Tree was planted near the cement that prevent the absorption of the water. The tree was sick and it had to be removed.

This is the plaque from Kilmainham Jail in Dublin. It commemorates the executed leaders of the Easter Rising of 1916.

Mr. Ghassemi-Shall faces imminent execution in Iran. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird and Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Diane Ablonczy issued a joint statement asking Iran to release and halt the execution of Hamid Ghassemi-Shall.

 

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was arrested in late May 2008 while visiting his mother in Iran. This arrest took place approximately two weeks after the arrest of his brother, Alborz Ghassemi-Shall.

 

In November 2009 Hamid’s wife in Canada received reports that both Hamid and Alborz were convicted of espionage and sentenced to death. The legal proceedings were deeply unfair and neither Hamid or Alborz had a meaningful opportunity to defend themselves. His conviction appears to be based on a document of an alleged email exchange between Hamid and Alborz. Hamid has unequivocally stated that the document is a complete fabrication and that he never sent any such message. Testing and analysis by his lawyer reportedly confirm that to be the case.

 

Hamid and Alborz were in solitary confinement for 18 months until the end of November 2009 when they were transferred to a general population section in Tehran's Evin prison. On 20 January 2010 Alborz died in prison, reportedly of stomach cancer. Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall reported that both he and Alborz were subject to “extreme pressure” during their detention.

 

Hamid Ghassemi-Shall was sentenced to death. His case has undergone a number of reviews, but the family confirmed in March 2012 that the death sentance has not been lifted.

  

Take Action

 

Write the Iranian authorities. Request that they:

 

Guarantee that Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall will not be executed.

Release Mr. Hamid Ghassemi-Shall immediately unless he is promptly brought to trial on recognizably criminal charges in legal proceedings that fully conform to international fair trial standards.

Ayatollah Sayed ‘Ali Khamenei

The Office of the Supreme Leader

Islamic Republic Street – End of Shahid

Keshvar Doust Street

Tehran, Islamic Republic of Iran

 

Salutation: Your Excellency

 

Email: info_leader@leader.ir AND tweet @khamenei_ir

 

Copies to:

 

Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani

Office of the Head of the Judiciary

Pasteur Street, Vali Asr Avenue, south of

Serah-e Jomhouri

Tehran, 1316814737

Islamic Republic of Iran

Email: bia.judi@yahoo.com or info@dadiran.ir (In the subject line, write FAO Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani)

 

Salutation: Your Excellency

 

Copies to:

 

Mr Kambiz Sheikh Hassani

Chargé d’Affaires, Embassy for the Islamic Republic of Iran

245 Metcalfe Street

Ottawa, Ontario K2P 2K2

 

Fax: (613) 232-5712

Email: executive@iranembassy.ca

       

More Background

 

The Canadian government has sponsored a resolution censuring Iran at the United Nations General Assembly human rights committee, every year since the 2003 torture and death while in custody, of Iranian-Canadian journalist Zahra Kazemi in Iran. The resolution has expressed deep concern at serious ongoing human rights violations in the Islamic Republic of Iran. The violations include torture, flogging, amputations, stoning, and "pervasive gender inequality and violence against women." Canada has also "particular concern" with the Iranian government's failure to launch a thorough investigation of alleged human rights violations in the wake of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's contested re-election in 2009.

 

In a new year’s statement on January 1, 2011 the Honourable Lawrence Cannon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, expressed deep concern for the “deteriorating human rights situation in Iran.” He expressed particular concern for the uncertain fate of two Canadians of dual nationality who remain in prison in Iran. (Hamid Ghassemi- Shall and Hossein Derakhshan). He further referred to reports that Saeed Malekpour, a Canadian permanent resident, has been condemned to death and that his sentence could be carried out at any time. Minister Cannon encouraged the Iranian authorities to show mercy and compassion to those who are in Iran’s prisons without just cause, and called on Iran to respect its international human rights obligations in law and in practice and to foster a more open dialogue with the international community.

  

خواهر حمید قاسمی: شما را به خدا نگذارید برادرم را اعدام کنند، حمید حتی فعال سیاسی هم نیست

soundcloud.com/frl-journalist/hamidghasemi

   

■■■■■ www.persianicons.org/human-right/iranian-canadian-facing-... ■■■■■

Kilmainham Gaol was built in 1796 as a replacement for an older prison. It has a sorrowful past with deplorable conditions. It is the place of imprisonment and subsequent execution of the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising. This yard is where these executions were carried out.

Photo Copyright 2012, dynamo.photography.

All rights reserved, no use without license

 

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

(Redirected from Hong kong)

 

Hong Kong, officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, is an autonomous territory south to Mainland China and east to Macao in East Asia. With around 7.2 million Hong Kongers of various nationalities[note 2] in a territory of 1,104 km2, Hong Kong is the world's fourth most densely populated country or territory.

 

Hong Kong used to be a British colony with the perpetual cession of Hong Kong Island from the Qing Empire after the First Opium War (1839–42). The colony expanded to the Kowloon Peninsula in 1860 and acquired a 99-year lease of the New Territories from 1898. Hong Kong was later occupied by Japan during the Second World War until British control resumed in 1945. The Sino-British Joint Declaration signed between the United Kingdom and China in 1984 paved way for the transfer of sovereignty of Hong Kong in 1997, when it became a special administrative region (SAR) of the People's Republic of China with a high degree of autonomy.[15]

 

Under the principle of "one country, two systems",[16][17] Hong Kong maintains a separate political and economic system from China. Except in military defence and foreign affairs, Hong Kong maintains its independent executive, legislative and judiciary powers.[18] In addition, Hong Kong develops relations directly with foreign states and international organisations in a broad range of "appropriate fields".[19] Hong Kong involves in international organizations, such as the WTO[20] and the APEC [21], actively and independently.

 

Hong Kong is one of the world's most significant financial centres, with the highest Financial Development Index score and consistently ranks as the world's most competitive and freest economic entity.[22][23] As the world's 8th largest trading entity,[24] its legal tender, the Hong Kong dollar, is the world's 13th most traded currency.[25] As the world's most visited city,[26][27] Hong Kong's tertiary sector dominated economy is characterised by competitive simple taxation and supported by its independent judiciary system.[28] Even with one of the highest per capita incomes in the world, it suffers from severe income inequality.[29]

 

Nicknamed "Pearl of the Orient", Hong Kong is renowned for its deep natural harbour, which boasts the world's fifth busiest port with ready access by cargo ships, and its impressive skyline, with the most skyscrapers in the world.[30][31] It has a very high Human Development Index ranking and the world's longest life expectancy.[32][33] Over 90% of the population makes use of well-developed public transportation.[34][35] Seasonal air pollution with origins from neighbouring industrial areas of Mainland China, which adopts loose emissions standards, has resulted in a high level of atmospheric particulates in winter.[36][37][38]

Contents

 

1 Etymology

2 History

2.1 Prehistory

2.2 Imperial China

2.3 British Crown Colony: 1842–1941

2.4 Japanese occupation: 1941–45

2.5 Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97

2.6 Handover and Special Administrative Region status

3 Governance

3.1 Structure of government

3.2 Electoral and political reforms

3.3 Legal system and judiciary

3.4 Foreign relations

3.5 Human rights

3.6 Regions and districts

3.7 Military

4 Geography and climate

5 Economy

5.1 Financial centre

5.2 International trading

5.3 Tourism and expatriation

5.4 Policy

5.5 Infrastructure

6 Demographics

6.1 Languages

6.2 Religion

6.3 Personal income

6.4 Education

6.5 Health

7 Culture

7.1 Sports

7.2 Architecture

7.3 Cityscape

7.4 Symbols

8 See also

9 Notes

10 References

10.1 Citations

10.2 Sources

11 Further reading

12 External links

 

Etymology

 

Hong Kong was officially recorded in the 1842 Treaty of Nanking to encompass the entirety of the island.[39]

 

The source of the romanised name "Hong Kong" is not known, but it is generally believed to be an early imprecise phonetic rendering of the pronunciation in spoken Cantonese 香港 (Cantonese Yale: Hēung Góng), which means "Fragrant Harbour" or "Incense Harbour".[13][14][40] Before 1842, the name referred to a small inlet—now Aberdeen Harbour (Chinese: 香港仔; Cantonese Yale: Hēunggóng jái), literally means "Little Hong Kong"—between Aberdeen Island and the southern coast of Hong Kong Island. Aberdeen was an initial point of contact between British sailors and local fishermen.[41]

 

Another theory is that the name would have been taken from Hong Kong's early inhabitants, the Tankas (水上人); it is equally probable that romanisation was done with a faithful execution of their speeches, i.e. hōng, not hēung in Cantonese.[42] Detailed and accurate romanisation systems for Cantonese were available and in use at the time.[43]

 

Fragrance may refer to the sweet taste of the harbour's fresh water estuarine influx of the Pearl River or to the incense from factories lining the coast of northern Kowloon. The incense was stored near Aberdeen Harbour for export before Hong Kong developed Victoria Harbour.[40]

 

The name had often been written as the single word Hongkong until the government adopted the current form in 1926.[44] Nevertheless, a number of century-old institutions still retain the single-word form, such as the Hongkong Post, Hongkong Electric and the Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation.

 

As of 1997, its official name is the "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China". This is the official title as mentioned in the Hong Kong Basic Law and the Hong Kong Government's website;[45] however, "Hong Kong Special Administrative Region" and "Hong Kong" are widely accepted.

 

Hong Kong has carried many nicknames. The most famous among those is the "Pearl of the Orient", which reflected the impressive nightscape of the city's light decorations on the skyscrapers along both sides of the Victoria Harbour. The territory is also known as "Asia's World City".

