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“And revere the wombs that bore you,
For God is every watchful over you.”

This verse from the Qur’an sums up succinctly the mother’s sacred status in the family and Muslim society at large. The Prophet Muhammad himself had mentioned that ‘paradise is at the feet of mothers’. This is a lavish tribute by Ahmad Khalid Yusof to his mother likening his mother to a rose, Ibu Adalah Saperti Bunga Mawar, with the rose being known as lovely and sweet-scented. A painted version of this in acrylic with a larger format of 37.5cm by 30cm is illustrated on page 159 of the book Alif Ba Ta Riwayat Hidup Ahmad Khalid Yusof. The work awash in monochrome blue is framed alike his Window series with graceful calligraphic letterings against a mock relief tableaux.

Pesanan II is more sombre, with red and purple hues in the centre and with horizontal bars running across with random splotches alluding to the spheres of Heaven and Earth.

Ahmad Khalid is known as an art academician, artist and activist. He graduated from the Malayan Teachers College in Kirby, Liverpool in 1957 and attended the Specialist Teachers Training Institute in Kuala Lumpur in 1963. After the Winchester Art School (1966-69), he continued his studies at Ohio University, obtaining his MFA in 1976. He taught at MARA Institute of Technology from 1970 to 1989, retiring as Deputy Dean (Academic Affairs). He was Director of Shah Alam Art Gallery from 1991 to 1997. He served several terms as founder-president of the Malaysian Artists Association (PPM) which was established in 1979. He was appointed Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka guest writer in 1994.