for artists to work figuratively, if the figures
were part of a decorative pattern and not the focus of the whole picture.  Other than these
figurative patterns, there are 3 major trends in the designs of early Islamic art: calligraphy
patterns, vegetal patterns, and geometric patterns.

Calligraphy patterns were
entirely composed of letters that oftentimes spelled out blessings or the name of the current
sultan.  There are some pieces of early Islamic art in which a written name seems to be the
major subject matter itself, and that name is itself adorned with calligraphic blessing
patterns.

Vegetal patterns were composed of decorative lines that resemble
flora and fauna, vines and leaves.

Geometric patterns were created by
layering geometric shapes into balanced symmetrical patterns that sometimes resemble flowers or
sunbursts.