History

Main articles: History of Hong Kong and History of China

Prehistory

Main article: Prehistoric Hong Kong

 

Archaeological studies support human presence in the Chek Lap Kok area (now Hong Kong International Airport) from 35,000 to 39,000 years ago and on Sai Kung Peninsula from 6,000 years ago.[46][47][48]

 

Wong Tei Tung and Three Fathoms Cove are the earliest sites of human habitation in Hong Kong during the Paleolithic Period. It is believed that the Three Fathom Cove was a river-valley settlement and Wong Tei Tung was a lithic manufacturing site. Excavated Neolithic artefacts suggested cultural differences from the Longshan culture of northern China and settlement by the Che people, prior to the migration of the Baiyue to Hong Kong.[49][50] Eight petroglyphs, which dated to the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC – 1066 BC) in China, were discovered on the surrounding islands.[51]

Imperial China

Main article: History of Hong Kong under Imperial China

 

In 214 BC, Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of a centralised China, conquered the Baiyue tribes in Jiaozhi (modern-day Liangguang region and Vietnam) and incorporated the area of Hong Kong into his imperial China for the first time. Hong Kong proper was assigned to the Nanhai commandery (modern-day Nanhai District), near the commandery's capital city Panyu.[52][53][54]

 

After a brief period of centralisation and collapse of the Qin dynasty, the area of Hong Kong was consolidated under the Kingdom of Nanyue, founded by general Zhao Tuo in 204 BC.[55] When Nanyue lost the Han-Nanyue War in 111 BC, Hong Kong came under the Jiaozhi commandery of the Han dynasty. Archaeological evidence indicates an increase of population and flourish of salt production. The Lei Cheng Uk Han Tomb on the Kowloon Peninsula is believed to have been built as a burial site during the Han dynasty.[56]

 

From the Han dynasty to the early Tang dynasty, Hong Kong was a part of Bao'an County. In the Tang dynasty, modern-day Guangzhou (Canton) flourished as an international trading centre. In 736, the Emperor Xuanzong of Tang established a military stronghold in Tuen Mun to strengthen defence of the coastal area.[57] The nearby Lantau Island was a salt production centre and salt smuggler riots occasionally broke out against the government. In c. 1075, The first village school, Li Ying College, was established around 1075 AD in modern-day New Territories by the Northern Song dynasty.[58] During their war against the Mongols, the imperial court of Southern Song was briefly stationed at modern-day Kowloon City (the Sung Wong Toi site) before their ultimate defeat by the Mongols at the Battle of Yamen in 1279.[59] The Mongols then established their dynastic court and governed Hong Kong for 97 years.

 

From the mid-Tang dynasty to the early Ming dynasty (1368–1644), Hong Kong was a part of Dongguan County. During the Ming dynasty, the area was transferred to Xin'an County. The indigenous inhabitants at that time consisted of several ethnicities such as Punti, Hakka, Tanka and Hoklo.

European discovery

 

The earliest European visitor on record was Jorge Álvares, a Portuguese explorer, who arrived in 1513.[60][61] Having established a trading post in a site they called "Tamão" in Hong Kong waters, Portuguese merchants commenced with regular trading in southern China. Subsequent military clashes between China and Portugal, however, led to the expulsion of all Portuguese merchants from southern China.

 

Since the 14th century, the Ming court had enforced the maritime prohibition laws that strictly forbade all private maritime activities in order to prevent contact with foreigners by sea.[62] When the Manchu Qing dynasty took over China, Hong Kong was directly affected by the Great Clearance decree of the Kangxi Emperor, who ordered the evacuation of coastal areas of Guangdong from 1661 to 1669. Over 16,000 inhabitants of Xin'an County including those in Hong Kong were forced to migrate inland; only 1,648 of those who had evacuated subsequently returned.[63][64]

British Crown Colony: 1842–1941

A painter at work. John Thomson. Hong Kong, 1871. The Wellcome Collection, London

Main articles: British Hong Kong and History of Hong Kong (1800s–1930s)

 

In 1839, threats by the imperial court of Qing to sanction opium imports caused diplomatic friction with the British Empire. Tensions escalated into the First Opium War. The Qing admitted defeat when British forces captured Hong Kong Island on 20 January 1841. The island was initially ceded under the Convention of Chuenpi as part of a ceasefire agreement between Captain Charles Elliot and Governor Qishan. A dispute between high-ranking officials of both countries, however, led to the failure of the treaty's ratification. On 29 August 1842, Hong Kong Island was formally ceded in perpetuity to the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland under the Treaty of Nanking.[65] The British officially established a Crown colony and founded the City of Victoria in the following year.[66]

 

The population of Hong Kong Island was 7,450 when the Union Flag raised over Possession Point on 26 January 1841. It mostly consisted of Tanka fishermen and Hakka charcoal burners, whose settlements scattered along several coastal hamlets. In the 1850s, a large number of Chinese immigrants crossed the then-free border to escape from the Taiping Rebellion. Other natural disasters, such as flooding, typhoons and famine in mainland China would play a role in establishing Hong Kong as a place for safe shelter.[67][68]

 

Further conflicts over the opium trade between Britain and Qing quickly escalated into the Second Opium War. Following the Anglo-French victory, the Crown Colony was expanded to include Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) and Stonecutter's Island, both of which were ceded to the British in perpetuity under the Convention of Beijing in 1860.

 

In 1898, Britain obtained a 99-year lease from Qing under the Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory, in which Hong Kong obtained a 99-year lease of Lantau Island, the area north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to Shenzhen River and over 200 other outlying islands.[69][70][71]

 

Hong Kong soon became a major entrepôt thanks to its free port status, attracting new immigrants to settle from both China and Europe. The society, however, remained racially segregated and polarised under early British colonial policies. Despite the rise of a British-educated Chinese upper-class by the late-19th century, race laws such as the Peak Reservation Ordinance prevented ethnic Chinese in Hong Kong from acquiring houses in reserved areas such as Victoria Peak. At this time, the majority of the Chinese population in Hong Kong had no political representation in the British colonial government. The British governors did rely, however, on a small number of Chinese elites, including Sir Kai Ho and Robert Hotung, who served as ambassadors and mediators between the government and local population.

File:1937 Hong Kong VP8.webmPlay media

Hong Kong filmed in 1937

 

In 1904, the United Kingdom established the world's first border and immigration control; all residents of Hong Kong were given citizenship as Citizens of United Kingdom and Colonies (CUKC).

 

Hong Kong continued to experience modest growth during the first half of the 20th century. The University of Hong Kong was established in 1911 as the territory's first higher education institute. While there had been an exodus of 60,000 residents for fear of a German attack on the British colony during the First World War, Hong Kong remained unscathed. Its population increased from 530,000 in 1916 to 725,000 in 1925 and reached 1.6 million by 1941.[72]

 

In 1925, Cecil Clementi became the 17th Governor of Hong Kong. Fluent in Cantonese and without a need for translator, Clementi introduced the first ethnic Chinese, Shouson Chow, into the Executive Council as an unofficial member. Under Clementi's tenure, Kai Tak Airport entered operation as RAF Kai Tak and several aviation clubs. In 1937, the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out when the Japanese Empire expanded its territories from northeastern China into the mainland proper. To safeguard Hong Kong as a freeport, Governor Geoffry Northcote declared the Crown Colony as a neutral zone.

Japanese occupation: 1941–45

Main article: Japanese occupation of Hong Kong

The Cenotaph in Hong Kong commemorates those who died in service in the First World War and the Second World War.[73]

 

As part of its military campaign in Southeast Asia during Second World War, the Japanese army moved south from Guangzhou of mainland China and attacked Hong Kong in on 8 December 1941.[74] Crossing the border at Shenzhen River on 8 December, the Battle of Hong Kong lasted for 18 days when British and Canadian forces held onto Hong Kong Island. Unable to defend against intensifying Japanese air and land bombardments, they eventually surrendered control of Hong Kong on 25 December 1941. The Governor of Hong Kong was captured and taken as a prisoner of war. This day is regarded by the locals as "Black Christmas".[75]

 

During the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong, the Japanese army committed atrocities against civilians and POWs, such as the St. Stephen's College massacre. Local residents also suffered widespread food shortages, limited rationing and hyper-inflation arising from the forced exchange of currency from Hong Kong dollars to Japanese military banknotes. The initial ratio of 2:1 was gradually devalued to 4:1 and ownership of Hong Kong dollars was declared illegal and punishable by harsh torture. Due to starvation and forced deportation for slave labour to mainland China, the population of Hong Kong had dwindled from 1.6 million in 1941 to 600,000 in 1945, when the United Kingdom resumed control of the colony on 2 September 1945.[76]

Resumption of British rule and industrialisation: 1945–97

Main articles: British Hong Kong, 1950s in Hong Kong, 1960s in Hong Kong, 1970s in Hong Kong, 1980s in Hong Kong, and 1990s in Hong Kong

Flag of British Hong Kong from 1959 to 1997

 

Hong Kong's population recovered quickly after the war, as a wave of skilled migrants from the Republic of China moved in to seek refuge from the Chinese Civil War. When the Communist Party eventually took full control of mainland China in 1949, even more skilled migrants fled across the open border for fear of persecution.[69] Many newcomers, especially those who had been based in the major port cities of Shanghai and Guangzhou, established corporations and small- to medium-sized businesses and shifted their base operations to British Hong Kong.[69] The establishment of a socialist state in China (People's Republic of China) on 1 October 1949 caused the British colonial government to reconsider Hong Kong's open border to mainland China. In 1951, a boundary zone was demarked as a buffer zone against potential military attacks from communist China. Border posts along the north of Hong Kong began operation in 1953 to regulate the movement of people and goods into and out of the territory.

