Although in daily speech the word refers to obsessive love or passion, ‘Ishq عشق is Divine Love, or Agape, the deep (and just as overwhelming) love that exists between man and his Creator, “lover and Beloved” in Sufi philosophy, which is centered on this love.
The composition was planned so the tails of the ق would form a stylized rose, as that flower is considered to be a symbol of divine love. The spiraling motion pulls in the viewer as surely as the lover is absorbed.
Completed pencil lines: despite the complexity, nothing is arbitrary. The intersections of certain lines provide the centers for my circle segments, which provide alignments, etc.
