The Heart

This is a painting I made in the winter of 2005. I am fascinated at times by this muscle. That beats, and pumps nutrients and emotions to nearly every cell in my body. This heart painting seems to be overweight, which hopefully is not a relfelction of my own heart.

Matharat al-Qulub by Imam al-Mawlud (poem verses 1-8)
I begin by starting with the heart of beginnings,
For it is the highest and noblest of beginnings.
Have courtesy with God, the High and the Majestic,
by practicing modesty and humility--
dejected out of shame and humility
humbled in awe, imploring Him--
by giving up your designs for His,
emptied of covetousness for what His servants have,
by hastening to fulfill His commands, and by being wary of
the subtle encroachment of bad manners.
If you- the spiritual aspirant-realize your attributes of
servitude, you will then be assisted with something of the
attributes of the Eternally Besought.
Realize your abject character and impoverishment, and you
Will gain dignity and wealth from the All-Powerful.
There is no salvation like the heart’s salvation,
Given that all the limbs respond to its desires.