Stamp with portrait of Queen Elizabeth II, 1953

 

In the 1950s, Hong Kong became the first of the Four Asian Tiger economies under rapid industrialisation driven by textile exports, manufacturing industries and re-exports of goods to China. As the population grew, with labour costs remaining low, living standards began to rise steadily.[77] The construction of the Shek Kip Mei Estate in 1953 marked the beginning of the public housing estate programme to provide shelter for the less privileged and to cope with the influx of immigrants.

 

Under Sir Murray MacLehose, 25th Governor of Hong Kong (1971–82), a series of reforms improved the public services, environment, housing, welfare, education and infrastructure of Hong Kong. MacLehose was British Hong Kong's longest-serving governor and, by the end of his tenure, had become one of the most popular and well-known figures in the Crown Colony. MacLehose laid the foundation for Hong Kong to establish itself as a key global city in the 1980s and early 1990s.

A sky view of Hong Kong Island

An aerial view of the northern shore of Hong Kong Island in 1986

 

To resolve traffic congestion and to provide a more reliable means of crossing the Victoria Harbour, a rapid transit railway system (metro), the MTR, was planned from the 1970s onwards. The Island Line (Hong Kong Island), Kwun Tong Line (Kowloon Peninsula and East Kowloon) and Tsuen Wan Line (Kowloon and urban New Territories) opened in the early 1980s.[78]

 

In 1983, the Hong Kong dollar left its 16:1 peg with the Pound sterling and switched to the current US-HK Dollar peg. Hong Kong's competitiveness in manufacturing gradually declined due to rising labour and property costs, as well as new development in southern China under the Open Door Policy introduced in 1978 which opened up China to foreign business. Nevertheless, towards the early 1990s, Hong Kong had established itself as a global financial centre along with London and New York City, a regional hub for logistics and freight, one of the fastest-growing economies in Asia and the world's exemplar of Laissez-faire market policy.[79]

The Hong Kong question

 

In 1971, the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s permanent seat on the United Nations was transferred to the People's Republic of China (PRC), Hong Kong's status as a recognised colony became terminated in 1972 under the request of PRC. Facing the uncertain future of Hong Kong and expiry of land lease of New Territories beyond 1997, Governor MacLehose raised the question in the late 1970s.

 

The British Nationality Act 1981 reclassified Hong Kong into a British Dependent Territory amid the reorganisation of global territories of the British Empire. All residents of Hong Kong became British Dependent Territory Citizens (BDTC). Diplomatic negotiations began with China and eventually concluded with the 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration. Both countries agreed to transfer Hong Kong's sovereignty to China on 1 July 1997, when Hong Kong would remain autonomous as a special administrative region and be able to retain its free-market economy, British common law through the Hong Kong Basic Law, independent representation in international organisations (e.g. WTO and WHO), treaty arrangements and policy-making except foreign diplomacy and military defence.

 

It stipulated that Hong Kong would retain its laws and be guaranteed a high degree of autonomy for at least 50 years after the transfer. The Hong Kong Basic Law, based on English law, would serve as the constitutional document after the transfer. It was ratified in 1990.[69] The expiry of the 1898 lease on the New Territories in 1997 created problems for business contracts, property leases and confidence among foreign investors.

Handover and Special Administrative Region status

Main articles: Transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong and 2000s in Hong Kong

Transfer of sovereignty

Golden Bauhinia Square

 

On 1 July 1997, the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China took place, officially marking the end of Hong Kong's 156 years under British colonial governance. As the largest remaining colony of the United Kingdom, the loss of Hong Kong effectively represented the end of the British Empire. This transfer of sovereignty made Hong Kong the first special administrative region of China. Tung Chee-Hwa, a pro-Beijing business tycoon, was elected Hong Kong's first Chief Executive by a selected electorate of 800 in a televised programme.

 

Structure of government

 

Hong Kong's current structure of governance inherits from the British model of colonial administration set up in the 1850s. The 1984 Sino-British Joint Declaration states that "Hong Kong should enjoy a high degree of autonomy in all areas except defence and foreign affairs" with reference to the underlying principle of one country, two systems.[note 3] This Declaration stipulates that Hong Kong maintains her capitalist economic system and guarantees the rights and freedoms of her people for at least 50 years after the 1997 handover. [note 4] Such guarantees are enshrined in the Hong Kong's Basic Law, the territory's constitutional document, which outlines the system of governance after 1997, albeit subject to interpretation by China's Standing Committee of the National People's Congress (NPCSC).[95][96]

 

Hong Kong's most senior leader, Chief Executive, is elected by a committee of 1,200 selected members (600 in 1997) and nominally appointed by the Government of China. The primary pillars of government are the Executive Council, Legislative Council, civil service and Judiciary.

 

Policy-making is initially discussed in the Executive Council, presided by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, before passing to the Legislative Council for bill adoption. The Executive Council consists of 30 official/unofficial members appointed by the Chief Executive and one member among them acts as the convenor.[97][98]

 

The Legislative Council, set up in 1843, debates policies and motions before voting to adopt or rejecting bills. It has 70 members (originally 60) and 40 (originally 30) among them are directly elected by universal suffrage; the other 30 members are "functional constituencies" (indirectly) elected by a smaller electorate of corporate bodies or representatives of stipulated economic sectors as defined by the government. The Legislative Council is chaired by a president who acts as the speaker.[99][100]

 

In 1997, seating of the Legislative Council (also public services and election franchises) of Hong Kong modelled on the British system: Urban Council (Hong Kong and Kowloon) and District Council (New Territories and Outlying Islands). In 1999, this system has been reformed into 18 directly elected District Offices across 5 Legislative Council constituencies: Hong Kong Island (East/West), Kowloon and New Territories (East/West); the remaining outlying islands are divided across the aforementioned regions.

 

Hong Kong's Civil Service, created by the British colonial government, is a politically neutral body that implements government policies and provides public services. Senior civil servants are appointed based on meritocracy. The territory's police, firefighting and customs forces, as well as clerical officers across various government departments, make up the civil service.[101][102]

Soirée de recueillement à la suite des événements majeurs qui se sont produits.

 

Rassemblement silencieux, témoignages d'affection mais également présence de la presse internationale qui témoignent de la gravité et de la solennité de toutes et tous devant la barbarie.

 

Lieu d'hommage:

angle de la rue Nicolas Appert et du passage Sainte-Anne Popincourt

Information from:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grant's_Tomb

 

The granite and marble structure was designed by architect John Duncan, and completed in 1897.[1] The National Park Service maintains that it is the largest mausoleum in North America. Duncan took as his general model the eponymous structure, the tomb of Mausolus at Halicarnassus, one of the seven wonders of the world; or rather a modern execution of a conception of it, since it is not known what it looked like.[2] A huge public subscription paid for it. Over a million people attended Grant's funeral parade in 1885. It was seven miles (11 km) long and featured Confederate and Union generals riding together in open victorias, U.S. President Grover Cleveland, his cabinet, all the Justices of the Supreme Court, and virtually the entire Congress. The parade for the dedication ceremony of the tomb, held April 27, 1897, the 75th anniversary of Grant's birth, was almost as large and was headed by President William McKinley. New York City was chosen as the burial site so that Mrs. Grant could visit frequently, and because Grant was grateful to New Yorkers for their outpouring of affection during his later years.

  

Tombs of Ulysses and Julia Grant.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) wrote:

"As one by one withdraw the lofty actors

From that great play on history's stage eterne

That lurid, partial act of War and peace—of old and new contending,

Fought out through wrath, fears, dark dismays, and many a long suspense;

All past—and since, in countless graves receding, mellowing,

Victors and vanquish'd—Lincoln's and Lee's—now thou with them,

Man of the mighty days—and equal to the days!

Thou from the prairies!—tangled and many-vein'd and hard has been thy part,

To admiration has it been enacted!"

Duncan's overly-ambitious original design, chosen by the Grant Monument Association, included monumental staircases leading down through terraced gardens to a dock on the river, bridging the Hudson Line railroad tracks and providing public access to the shoreline. This plan was scaled back and the monument itself was reduced in size.

The completed structure includes a main lobby overlooking a sanctuary in which Grant and his wife are entombed, guarded by busts of Civil War generals William T. Sherman, George H. Thomas, James B. McPherson, Philip H. Sheridan, and E.O.C. Ord. The domed space, with commemorative mosaic murals and sculpture, including "Victory" and "Peace" by J. Massey Rhind, and a large central oculus revealing on the lower level the twin granite sarcophagi of the President and Mrs. Grant, are quite spectacular examples of purely symbolic Beaux-Arts civic triumphalism. The conception has similarities to the design for the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte at Les Invalides in Paris.[2] Over the entrance are carved words from Grant's letter accepting the Republican nomination for President in 1868: "Let us have peace."

  

Grant's tomb 2004

National Park Service administration of the national memorial was authorized on August 14, 1958. (President Grant signed the act establishing the first national park, Yellowstone.) As with all historic areas administered by the National Park Service, the memorial was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1966.

[edit]Decay and restoration

 

In the late 20th century and despite being legally protected by the National Park Service, the tomb was allowed through neglect[3] to gradually decline to a state of severe disrepair.[4] While New York City's subway trains were being vandalized with spray-painted graffiti[5], so was the tomb.[6] The defaced tomb was considered by many to be an eyesore, but it was low on the priority list for restoration.[7] Attitudes changed, however, when interest in the American Civil War and its generals increased significantly in 1989 with the release of a hit U.S. motion picture, Glory, which was based on a true event in the Civil War. In 1990, the Ken Burns PBS television documentary, The Civil War, was broadcast to a large audience[8] and received critical acclaim. It contributed to the spark of national interest in this period of American history. Suddenly, reenactments of Civil War battles nationwide became highly popular and battlefield sites again became major tourist destinations.

