In designing this pillow, I wanted to use a fabric that represented my feelings about the concept of religion itself. In religion, I see some elements that are elegant. There are some aspects of religion that are mysterious and beautiful. I can also see that religion can be the simplest and most essential part of a person’s life that inspires them and allows them to view the world in a certain light. It can be a form of guidance or inspiration which permeates their actions, their personality, their thoughts, and their feelings. The fabric I chose is truly a representation of this. It is elegant yet simple, and it is beautiful yet mysterious. The velvet reminded me of royalty and elegance, but the black color is not too extravagant. The roses are just as mysterious as they are beautiful — you can only see them if you look at the fabric from a certain perspective. This is analogous to my view of religion. Religion is a facet of the human experience, but only certain people can see the beauty in it. Seeing the beauty in religion does not make one a better person, but religion is seen in different lights because of differing worldviews. While not all religion is spiritual and not all spirituality is religious, the beauty in spirituality or in a particular religion comes when one chooses to see it, then when the beliefs offer one comfort, and finally when one embraces the comfort and finds some kind of sustenance in the beliefs.
Click to view the excerpt from a poem by Dāgh. This excerpt was taken from Ali Asani’s In Praise of Muhammad [1]: Urdu Poems, in which there is a selection of poetry from Armughan-e-Naat.
When I read this poem, I was amazed by the amount of emotion that was poured into each line. Religions exist primarily because they offer people comfort in many different ways, and they continue to do so — they are seen as stable sources of comfort and guidance, some even offering an explanation for life’s absurdities and the inevitability of pain. As I was sewing everything together, I made sure that the golden bulbs had some loose ends — no single religion is perfect, but religions can still be seen as things that are beautiful.