Everything Is Possible
mystical playing cards
Besides being an artwork in the form of a fully playable deck of playing cards, it can also be regarded as a visual exploration of symbolism, mysticism, and cultural heritage.
The deck invites you to engage with it in different ways: play a familiar card game with friends, contemplate the images and symbols, or explore the cards through divination, fortune-telling, or magical practices. Each approach opens up a different relationship with the work.
The cards bring together references from diverse cultural and symbolic worlds, including Arabic and Islamic traditions, Qur’anic and Biblical texts, Sufi poetry, popular symbolism, psychology, and personal associations. Letters, numbers, words, and images come together to create unexpected connections between different systems of thought and belief.
Rather than presenting a fixed system of meanings, the deck encourages interpretation and reinterpretation. A symbol may evoke a memory, a desire, a fear, a belief, or a question. Its meaning can shift depending on the context, the moment, and the person encountering it.
The meaning is not only in the card. It also emerges in the encounter between the card and the person looking at it.
Just like your own life, the deck offers no single way to read it or comprehend its meaning. Instead, it creates a space in which different possibilities can coexist, allowing meaning to be discovered, questioned, and reconstructed.
A play of symbols, a dance of infinite possibilities, or ...
The Deck
The set consists of 52 standard playing cards and 2 Jokers, retaining the familiar structure of a traditional deck while introducing an additional layer of symbolic associations.
The four suits are connected to the classical elements:
- ♦ Diamonds — Earth — تراب
- ♠ Spades — Air — هواء
- ♣ Clubs — Fire — نار
- ♥ Hearts — Water — ماء
Each card contains a combination of letters, words, writings, and symbols that can be approached from multiple perspectives. These elements invite you to explore relationships between language, form, cultural traditions, and personal experience.
Numbers, Letters & Symbolic Associations
The cards feature Arabic-Indic numerals, shown below alongside their Latin equivalents:
Arabic-Indic (right to left): ١ ٢ ٣ ٤ ٥ ٦ ٧ ٨ ٩ ١٠
Latin (left to right): 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The face cards also explore visual and conceptual connections between the Latin letters used in traditional playing cards and Arabic letters, words, and cultural references.
- A — Ace — Alif (ا / آ)
The letter A is visually associated with the Arabic letter Alif, with the madda (آ) introduced as an additional visual element. - J — (م) / Murīd (مريد)
The letter م is associated with Murīd, the seeker or disciple who follows a spiritual path. - Q — (ة) / Malikah (ملكة)
The feminine form is explored through the Arabic grammatical sign ة and the word Malikah ملكة, meaning queen, as a reference to the feminine principle. - K — (ش) / Shaykh (شيخ)
The letter ش is associated with Shaykh, the spiritual guide or teacher who accompanies the seeker on their path.
The symbol ∞, appearing on selected cards, evokes the Arabic letter Hāʾ (هـ / ه). This visual association opens up a space for reflection on the relationships between the letter and its sound \ between breath and infinity.
These connections are part of the artwork’s own symbolic language. They are invitations to explore rather than definitive linguistic, historical, or religious interpretations.
Hints & References
Below, you can download a PDF containing additional context, references, translations, and possible connections to help you explore the cards.
The PDF is not intended as a definitive guide or an authoritative key to their meanings. Think of it as a collection of hints and starting points, threads to follow.
So, go ahead. Play. Imagine. Reconstruct. Do whatever you want.
Everything Is Possible.
Barakat