As more persons began to seek out and visit Grant's Tomb, it was natural that more people would notice its defaced condition.[9] In the early 1990s, a paper concerning the deteriorating condition of Grant's Tomb by a Columbia University[10] student, Frank Scaturro[11], was released to the news media and attracted nationwide interest. He had previously urged restoration of the tomb by writing to supervisors of the National Park Service, but had been repeatedly rebuffed and ignored, so he went over their heads to get attention. At this period in the mid-1990s New York was making a successful comeback, with Times Square, Central Park, and the city's subway trains already cleaned up. New Yorkers were surprised to learn that a national shrine — and one of their city's historic tourist destinations — had been largely forgotten while other improvements had been made across the city.

  

View from the crypt level of Grant's Tomb, showing the ceiling, rotunda, and mural of Ulysses S. Grant and Robert E. Lee following restoration

As a result of Mr. Scaturro's revelations, Grant's descendants[12] and the Illinois state legislature threatened to remove the remains of the former President and First Lady and have them buried in Illinois.[13] The National Park Service was embarrassed into spending $1.8 million[14] to restore the memorial and to provide for upkeep and increased security monitoring.[15] When the work was complete, a re-dedication[16] was held on the dedication's centennial, April 27, 1997.[17]

The New York City Navy ROTC unit now uses the large area in front of the tomb for May commissioning ceremonies of new ensigns (Navy) and second lieutenants (Marine Corps).

The Grant Monument Association is currently making plans to add a new visitor center behind the tomb[18], complete with public restrooms[19] which are prohibited in the tomb itself[20] under the express stipulation of Mrs. Grant.[21] The existing adjacent Overlook Pavilion, which affords a view of the Hudson River, is currently undergoing restoration.

[edit]Public art project

 

In 1972, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of Yellowstone National Park, a sculpture consisting of 17 concrete benches bearing colorful mosaics was created around the monument. The sculpture, entitled The Rolling Bench, was designed by artist Pedro Silva and the architect Phillip Danzig, and was built with the help of hundreds of neighborhood children over a period of three years.[22] The project was sponsored by CITYarts, a non-profit organization founded in 1968 to create works of public art by bringing together children and artists. The sculpture underwent restoration during the summer of 2008 under the supervision of Silva

Preface :)

 

Anything of goodness that came to me, came by way of the blessed Ahl e Beit - the family of the Prophet (salutations and greetings upon Sayyeduna Misbah, the Lantern, and his family) - Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

In the context of all my relationships as of late, I have discovered that the "misfortune" that comes my way in the form of disappointment or sadness of the heart, comes by way of a naqs, shortcoming or deficiency in my character and manners. What we call akhlaq in the Arabic.

 

in the Quran the verse that extols the highest praise upon the Beloved (salutations and greetings upon the one He calls Ajmal, the most beautiful and his most beautiful family) is

 

‏وَإِنَّكَ لَعَلَىٰ خُلُقٍ عَظِيمٍۢ ‎

 

Indeed, surely, you are of an excellent moral character.

 

Surah Al Qalam, Verse 4

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa Innaka: And indeed, you, the one whose manner is the perfection of the Attributes of Allah Subhanahu, (man takhalluqe-ka bil akhlaq Allah) and your being in a state of conviction in the Station of Friendship and Vice-regency…

 

La’ala khuluq-in adeem: you are of an excellent moral character. No one’s excellence of manners is more superb than your manners because you hold and have gathered the characters of the ones before you and the ones after you as per the totality of your rank.

 

The Naqshbandi Spiritual Master, Sheikh Nurjan (ra), says notably that the verse is the proof that of all things being observed by Subhanahu in a human being, above all is their manner with another.

 

"What is Allah Azzo Jal then saying here; Not you have the perfect aqeeda, belief, imaan, faith, taqwa, piety, iqaan, certainty, shukr, gratitude, sabr, patience and on and on the list goes, even though he is without doubt gifted them all as the perfect manifestation of all of Subhanahu's Beautiful Names and Attributes.

 

It is that you possess the most excellent manners, how you behave with other human beings in every single sense."

 

Hence it doesn't matter what we do as much as how we do it. For all generosity and all consideration goes to naught if the manner of its execution is harsh and an attitude towards anyone is unforgiving.

 

After a lifetime of knowing the words, I finally hear the call of Maula e Kayinaat (as) who said, "Your disappointments are not from people. They come from your expectations of them." Which breed the silent bughz, grudges and unspoken gheebat, back-biting between me and my self, making me miserable that I feel those things about whom I claim affection.

 

For all it ever makes me is vehement. I learnt the word, مَلَكَةِ الْحَمِيَّةِ, from a prayer of Imam Zain ul Abedin's (as) where he asked for refuge from hateful things and it struck me how I was drowning my own self in that state. Overcome by a quality that came naturally, insane "strictness" with "misguided enthusiasm."

 

But now I hear a call that says: Ya Mariam! Be who you are. Not who you become because another regresses and you regress right along with them. Every single time!

 

I was telling my dearest cousin Rahim, We cannot change. We have to be changed. Two means of that, I conclude, are feeding the hungry and dua - invoking Subhanahu in the words of His Chosen Ones. It's that simple.

 

For everything in spirituality pivots on ehsaas, consideration for the state of another's heart. The needle of that pivot is akhlaq.

 

On that note, we await the night that will change us. Just like the moon changes effortlessly...because any ease that came my way, undeniably came by way of the blessed Ahl e Beit (salutations and greetings upon them and their gaze of love upon me).

 

Subhan Allah!

  

437. Whatever problems befall you come from your own hands

 

وَمَآ أَصَـٰبَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍۢ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُوا۟ عَن كَثِيرٍۢ ٣٠

 

And whatever befalls you of (the) misfortune, (is because) of what have earned your hands. But He pardons much.

 

Surah Shoora, Verse 30

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And know Ayyoha al adlaal al haalika, O ones who are shadows that are vanishing in themselves…

 

Ma asaabakum mim museebat-in: that which befalls you of misfortune, harmful, painful…

 

Fabima kasabat aydeekum: so it is because it is the outcome of your own hands i.e. because of your perpetrating disobedience and sinful deeds…

 

Wa: and while (He knows it)…

 

Ya’fu: He forgives, Subhanahu…

 

An katheer: most of it. He does not punish you because of those sins with misfortune, showing you kindness and giving you ease.

 

Subhan Allah!

  

438. Allah is our Lord and yours and for us are our deeds and you yours. There is no argument between us and we will all return to Him

 

ٱللَّهُ رَبُّنَا وَرَبُّكُمْ ۖ

لَنَآ أَعْمَـٰلُنَا وَلَكُمْ أَعْمَـٰلُكُمْ ۖ

لَا حُجَّةَ بَيْنَنَا وَبَيْنَكُمُ ۖ

ٱللَّهُ يَجْمَعُ بَيْنَنَا ۖ

وَإِلَيْهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ ١٥

 

Allah (is) our Lord and your Lord.

For us our deeds and for you your deeds.

(There is) no argument between us and between you.

Allah will assemble [between] us,

and to Him (is) the final return."

 

Surah Ash Shoora, Verse 15

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

(Continuing from the first part of the same verse) so I am ordered to do the preaching of His Messages and clarifying them for you and (I am bidden to do) your training and your perfection because…

 

Allahu: Allah is Al Mudabbir, The Only One who governs the matters of all His Servants…

 

Rabbu-na: who is our Lord who raises us for instruction and perfection…

 

Wa Rabbu-kum: and your Lord who wills that He raises you with guidance and instruction and if it was not that we were commanded from Him, Subhanahu, for your guidance and your instruction, we would not be with you because…

 

Lana a’maaluna: for us are our deeds i.e. the reward for whether they are good or wicked…

 

Wa lakum: and (the reward) for you your deeds will be the same because all of us and all of you are recompensed by what we do.

 

La hujjatan: There is no argument i.e. no fight and enemity…

 

Baynana wa baynakum: between us and between you after we have conveyed to you what we were commanded to convey and we clearly explained to you the way of Allah Al Haqq and overall…

 

Allahu: Allah i.e. The Essence that is Al Mustajmi’u, who collects all of the (existing) Names and Attributes…

 

Yajam’u baynana: He gathers us and all of you if it is His Will to gather us…

 

Wa: and how can He not gather us, Subhanahu…

 

Ilayhi al maseer: (when) we will all return to Him i.e. the returning of all is towards Him as they appeared from Him.

  

On a night of keeping vigil, an understanding of some verses on supplication from Ghaus Pak (ra)

 

426. The Prayer series – Call upon Me and I will respond to you

 

وَقَالَ رَبُّكُمُ ٱدۡعُونِیۤ أَسۡتَجِبۡ لَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱلَّذِینَ یَسۡتَكۡبِرُونَ عَنۡ عِبَادَتِی سَیَدۡخُلُونَ جَهَنَّمَ دَاخِرِینَ

 

And said your Lord, "Call upon Me; I will respond to you.

Indeed, those who (are) proud to worship Me will enter Hell (in) humiliation."

 

Surah Ghafir, Verse 60

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And after Subhanahu points towards the station of the two groups, the muwwahid, the believer in One-ness and the mushrik, the one who associate others with Allah, He pointed towards the one who focuses his attention upon Him affectionately and intends towards His One-ness, persevering and endeavouring, invoking Him humbly, that He answers him and makes him receive success in his ask, such that…

 

Qala Rabbukum: Your Lord said, who raises you upon the nature of Tauheed, One-ness and Irfaan, recognizing (Him)…

 

Ud’ooni: call Me O Mukallifoon, the ones who are ordered to obey Allah’s Commands, according to the aql, the power to reason, poured (upon you) as is appropriate for My Being invoked, and they remained focused towards Me in the state of being Mukhliseen, the sincere, without looking towards (other) means and ways in the Universe…

 

Astajib lakum: I will respond to your prayer and connect you to your purpose and your goal, which is Tauheed az Zaati, the One-ness of My Essence, so compulsory upon you is to not become too proud to worship Me and to be obedient to Me.

