In times of uncertainty and spiritual longing, we are increasingly called to return to what reconnects us with our deepest humanity: collective reflection, sacred remembrance, prayer, meditation, and meaningful dialogue. Our world is undergoing a profound transformation—one that requires us to move beyond the old dualisms that separate spirit from matter and divide the human experience into opposites. The future asks for integration, wholeness, and a renewed sense of the sacred woven into everyday life.
Art has always been one of humanity’s most powerful tools for this integration. Like prophets and sages, artists open pathways to new ways of seeing and being. They translate the infinite creativity of the Divine into visible, audible, tangible forms. From the Sistine Chapel to the Taj Mahal, from Michelangelo’s David to the sacred spaces of Florence, art has served as a silent scripture—conveying majesty, beauty, and spiritual truth without a single spoken word.
Italy, home to some of the world’s greatest artistic treasures, provides the perfect landscape to rediscover this sacred dimension of creativity. When art is absent, life becomes dull and constricted; when art flourishes, the human spirit is invited to transcend conflict, reimagine possibility, and recall its divine origin.
The mystical tradition teaches that art arises from an intuitive and supra-rational awareness—a whisper from al-Musawwir, “the Divine Artist,” who shapes and colours creation with infinite wisdom. Through art, we learn to appreciate differences as expressions of divine diversity rather than reasons for fear or division. We learn that complexity, like a tapestry of colours and forms, is a source of beauty rather than conflict.
The text reminds us that creativity is a labyrinth, echoing the ancient myth of Ariadne’s thread. In creative work—as in spiritual life—we encounter obstacles, wrong turns, and the symbolic Minotaur: the inner guardian of our deepest, hidden self. Only by facing this internal challenge do we discover the treasure at the centre of our being. It is in this moment of creative birth that we experience wajd—the ecstasy of finding ourselves and touching the Divine presence known as al-Wajid, “the One who finds.”
At a time when the world longs for healing, meaning, and renewal, art becomes more than expression—it becomes Zikr: a sacred remembrance of who we are, where we come from, and the Divine creativity that moves through us.
Join Us in Milan
We invite you to explore these themes with us at the Sufi Conference 2026, held 25–26 April in Abbazia Chiaravalle Milanese, in Milan, under the inspiring topic:
“Art as Zikr: Finding Divine Ecstasy in Artistic Expression.”
Together with spiritual leaders, artists, thinkers, and seekers, we will reflect on the mystery of creativity as a pathway to the Divine and rediscover the transformative power of art in a world yearning for beauty and unity.
Speakers:
– Murshida Amat-un-Nur
– Cheikh Muhammad Valsan
– Shaykh Hamdi Ben Aïssa
– Dr. Neil Douglas-Klotz
– Shaykh Burhanuddin Herrmann
We hope you will join us for this sacred gathering— a celebration of creativity, spiritual awakening, and the infinite possibilities of the human heart.
For more details, click here or contact: salima.inayati.mi@gmail.com
