Al-Haqq (الحق) - the Painting and the Name
The story of a painting called Reality
Al-Haqq is what's left when everything false has been sifted away - and it is also one of God's 99 Names.
In everyday Arabic, haqq means a right, a claim, a truth - the word behind huquq al-insan, human rights. As one of Asma' Allah al-Husna - the Beautiful Names of the Divine - Al-Haqq is written the same way, but reaches further: not a truth among truths, but the Truth itself, the one reality every other claim to truth is measured against.
The Name and Its Meaning
Al-Haqq comes from the root ح ق ق - to be true, established, real, confirmed as fact. Rosina-Fawzia Al-Rawi offers an image for it:
“Al-Haqq is like white light: when you put a lens in front of it, it refracts and you can see life, love, knowledge, ecstasy, joy, and so on, according to your inner maturity.”
Where It Appears
Allah's Name Al-Haqq appears prominently in Surah Al-Hajj (22:6). In Surah An-Nur (24:25) we find: "Upon that day God will pay them in full their just due, and they shall know that God is the manifest Truth" (Arberry translation). The Qur'an calls this Al-Haqq Al-Mubeen - the Truth made plain, the Truth that shows itself rather than staying hidden.
“That is because God — He is the Truth, and brings the dead to life, and is powerful over everything,”
Reflecting on the Name
This painting was made during the Corona lockdown, a time that helped me slow down and reflect on what really matters and how to assess our priorities. I sense we are on the brink of a paradigm shift. The environment is in precarious balance, the speed of development is dizzying, the natural and political upheavals are on the rise worldwide, fake news is rampant and time seems to be running much faster. This can give rise to anxiety, concern and depression. It is in this time that calling on Al-Haqq is important - to sift Truth from falsehood and fill our lives with what is real and meaningful. This verse from Surah Al-Baqarah puts it beautifully and succinctly:
وَلَا تَلْبِسُوا الْحَقَّ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتَكْتُمُوا الْحَقَّ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ
“Confound not truth with falsehood, nor knowingly conceal the truth.”
- Surah Al-Baqarah (2:42), Pickthall translation
The Painting
Reality is mixed media on panel, painted in 2020, 30 x 30 cm. Al-Haqq's calligraphy rises bold and black through the lower half of a mostly grayscale surface. An ammonite fossil curls across the upper corner, its spiral chambers rendered in fine detail; a smaller one appears again near the bottom, alongside a hamsa hand stamped in ink. On the left, barely legible, the word "covid19" nods to the pandemic, which began in 2019 and inspired this painting.
Reality, 2019 - mixed media on panel
Reality is available. If it resonates with you, you can see it along with the other artworks in the Hu Collection.
This is the third in a series on the Names and the words inside the paintings - the one on Al-Rahim is here.
From my studio in Amman - thank you for reading.
