The Pearl Within
Category: Original Artwork
Calligrapher: SaBa
Illumination (Tazhib): Narvan
Poet: Muhammad Iqbal (1877 – 1938)
Poem: Life is to forge a pearl within one’s shell
Year: 2025
Size: 19" × 26" (48.26 cm × 66.04 cm)
Materials: Handmade Indian 100% cotton paper, Handmade ink for traditional Persian calligraphy, reed pens crafted from the natural reeds of northern Iran.
Technique: Persian calligraphy- Siyah-Mashq, Nastaʿlīq
Passe-partouts: Handcrafted, using the traditional starch-pressing technique for lasting quality and authenticity.
Price: Available on inquiry
Certificate of Authenticity: Each piece comes with a signed Certificate of Authenticity for provenance.
Life is a process of inner transformation. Within the shell, the birth of a pearl begins not in peace, but in discomfort with the intrusion of something unwanted, foreign, and abrasive. Yet, this very disturbance becomes the catalyst for a quiet and patient transformation. Layer by layer, the shell embraces the irritant, softens it, and over time, creates its most precious treasure.
Art, for me, is much the same. Calligraphy is an inner journey, sometimes born from pain and pressure, other times from a deep love of beauty. It begins in silence, shaped by repetition and patience, emerging from a point so small and hidden, yet holding within it the quiet power to transform.
After all, what is life, if not the chance to be transformed?
Amid the silence of existence, the human being is like a shell sent into this world to form an inner gem; a pearl shaped not by outerward polish, but by inner experience, quiet reflection, and the patient endurance of growth.
“Life is to forge a pearl within one’s shell.” This profound verse invites us to pause and reflect on our deeper purpose. What greater mission is there than to take our wounds, the weight of pressure, and the stillness of solitude, and transform them into light? A pearl formed in silence, radiant, and enduring, luminous at its core, reminds us that beauty is born from within.
A point, the fundamental element of visual art, is not just a mark in space. It becomes an active, generative force. It is the beginning, the seed, the spark of transformation. From within the composition, the point radiates energy, as if the surrounding forms, letters, and strokes draw life from it, like layers of a shell nurturing a grain of sand into a pearl. It is still, but never passive; it is presence crystalized into form.
The composition presents the point as a quiet origin of transformation, where, in stillness and under pressure, a pearl begins to form, or perhaps already matured, radiant in its presence without ever needing to declare itself.
This piece reflects not only the profound meaning of this verse, but also the inner journey unfolding within each of us, a silent, ongoing effort to shape meaning, bring light to darkness, and to transform life into a unique pearl formed in the depths of our being. Like every true pearl, this composition holds more than what first meets the eye, subtle layers, quietly hidden, patiently waiting to be discovered by the viewer.
The illumination and layout of this piece were executed by Narvan, featuring traditional “Hal-Kari” and “Eslimi” motifs in the background, complemented by classical manuscript-style framing along the borders. The central paper is handmade Indian cotton, delicately mounted onto the passe-partout using the traditional starch-pressing technique for lasting quality and authenticity.