 

And overall:

 

Inna: Indeed, Al Musrifeena, the ones who are the transgressors of boundaries…

 

Alladina yastakbiroona: who are too arrogant and refuse…

 

An ibadati: My worship (i.e praying before Me) due to their false opinions and (following) their corrupt desires…

 

Sayadkhuloona: so soon they will enter on the Day of Recompense…

 

Jahannama: the Hell of deprivation and disappointment…

 

Dakhireen: belittled, humiliated, disgraced.

 

Astaghfirullah!

  

427. And when they ask about me, tell them O Beloved (salutations and greetings upon you and your family by Me, your Lord who raises you will only with love), I am near

 

وَإِذَا سَأَلَكَ عِبَادِى عَنِّى فَإِنِّى قَرِيبٌ ۖ

أُجِيبُ دَعْوَةَ ٱلدَّاعِ إِذَا دَعَانِ

ۖ فَلْيَسْتَجِيبُوا۟ لِى وَلْيُؤْمِنُوا۟ بِى لَعَلَّهُمْ يَرْشُدُونَ ١٨٦

 

And when they ask you, My Servants, about Me then (tell them), indeed I am near. I respond (to the) invocation (of) the supplicant when he calls Me. So let them respond to Me and let them believe in Me, so that they may (be) led aright.

 

Surah Al Baqarah, Verse 186

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And for this reason (the Companions asked in their love for their Lord, Is Allah near us or far?), Subhanahu informs His Prophet (salutations and greetings upon Nabi Kareem who is His Gift to the Universe and his blessed family) for the instruction of His Servants, who are grateful for His Blessing, about His Closeness towards them by His Saying:

 

Ida sa’alaka: If they ask you, Ayyoha Ad’Daa’i, O Caller of Creation towards Allah Al Haqq (salutations and greetings upon you and your family from Me in continuance)…

 

Ibadi: My Servants, Ash Shakireen, the ones grateful for The Bestower of the Blessings…

 

Ann-ni: (they ask) about Me by their words: Is He near us, our Lord who raises us, so we should speak to him softly like we speak to ourselves or is He far from us so we should call out to Him as we call out to someone distant, tell them Ya Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who completes Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon the Hadi-n, the guide, and his blessed family), in answer to them on behalf of Me …

 

Fa-inni qareebun: indeed I am nearer to them than their own selves such that…

 

Ajeebu da’wata ad-da’i da’ani: I respond to the invocation of the supplicant when he calls Me, answering him swiftly with an answer to his prayer like He points towards Himself in the Hadith Qudsi narrated by Subhanahu (tell them…)…

 

Falyastajeebu li: so let them respond to Me also in all of their affairs and their needs…

 

Walyu-mino bi: and believe in Me as the ones Mu’taqideen, the ones with strong belief that I will make them reach towards the fulfillment of their wishes because there is no place of return for them apart from Me and no refuge for them in (their) being except Me and indeed, they were informed and commanded by what they were commanded…

 

La’allahum yarshudoon: hoping that they are guided towards the Rank of Tauheed, Allah’s One-ness, as Rashideen, the guided ones, Mutma’ineen, the contended ones.

 

Then Ghaus Pak (ra) prays:

 

اهدنا بلطفك إلى مقر عزك يا هادي المضلين

 

Guide us by Your Lutf, Kindness, towards Maqarra Izzika, the Abode of Your Honour, Ya Hadi il Mudaleen, O You who is the Only Guide for the ones astray!

 

Ameen!

  

428. Who responds to the one distressed when he call Him and removes his evil? Allah!

 

أَمَّن يُجِيبُ ٱلْمُضْطَرَّ إِذَا دَعَاهُ وَيَكْشِفُ ٱلسُّوٓءَ وَيَجْعَلُكُمْ خُلَفَآءَ ٱلْأَرْضِ ۗ

أَءِلَـٰهٌۭ مَّعَ ٱللَّهِ ۚ قَلِيلًۭا مَّا تَذَكَّرُونَ ٦٢

 

Or Who responds (to) the distressed one when he calls Him and He removes the evil and makes you inheritors (of) the earth? Is there any god with Allah? Little (is) what you remember.

 

Surah An Naml, Verse 62

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

A’mmayyu yujeebul mudtarra: (Continuing from the verses 60-61 Subhanahu asks) Or does the one who answers the distressed, the one anxious, confused in his matter without instruction about deliverance from it and being saved from it forever…

 

Ida da’ahu: when he supplicates before Him, calling him, hopeful, beseeching Him, Subhanahu…

 

Wa: and who…

 

Yakshifu us soo’a: removes the hardship, causing aggravation for the people of grief and pain…

 

Wa: and who…

 

Yajalukum khulufa’ al ard: makes you the inheritors of the Earth from amongst your ancestors who passed upon it…

 

A’ ilahun ma’allah-i: are they a god with Allah, Al Wahid, The Only One, Al Ahad, The One and Only, As Samad, The One above everything, whom you call upon or worship, Ya Ayyoha Jahiloon, O Ignorant Ones, Al Musrifoona, who transgress boundaries, Al Makabiroona, the ones who think of themselves as proud and arrogant and from the extremes of your jahal, ignorance and ghaflat, forgetfulness, about the worship of Allah Al Haqq and the depths of your transgression and waywardness from His Tauheed, One-ness…

 

Qaleelam ma tadakkaroon: little is the advice you accept i.e. only a few from amongst you remember the Blessings of Allah and His Favours (pouring) continuously upon you, following each other in succession. 

  

429. Allah Subhanahu is Ever-Living so call Him sincerely

 

هُوَ ٱلْحَىُّ لَآ إِلَـٰهَ إِلَّا هُوَ فَٱدْعُوهُ مُخْلِصِينَ لَهُ ٱلدِّينَ ۗ

ٱلْحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ رَبِّ ٱلْعَـٰلَمِينَ ٦٥

 

He (is) the Ever-Living; (there is) no god but He, so call Him, (being) sincere to Him (in) the religion. All praise (be) to Allah, (the) Lord (of) the worlds.

 

Surah Ghafir, Verse 65

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Instead…

 

Huwal Hayyu: He is the Ultimate Truth, forever, till the end, in permanence (without a beginning and an end), Al Mustaghni, Self-Sufficient from the counting of time and measurement of space totally…

 

La ilaha: there is no god in presence except Him and there is no one present who can be worshipped…

 

Illa huwa: except His Essence and after you heard this, O Mukallifoona, those obedient to Allah’s Commands, the characteristics of His Names and Attributes of Subhanahu…

 

Faduhu mukhliseen: then call Him, O sincere ones, and worship only and only Him…

 

Lahu ud deen: in the religion i.e. worshipping and following because there is no one else deserving of obedience and worship except Him. And after you return to Him as Mukhliseena, sincere, and after you worship only and only Him, say with the tongue wholeheartedly:

 

Alhamdo: all praise is for Al Mustaw’ib, The Only Collector of all of the admiration arising from the tongues of the ordinary in appearance, which is for sure (that praise)…

 

Lillahi Rabbil alimeen: for Him, the Lord of the Worlds because He is Alone in His being worshipped and permanent in His being Rabb, Lord, without doubt of association and sharing.

 

Subhan Allah!

  

430. So call Subhanahu by His Perfect Names

 

وَلِلَّهِ ٱلْأَسْمَآءُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ فَٱدْعُوهُ بِهَا ۖ

وَذَرُوا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ يُلْحِدُونَ فِىٓ أَسْمَـٰٓئِهِۦ ۚ

سَيُجْزَوْنَ مَا كَانُوا۟ يَعْمَلُونَ ١٨٠

 

And for Allah (are) the names - the most beautiful, so invoke Him by them.

And leave those who deviate concerning His names.

They will be recompensed for what they used to do.

 

Surah Al Ar’aaf, Verse 180

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Wa: And know Ayyoha al Fudula’, the special ones who use their intellect, al Urufa, the special ones who recognize Allah, Al Muwwahidoon, the special ones who believe in His One-ness…

 

Lillahi: for Allah Al Muttawahid, The Only Lord, Al Muttafarrid, The Uniquely Incomparable One in His Essence…

 

Al Asma’ ul Husna: are the Perfect Names, which are derived from the Exalted Attributes arising out of the signs of happenings in the realm of creation and destruction and the realm of appearing and the unseen and this world and the Hereafter…

 

Fad’uhu: so call Him, Subhanahu, Ayyoha al Muwwahidoona, the ones who believe in his One-ness…

 

Biha: by them and relate to the happenings which are happening from these Names first and by His Essence…

 

Wa daro: and leave those i.e. rebuff and leave the words…

 

Alladina yulhidoona: of those who refuse to believe, who turn away and who associate others with Him…

 

Fi Asma’i-hi: in His Names by associating happenings with means first and (also associating) with His Essence and stay away from their religions and isolate from them and their gatherings and be sure that every one…

 

Sa-yujzauna: will soon be rewarded upon the requisites…

 

Ma kanu ya’maloon: of what they do, if it is good then with goodness and if it is evil then with evil.

  

431-432. The one who purifies himself succeeds and remembers His Lord’s Names and prays

 

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّىٰ ١٤

وَذَكَرَ ٱسْمَ رَبِّهِۦ فَصَلَّىٰ ١٥

 

Certainly, has succeeded (one) who purifies (himself),

And remembers (the) name (of) his Lord and prays.

