“Meditation on Death II” Print

Printed on 305 gsm matte fine art paper

10 x 15 inches

This is the second piece in my series on death, which follows the genre of memento mori or vanitas paintings, but is uniquely rendered in an Islamic idiom.

From left to right, I’ve painted the most popular symbol of memento mori, a skull underneath of which is a shroud, pointing to the Muslim practice of burying the dead, an hourglass which signifies time lost, calligraphy which reads, “Everyone upon the earth will perish. Yet there will remain the Face of your Lord, full of Majesty and Honor.” (55:26-27), a book entitled “The Remembrance of the affairs of the dead and the hereafter,” by Abu Abdullah al-Qurtubi (13th century Andalusian scholar), and at bottom, a tasbih (or rosary) used to invoke the mercy and mystery of God.