Transcendence: "I am Close" 40 x 60

In all honesty, I wasn't supposed to paint this.  It had started out as a piece for my bedroom. One of my 2018 paintings, "True Value" was sitting in a corner of my studio and it just really made me unhappy.

So I decided to paint over it. Much like life, paintings represent a second chance. And this is exactly how I started to see this piece. I added layer upon layer. Poured different colours and combinations on it.

I really took it to the next level of experimentation. And beauty emerged.

I started to see how the painting resembled an abyss. A deep dark hole, of a lonely winding road, and I was immediately inspired to write the verse,

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ

And when My slaves ask you (O Muhammad SAW) concerning Me, then (answer them), I am indeed near (to them by My Knowledge). I respond to the invocations of the supplicant when he calls on Me

This concept of the closeness of Allah to His servants, has always intrigued me. It has a way of showing up always, when I start to feel low, or even negative. Allah Himself says in the Holy Quran, "

We are more nearer to you than your Jugular vein. [Qaf, 50:16]"

I hope you love this painting as much as I do.

The calligraphy is written in Maghrebi Script, of the Marinid style.

Created as part of The Transcendence Collection

Original mixed-media diptych, painted in 2023. Acrylics on canvas, 40 x 60 inches / 100 x 150 cm

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