 

Surah Al’a, Verse 14-15

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then said Subhanahu in the way of admonition…

 

Qad aflaha: certainly is successful and achieved triumph with the great rank and the station exalted…

 

Man tazakka: the one who purified and cleansed the pollution of (one’s) nature and the tarnish of their identity from the inclination towards the world and everything in it from the temporary attractions and the forbidden desires, which do not remain, and focus towards Al Maula, The Lord, with sincere determination.

 

Wa dakara: And he remembered in the beginning of his desire and the origin of his want (towards Him)…

 

Isma’ Rabbi-hi: the Names of His Lord i.e. the group of the Names of His Lord, keeping in mind their meaning, consciously, feeling happy, with a yearning…

 

Fa salla: so he prays and is inclined towards Him, Subhanahu, in all times of His Commands, establishing them, abstaining upon his nafs, self, the ordinary attractions of his world.

  

433-434. There are signs within the Earth and within yourselves, then do you not see?

 

وَفِى ٱلْأَرْضِ ءَايَـٰتٌۭ لِّلْمُوقِنِينَ ٢٠

وَفِىٓ أَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ

أَفَلَا تُبْصِرُونَ ٢١

 

There are ˹countless˺ signs on earth for those who are certain,

And within yourselves, so do you not see?

 

Surah Ad-Dhariyat, Verse 20-21

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Then pointed Subhanahu towards the Expansiveness of the One-ness of His Essence, which comprises everything which is apparent and hidden in the horizons and in the selves with permanence and in all individuals and the specific Secrets of Allah’s One-ness in each speck of the Universe, warning the mureed, the one who intends to reach His Essence, al mustabsir, the one who wants to see Him and to arouse them from the sleep of ghaflat, ignorance and the yawn of nisyaan, forgetfulness, so He said…

 

Wa fil ardi: and in this Earth i.e. the realm of means and capabilities expressed in the horizons, prepared for the appearance of the Signs of the Perfect Control of Allah being Lord from the amazing and strange (things), sprouting from Perfect Knowledge and Abundant Wisdom which are certain arguments and clarifications and a witnessing of the clear proof which are manifesting the Power of As Sani’, The Only One who manufactures, Al Hakeem, The Only One whose Judgement is perfect, and manifesting the Essence of His One-ness and His Control in all of His Matters and His

Permanence in His Governing and His Authority…

 

Lil Mo’qineen: for the ones possessing certainty, Al Munkashifeena, the ones who unveil by knowledge and witnessing and (experiencing) the ultimate truth and also…

 

Wa fi anfusikum: and in your selves (the ordinary) also, Ayyoha al Mustabsiroona, those who want to see Him, Al Mustakshifoona, the ones who seek to unveil the Secrets of Allah’s being the only One worshipped and the Secrets of His Being Lord and considering Him as being The Only One in His Appearance and His Presence…

 

Afala tubsiroon: and still do you not see Ayyoha al Majbuloona, the ones set up upon the nature of kashf, unveiling and shuhood, witnessing.

  

Thus we begin the night with the prayers by way of the blessed Imam Zain ul Abedin (as).

  

www.duas.org/sajjadiya/sajjadiya.htm

  

*** Keeping in mind the important requisite that the etiquette of dua is to give a sadqa, a charitable giving, not obligatory, before it ***

 

And on that note...

 

442. If you people owned the treaures of the world, you would never spend them for Man is stingy

  

قُل لَّوْ أَنتُمْ تَمْلِكُونَ خَزَآئِنَ رَحْمَةِ رَبِّىٓ إِذًۭا لَّأَمْسَكْتُمْ خَشْيَةَ ٱلْإِنفَاقِ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ قَتُورًۭا ١٠٠

 

Say, "If you possess the treasures (of) the Mercy (of) my Lord, then surely you would withhold (out of) fear (of) spending." And is man stingy.

 

Surah Bani Israel, Verse 100

 

Tafseer e Jilani

 

Qul: Say to the Munkireen, the refusers, Al Muttawahhimeen, who are deluded in thinking of the perishing of Allah’s Qudra, Authority and His Hawla, Power and His Quwwat, Strength, that it will expire, (tell them) about His Intent: Don’t compare the unseen with the witnessed and don’t think of miserliness and stinginess and helplessness and obligation on behalf of Allah but instead (know) everything is from your attributes and your characters because:

 

Lau antum tamlikoona khaza’in rahma Rabbi: if you possessed the treasures of the Mercy of my Lord with their abundance and the absence of their finishing and certain endlessness…

 

Idan la amsaktum: so then surely you would withhold and be stingy…

 

Khashiyat infaaq: out of fear of spending i.e. the fear of it finishing with spending without replacing what is spent…

 

Wa kana al insaanu: and Man is indeed created in his original nature…

 

Qatoora: stingy, withholding (by hoarding) in abundance the necessities in this world, not spending of the treasures, because he is most needy of everything created and is most distant from the Essence of the One-ness of Allah because Man is the last point of the circle of Creation and he is the end-game and he can become the first dot of the circle of Allah’s Presence, if he removes himself from the garments of the world and detaches himself from it just once without the mixture of disfigurement and shortcomings.

 

Just once......Unbelievable!

 

The first key to reverse the worst of my nature: Dua No. 20

  

ْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ

 

bis-mil-lahir-rahmamnir-rahim

 

In the Name of Allah, the All-merciful, the All-compassionate

 

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَبَلِّغْ بِإِيمَانِي أَكْمَلَ الإِيمَانِ

 

wa bal-ligh bi-imani ak-malal-iman

 

cause my faith to reach the most perfect faith,

  

وَاجْعَلْ يَقِينِي أَفْضَلَ الْيَقِينِ

 

waj-a'l yaqini af-zalal-yaqin

 

make my certainty the most excellent certainty,

  

وَانتَهِ بِنِيَّتِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ النِّيَّاتِ، وَبِعَمَلِي إِلَى أَحْسَنِ الأَعْمَاِل

 

wantahi bi-ni-yati ila ah-san-ni-yati wa bi-a'mali ila ah-sanil-a'-mal

 

and take my intention to the best of intentions, and my works to the best of works!

  

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

وَفِّرْ بِلُطْفِكَ نِيَّتِي

 

waf-fir bilut-fika ni-yati

 

complete my intention through Your gentleness,

  

وَصَحِّحْ بِمَا عِندَكَ يَقِينِي

 

wa sah-hih bima i'ndaka yaqini

 

rectify my certainty through what is with You,

  

وَاسْتَصْلِحْ بِقُدْرَتِكَ مَا فَسَدَ مِنِّي

 

was-tas-lih biqud-ratika ma fasada min-ni

 

And set right what is corrupt in me through Your power!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَاكْفِنِي مَا يَشْغَلُنِي الإِهْتِمَامُ بِهِ

 

wak-fini ma yash-ghalunil-ih-timamu bih

spare me the concerns which distract me,

  

وَاسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا تَسْألُنِي غَداً عَنْهُ

 

was-ta'-mil-ni bima tas-aluni ghadan a'n-h

 

employ me in that about which You will ask me tomorrow,

  

وَاسْتَفْرِغْ أَيَّامِي فِيمَا خَلَقْتَنِي لَهُ

 

was-taf-righ ay-yami fima khalaq-tani lah

 

And let me pass my days in that for which You hast created me!

  

وَاغْنِنِي وَأَوْسِعْ عَلَيَّ فِي رِزْقِكَ

 

wa agh-nini wa aw-sia' a'lay-ya fi rizqik

 

Free me from need, and expand Your provision toward me,

  

وَلا تَفْتِنِّي بِالنَّظَرِ

 

wa-la taf-tin-ni bin-nazar

 

And tempt me not with ingratitude!

  

وَأَعِزَّنِي وَلا تَبْتَلِيَنِّي بِالْكِبْرِ

 

wa ai'z-za ni wa-la tab-tali-yani-y bil-kib-r

 

Exalt me and afflict me not with pride!

  

وَعَبِّدْنِي لَكَ وَلا تُفْسِدْ عِبِادَتِي بِالعُجْبِ

 

wa a'b-bid-ni laka wa-la tuf-sid i'bidati bil-u'j-b

 

Make me worship You and corrupt not my worship with self-admiration!

  

وَأَجْرِ لِلنَّاسِ عَلَى يَدَيَّ الْخَيْرَ وَلا تَمْحَقْهُ بِالْمَنِّ

 

wa aj-ri lin-nasi a'la yaday-yal-khayra wa-la tam-haq-hu bil-man-n

 

Let good flow out from my hands upon the people and efface it not by my making them feel obliged!

  

وَهَبْ لِي مَعَاِلي الأَخْلاَقِ

 

wa hab liya ma'ali-yal-akh-laq

 

Give me the highest moral traits

  

وَاعْصِمْنِي مِنَ الْفَخْرِ

 

wa a'-sim-ni minal-fakh-r

 

And preserve me from vainglory!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَلا تَرْفَعْنِي فِي النَّاسِ دَرَجَةً إِلا حَطَطْتَنِي عِندَ نَفْسِي مِثْلَهَا

 

wa la tar-fa'-ni fin-nasi darajatan il-la hatat-tani i'nda naf-si mith-laha

 

raise me not a single degree before the people without lowering me its like in myself

  

وَلا تُحْدِثْ لِي عِزّاً ظَاهِراً إِلاَّ أَحْدَثْتَ لِي ذِلَّةً بَاطِنَةً عِندَ نَفْسِي بِقَدَرِهَا

 

wa-la tuh-dith li i'z-zan zahiran il-la ah-dath-ta li dhil-latam batinatan i'nda naf-si biqadariha

 

And bring about no outward exaltation for me without an inward abasement in myself to the same measure!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-li muhammad

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and Muhammad's Household,

  

وَمَتِّعْنِي بِهُدَىً صَاِلحٍ لا أَسْتَبْدِلُ بِهِ،

 

wa mat-tia'-ni bihudan salihil-la as-tabdilu bih

 

give me to enjoy a sound guidance which I seek not to replace,

  

وَطَرِيقَةِ حَقٍّ لا أَزِيغُ عَنْهَا،

 

wa tariqati haq-qil-la azighu a'n-ha

 

a path of truth from which I swerve not,

  

وَنِيَّةِ رَشْدٍ لا أَشُكُّ فِيهَا

 

wa ni-yati rush-dil-la ashuk-ku fiha

 

And an intention of right conduct in which I have no doubts!

