Upon the Spheres' Lips © 2008 Aida Toure

Description: “Upon the Spheres’ Lips” relates to the spiritual Proximity the soul journeys through when we allow it to evolve in Surrender. Here, the movements of the Spheres are considered as the ultimate reflection of Surrender/Islam; therefore striving to mirror their harmony with the Divine Law introduces the human soul to great beauty. This painting took form from this poem below of the same title. I immensely enjoyed painting this piece, its language energy was motherly and gentle. I must say that it is one of my favorite pieces!

~ Upon the Spheres’ Lips ~

Bismillah,
I am at my best
when I lay at your feet,
rolling and rolling within
in the way no one sees
but you.

Lost in this state,
language makes no sense
and the soul’s nakedness
glides by to deepen us
at the thought of staying
right there,
of all our being,
below you.

Then a voice says:
this is love knocking
from inside, open up
and stay wide until
the prophets (as) walk
by, ecstatically chanting
la ilaha illa Allah!

At this, joyful sobbs
inundate the atmosphere
and I become a kiss
laid upon the Spheres’ lips.

2007 copyrights Aida Toure.

Description: 18″x14″ acrylic on canvas. This painting represents the quintessential Africa, from ancient times until now. It’s a celebration of the Motherland’s monumental contributions to civilization that have deliberately been omitted from history books. This piece defeats the label of “dark continent” given to Africa, a continent whose spiritual and material resources continue to support the prosperity of western societies around the globe. “Africa: the Luminous, the Coveted” symbolizes the uncelebrated evolutionary flux that has molded the spiritual, mathematical, artistic, scientific genius for centuries and that has spread all over the planet.

Generosity for our Orphans © 2008 Aida Toure

Description: This piece symbolizes the establishment of Harmony and its triumph over the ills exclusion can cause in communities of men. Terre d’Espoir, a non-profit organization located in Gabon commissioned this painting. Read below the poem incorporated in the painting.

~ Generosity For Our Orphans ~

In every child
a land of hope,
ascending, vast
and in harmony
with the divine
waltz which governs
our lives.

O humankind!
Let us cherish children
for they are ourselves
in some octave of
ever-prostration
to The Omniscient.

2007 copyrights Aida Toure

La Note Orange © 2008 Ada Toure

Description: One night I was sitting and my eyes rested on my beige guitar and all of the sudden I saw it painted with interesting patterns so I gathered my brushes and paint tubes and I started working on it right away… I entitled the piece “La Note Orange”.
Year of Creation: 2006

The Prostrated © 2007 Aida Toure

Description: This painting is a celebration of the prostration, with all the universes that unfold during this prayer position where the lover is closest to The Beloved. This piece has elements I had been longing to express for the longest time so it was a true celebration of the joy of Salat (prayer). The prostration position in Islamic prayer is one of the most moving experience the soul can journey through. Even though to many it may be considered as just a physical position, prostration is the moment when we are closest to Allah (swt), we shed our ego and the grace unfolds… During his prayers alone, our beloved Prophet Muhammad (saw) used to stay in prostration for a long time and he would often shed tears. Year of Creation: 2006

~ The Prostrated ~

Paint brush and pen in hand,
you wander the rug of gravity,
silenced by the Speech,
heart is the only canvas
upon which reality unfolds,
the visible phase of it
is but a remnant of these
marvels the soul beholds.
See, the lover matters not,
let the Veil be lifted;
it is that divine show
that all secretly want!
Whether the lover
is unknown or renown,
why does it matter?
Do not focus on the one
who is lost in sacred intoxication,
look beyond his helpless form;
seek the object of his love,
the Cause of his prostration
and move your lips like angels
do during Fajr prayer,
draw closer to the Light
of all that exists and say:
Al hamdulillah ir Rabil Alamin!

© 2009 Aïda Touré. | visualsufipoetry.com

Guiaalala, Nur, the Light © 2006 Aida Toure

Description: Guiaalala means “the light” in Eshira, my maternal dialect. This piece is about the flamboyant dance that pervades our being as we mingle with the wild things Light does. It’s a celebration of our bewilderment with The Beloved. The poem I incorporated in the painting was written in French, for its English translation, please click here . It took me three months to complete this painting. Year of Creation: 2006.

~ Guiaalala (the light) ~

She observes the spectacle
of your magnitude,

Humbled by appearance’s
insignificance, her reign

mingles with the Presence
that wants her.

In her, a luminous Voice:
“Come back to Union!”

And in seven dimensions
this lover evolves toward us.

O! Divine, O! Beloved,
Annihilate this ego

Which wounds femininity
and her latitude; between

being and not-being,
She wanders you.

2007 copyrights Aida Toure

Zuhrtime Beads © 2007 Aida Toure

Description: “Zuhrtime Beads” represents the inner spectacle that can occur when one practices the ritual of Surrender, Zikr and praising of The Divine which all stir the soul to some ecstatic dance we can’t fathom … The whirling energy of this painting captures our harmony with the spheres and the secret activity of all surrendered atoms of the Creation. Read the poem below.
Year of Creation: 2006

~ Zuhrtime Beads ~

We are beads in human form
abandoned here to whirling
and buoyancy,
we perform

for the sake of Love
just like the planets,
the Sun and Jesus’ heart (as).

We are beads,
revolving at Zuhrtime
in Remembrance of our
union with The Divine.

2007 copyrights Aida Toure

The Black Hole © 2007 Aida Toure

Description: The Black Hole was published in the textbook “Imaginez“.

Imaginez textbook

This piece developed from the poem Black Hole I wrote in 1999. The term Black Hole here is multidimensional and thus transcends the region of space from which there is no return; it can be associated with the Breath or any current that pulls creation anew toward The All-Embracing.
Year of Creation: 2006.

~ Black Hole ~

In the black hole of breath
I daily disappear

to meld with inaudible waves
that take the form of poems

soon as I will to grace
any hand exuding calmness

a cyclone of light is set off
for the fortication of

starving human souls.
I ever embrace this globe

as the ink flows
I carry out the connection

with my zillion selves
who continue to ignore

that in the black hole of breath
I daily disappear

to become all that exists
until the abused essence of men

is restored and enhanced.

(from Unmanifest Poems)

2007 copyrights Aida Toure.