The Valley of Poverty & Nothingness
This scene depicts the Valley of Poverty & Nothingness, in which the pilgrim undergoes a Realization of God after being totally freed from its self. I made the image using Adobe Illustrator to digitize a hand-drawn sketch. Here we see the six valleys which have preceded this one in darker green. The ocean, deep and blue, reflects the enormity of nothingness. A dark silhouette of a bird has sunk and “in self-loss [has] obtain[ed] eternal rest”. Similarly, another bird, more vivid in color, has “emerged”, knowing “the secret ways in which the world arose”. The scene is deliberately devoid of a great many details to emphasise the emptiness of this place and its lack of distinctive features.
Background music: Original composition for Santur and Daf by Danial Shariat.
A note on the music: “It starts with an atempo noise of Santur and Daf before becoming a slow and solemn march. The lack of excitement or complexity and frequent use of silence creates a feeling of desolation, but also peace, in the listener.” (DS)