  

وَعَمِّرْنِي مَا كَانَ عُمْرِي بِذْلَةً فِي طَاعَتِكَ، فَإِذَا كَانَ عُمْرِي مَرْتَعاً لِلشَّيْطَانِ فَاقْبِضْنِي إِلَيْكَ، قَبْلَ أَن يَّسْبِقَ مَقْتُكَ إِلَيَّ، أَوْ يَسْتَحْكِمَ غَضَبُكَ عَلَيَّ

 

wa a'mmir-ni ma kana u'm-ri bidhlatan fi ta'tika fa-idha kana u'm-ri mar-ta'al-lish-shaytani faq-bizni ilayka qab-la ayyasbiqa maq-tuka ilay-ya aw yas-tah-kima ghazabuka a'lay-ya

 

Let me live as long as my life is a free gift in obeying You, but if my life should become a pasture for Satan, seize me to Yourself before Your hatred overtakes me or Your wrath against be becomes firm!

 

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

لا تَدَعْ خِصْلَةً تُعَابُ مِنِّي إِلاَّ أَصْلَحْتَهَا

 

la tada' khas-latan tua'abu min-ni il-la as-lah-taha

 

deposit in me no quality for which I will be faulted, unless You settest it right,

  

وَلا عَائِبَةً أُؤَنَّبُ بِهَا إِلاَّ حَسَّنتَهَا،

 

wa-la a'a-ibatan uan-nabu biha il-la has-santaha

 

no flaw for which I will be blamed, unless You makest it beautiful,

  

وَلا أُكْرُومَةً فِيَّ نَاقِصَةً إِلاَّ أَتْمَمْتَهَا

 

wa-la uk-rumatan fi-ya naqisatan il-la at-mam-taha

 

And no deficient noble trait, unless You completest it!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِ مُحَمَّدٍ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-li muhammad

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and Muhammad's Household,

  

وَأَبْدِلْنِي مِنْ بُغْضَةِ أَهْلِ الشَّنَانَ الْمَحَبَّةَ

 

wa abdil-ni mim bugh-zati ah-lish-shinanil-mahab-bah

 

and replace for me the animosity of the people of hatred with love,

  

وَمِنْ حَسَدِ أَهْلِ الْبَغْيِ الْمَوَدَّةَ،

 

wa min hasadi ah-lil-bagh-yil-mawad-dah

 

the envy of the people of insolence with affection,

  

وَمِن ظِنَّةِ أَهْلِ الصَّلاَحِ الثِّقَةَ،

 

wa min zin-nati ah-lis-salahith-thiqah

 

the suspicion of the people of righteousness with trust,

  

وَمِنْ عَدَاوَةِ الأَدْنَيْنَ الْوَلايَةَ،

 

wa min a'dawatil-ad-naynal-walayah

 

the enmity of those close with friendship,

  

وَمِنْ عُقُوقِ ذَوِي الأَرْحَامِ الْمَبَرَّةَ،

 

wa min u'quqi dhawil-ar-hamil-mabar-rah

 

the disrespect of womb relatives with devotion,

  

وَمِنْ خِذْلانِ الأَقْرَبِينَ النُّصْرَةَ،

 

wa min khidhlanil-aq-rabinan-nus-rah

 

the abandonment of relatives with help,

  

وَمِنْ حُبِّ الْمُدَارِينَ تَصْحِيحَ الْمِقَةِ،

 

wa min hub-bil-mudarina tas-hihal-miqah

 

the attachment of flatterers with love set right,

  

وَمِن رَّدِّ الْمُلاَبِسِينَ كَرَمَ الْعِشْرَةِ،

 

wa mir-rad-dil-mulabisina karamal-i'sh-rah

 

the rejection of fellows with generous friendliness,

  

وَمِن مَّرَارَةِ خَوْفِ الظَّالِمِينَ حَلاَوَةَ الأَمنَةَ

 

wa mim-mararati khaw-fiz-zalimina halawatal-amnah

 

And the bitterness of the fear of wrongdoers with the sweetness of security!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَاجْعَل لِّي يَداً عَلى مَن ظَلَمَنِي،

 

waj-a'l-li yadan a'la man zalamani

 

appoint for me a hand against him who wrongs me,

  

وَلِسَاناً عَلَى مَنْ خَاصَمَنِي،

 

wa lisanan a'la man khasamani

 

a tongue against him who disputes with me,

  

وَظَفَراً بِمَنْ عَانَدَنِي

 

wa zafaram biman a'anadani

 

And a victory over him who stubbornly resists me!

  

وَهَبْ لِي مَكْراً عَلَى مَن كَايَدَنِي،

 

wa hab li mak-ran a'la man kayadani

 

Give me guile against him who schemes against me,

  

وَقُدْرَةً عَلَى مَنِ اضْطَهَدَنِي،

 

wa qud-ratan a'la mani-ztahadani

 

power over him who oppresses me,

  

وَتَكْذِيباً لِمَن قَصَبَنِي،

 

wa tak-dhibal-liman qasabani

 

refutation of him who reviles me,

  

وَسَلاَمَةً مِّمَّن تَوَعَّدَنِي

 

wa salamatam-mimman tawa'-adani

 

And safety from him who threatens me!

  

وَوَفِّقْنِي لِطَاعَةِ مَن سَدَّدَنِي،

 

wa waf-fiq-ni lita'ti man sad-dadani

 

Grant me success to obey him who points me straight

  

وَمُتَابَعَةِ مَنْ أَرْشَدَنِي

 

wa mutaba'ti man ar-shadani

 

And follow him who guides me right!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household

  

وَسَدِّدْنِي لأَنْ

 

wa sad-did-ni li-an

 

and point me straight to

  

أُعَارِضَ مَنْ غَشَّنِي بِالنُّصْحِ،

 

ua'ariza man ghash-shani bin-nus-h

 

resist him who is dishonest toward me without counsel,

  

وَأَجْزِي مَنْ هَجَرَنِي بِالْبِرِّ،

 

wa aj-ziya man hajarani bil-bir-r

 

repay him who separates from me with gentle devotion,

  

وَأُثِيبَ مَنْ حَرَمَنِي بِالْبَذْلِ،

 

wa uthiba man haramani bil-badhli

 

reward him who deprives me with free giving,

  

وَأُكَافِئَ مَن قَطَعَنِي بِالصِّلَةِ،

 

wa ukafi-a man qata'ni bis-silah

 

recompense him who cuts me off with joining,

  

وَأُخَاِلفَ مَنْ اغْتَابَنِي إِلَى حُسْنِ الذِّكْرِ،

 

wa ukhalifa mangh-tabani ila hus-nidh-dhik-r

 

oppose him who slanders me with excellent mention,

  

وَأَنْ أَشْكُرَ الْحَسَنَةَ،

 

wa an ash-kural-hasanah

 

give thanks for good,

  

وَأُغْضِي عَنِ السَّيِّئَةِ

 

wa ugh-ziya a'nis-say-yiwah

 

And shut my eyes to evil!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَحَلِّنِي بِحِلْيَةِ الصَّاِلحِينَ

 

wa hal-lini bihil-yatis-salihin

 

adorn me with the adornment of the righteous,

  

وَأَلْبِسْنِي زِينَةَ المُتَّقِينَ فِي

 

wa al-bis-ni zinatal-mut-taqina fi

 

And clothe me in the ornaments of the god-fearing, through:

  

بَسْطِ الْعَدْلِ

 

bas-til-a'd-l

 

spreading justice,

  

وَكَظْمِ الْغَيْظِ

 

wa kazmil-ghayz

 

restraining rage,

  

وَإِطْفَاءِ النَّائِرَةِ

 

wa it-fa-in-na-irah

 

quenching the flame of hate,

  

وَضَمِّ أَهْلِ الْفُرْقَةِ

 

wa zammi ah-lil-fur-qah

 

bringing together the people of separation,

  

وَإِصْلاَحِ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ

 

wa is-lahi dhatil-bayn

 

correcting discord,

  

وَإِفْشِاءِ الْعَارِفَةِ

 

wa if-shia-il-a'arifah

 

spreading about good behavior,

  

وَسَتْرِ الْعَائِبَةِ

 

wa sat-ril-a'a-ibah

 

covering faults,

  

وَلِينِ الْعَرِيكَةِ

 

wa linil-a'rikah

 

mildness of temper,

  

وَخَفْضِ الْجَنَاحِ

 

wa khaf-zil-janah

 

lowering the wing,

  

وَحُسْنِ السِّيرَةِ

 

wa hus-nis-sirah

 

beauty of conduct,

  

وَسُكُونِ الرِّيحِ

 

wa sukunir-rih

 

gravity of bearing,

  

وَطِيبِ الْمُخَالَفَةِ

 

wa tibil-mukhalafah

 

agreeableness in comportment,

  

وَالسَّبْقِ إِلَى الْفَضِيلَةِ

 

was-sib-qi ilal-fazilah

 

precedence in reaching excellence,

  

وَإِيثَارِ التَّفَضُّلِ

 

wa itharit-tafaz-zul

preferring bounteousness,

  

وَتَرْكِ التَّعْيِيرِ

 

wa tar-kit-ta'-yir

 

refraining from condemnation,

  

وَالإِفْضَاِل عَلَى غَيْرِ الْمُسْتَحِقِّ

 

wal-if-zali a'la ghayril-mus-tahiq-q

 

bestowing bounty on the undeserving,

  

وَالْقَوْلِ بِالْحَقِّ وَإِنْ عَزَّ

 

wal-qaw-li bil-haq-qi wa in a'z-z

 

speaking the truth, though it be painful,

  

وَاسْتِقْلاَلِ الْخَيْرِ وَإِن كَثُرَ مِن قَوْلِي وَفِعْلِي

 

was-tiq-lalil-khayri wa in kathura min qaw-li wa fia'-li

 

making little of the good in my words and deeds, though it be much,

  

وَاسْتِكْثَارِ الْشَّرِ وَإِن قلَّ مِن قَوْلِي وَفِعْلِي

 

was-tik-tharish-shari wa in ql-la min qaw-li wa fia'-li

 

And making much of the evil in my words and deeds, though it be little!

  

وَأَكْمِلْ ذَلِكَ لِي

 

wa ak-mil dhalika li

 

Perfect this for me through

  

بِدَوَامِ الطَّاعَةِ،

 

bi-dawamit-ta'h

 

lasting obedience,

  

وَلُزُومِ الْجَمَاعَةِ،

 

wa luzumil-jama'h

 

holding fast to the community,

  

وَرَفْضِ أَهْلِ الْبِدَعِ، وَمُسْتَعْمِلِي الرَّأْيِ الْمُخْتَرَعِ

 

wa raf-zi ah-lil-bidai' wa mus-ta'-milir-ra-yil-mukh-tarai'

 

And rejecting the people of innovation and those who act in accordance with original opinions.

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَاجْعَلْ أَوْسَعَ رِزْقِكَ عَلَيَّ إِذَا كَبِرْتُ،

 

waj-a'l aw-sa' rizqika a'lay-ya idha kabir-tu

 

appoint for me Your widest provision in my old age

  

وَأَقْوَى قُوَّتِكَ فِيَّ إِذَا نَصِبْتُ

 

wa aq-wa qu-watika fi-ya idha nasib-tu

 

And Your strongest strength when I am exhausted,

  

وَلا تَبْتَلِيَنِي بِالْكَسَلِ عَنْ عِبَادَتِكَ،

 

wa-la tab-tali-yani bil-kasali a'n i'badatika

 

And try me not with laziness in worship of You,

  

وَلا الْعَمى عَن سَبِيلِكَ،

 

wa lal-a'ma a'n sabilik

 

blindness toward Your path,

  

وَلا بِالتَّعَرُّضِ لِخِلاَفِ مَحَبَّتِكَ،

 

wa-la bit-ta'r-ruzi li-khilafi mahab-batika

 

undertaking what opposes love for You,

  

وَلا مُجَامَعَةِ مَن تَفَرَّقَ عَنْكَ،

 

wa-la mujama't man tafar-raqa a'nk

 

joining with him who has separated himself from You,

  

وَلا مُفَارَقَةِ مَنِ اجْتَمَعَ إِلَيْكَ

 

wa-la mufaraqat manij-tama' ilayk

 

And separating from him who has joined himself to You!

  

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْنِي أَصُولُ بِكَ عِندَ الضَّرُورَةِ،

 

allahummaj-a'l-ni asulu bika i'ndaz-zarurah

 

O Allah, make me leap to You in times of distress,

  

وَأَسْألُكَ عِندَ الْحَاجَةِ،

 

wa as-aluka i'ndal-hajah

 

ask from You in needs,

  

وَأَتَضَرَّعُ إِلَيْكَ عِندَ الْمَسْكَنَةِ

 

wa atazar-rau' ilayka i'ndal-mas-kanah

 

And plead to You in misery!

  

وَلا تَفْتِنِّي بِالإِسْتِعَانَةِ بِغَيْرِكَ إِذَا اضْطُرِرْتُ،

 

wa-la taf-tin-ni bil-is-tia'anati bighayrika idhazturir-tu

 

Tempt me not to seek help from other than You when I am distressed,

  

وَلا بِالْخُضُوعِ لِسُؤَاِل غَيْرِكَ إِذَا افْتَقَرْتُ،

 

wa-la bil-khuzui' li-suali ghayrika idhaf-taqar-tu

 

to humble myself in asking from someone else when I am poor,

  

وَلا بِالتَّضَرُّعِ إِلَى مَن دُونِكَ إِذَارَهِبْتُ

 

wa-la bit-tazar-rui' ila man dunaka idharahib-tu

 

or to plead with someone less than You when I fear,

  

فَأَسْتَحِقُّ بِذَلِكَ خِذْلانَكَ وَمَنْعَكَ وَإِعْرَاضَكَ

 

fas-tahiq-qu bidhlika khidhlanaka wa man-a'ka wa ia'-razak

 

for then I would deserve Your abandonment, Your withholding, and Your turning away,

  

يَا أَرْحَمَ الرَّاحَمِينَ

 

ya ar-hamar-rahamin

 

O Most Merciful of the merciful!

  

اللَّهُمَّ اجْعَلْ مَا يُلْقِي الشَّيْطَانُ فِي رَوْعِي منِ التَّمَنِّي وَالتَّظَنِّي وَالْحَسَدِذِكْراً لِعَظَمَتِكَ، وَتَفَكُّراً فِي قُدْرَتِكَ، وَتَدْبِيراً عَلَى عَدُوِّكَ،

 

allahummaj-a'l ma yul-qish-shaytanu fi raw-e'e mint-taman-ni wat-tazan-ni wal-hasadidhik-ral-li-a'zamatika wa tafak-kuran fi qud-ratika wa tad-biran a'la a'du-wika

 

O Allah, make the wishing, the doubt, and the envy which Satan throws into my heart a remembrance of Your mightiness, a reflection upon Your power, and a devising against Your enemy!

  

وَمَا أَجْرَى عَلَى لِسَانِى مِن لَّفْظَةِ فُحْشٍ أَوْ هَجْرٍ أَوْ شَتْمِ عِرْضٍ أَوْ شَهَادَةِ بَاطِلٍ أَوِ اغْتِيَابِ مُؤْمِنٍ غَائِبٍ أَوْ سَبِّ حَاضِرٍ أَوْ مَا أَشْبَهَ ذَلِكَ،

 

wa ma aj-ra a'la li-sani mil-laf-zati fuh-shin aw haj-rin aw shat-mi i'r-zin aw shahadati batilin awigh-tiyabi mu-minin gha-ibin aw sab-bi hazirin aw ma ash-baha dhalika

 

Make everything he causes to pass over my tongue - the indecent or ugly words, the maligning of good repute, the false witness, the speaking ill of an absent man of faith, or the reviling of one present, and all things similar—

  

نُطْقاً بِالْحَمْدِ لَكَ،

 

nut-qam bial-ham-di lak

 

a speech in praise of You,

  

وَإِغْرَاقاً فِي الثَّنَاءِ عَلَيْكَ

 

wa igh-raqan fith-thana-i a'ilayk

 

a pursual of eulogizing You,

  

وَذَهَاباً فِي تَمْجِيدِكَ

 

wa dhahaban fi tam-jidik

 

an excursion in magnifying You,

  

وَشُكْراً لِّنِعْمَتِكَ

 

wa shuk-ral-linia'-matik

 

a thanksgiving for Your favour,

  

وَاعْتِرَافاً بِإِحْسَانِكَ

 

wa a'-tirafam biih-sanik

 

an acknowledgment of Your beneficence,

  

وَإِحْصَاءاً لِّمِنَنِكَ

 

wa ih-sa-al-li-minanik

 

And an enumeration of Your kindness!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَلا أُظْلَمَنَّ وَأَنتَ مُطِيقٌ لِّلدَّفْعِ عَنِّي

 

wa-la uzlaman-na wa anta mutiqul-lid-daf-i' a'n-ni

 

let me not be wronged, while You canst repel from me,

  

وَلا أَظْلِمَنَّ وَأَنتَ الْقَادِرُ عَلى الْقَبْضِ مِنِّي

 

wa-la azliman-na wa antal-qadiru a'lil-qab-zi min-ni

 

let me not do wrong, while You are powerful over holding me back,

  

وَلا أَضِلَّنَّ وَقَدْ أَمْكَنَتْكَ هِدَايَتِي

 

wa-la azil-lan-na wa qad am-kanat-ka hidayati

 

let me not be misguided, while You are able to guide me,

  

وَلا أَفْتَقِرَنَّ وَمِنْ عِندِكَ وُسْعِي

 

wa-la af-taqiran-na wa min i'ndika wus-e'e

 

let me not be poor, while with You is my plenty,

  

وَلا أَطْغَيَنَّ وَمِنْ عِندِكَ وُجْدِي

 

wa-la at-ghayan-na wa min i'ndika wuj-di

 

let me not be insolent, while from You comes my wealth!

  

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

إِلَى مَغْفِرَتِكَ وَفَدتُّ

 

ila magh-firatika wafad-tu

 

I come to Your forgiveness,

  

وَإِلَى عَفْوِكَ قَصَدتُّ

 

wa ila a'f-wika qasad-tu

 

I go straight to Your pardon,

  

وَإِلَى تَجَاوُزِكَ اشْتَقْتُ

 

wa ila taja-wuzikash-taq-tu

 

I yearn for Your forbearance,

  

وَبِفَضْلِكَ وَثِقْتُ

 

wa bi-fazlika wathiq-tu

 

And I trust in Your bounty,

  

وَلَيْسَ عِندِي مَا يُوجِبُ لِي مَغْفِرَتَكَ

 

wa laysa i'ndi ma yujibu li magh-firatak

 

but there is nothing with me to make me warrant but Your forgiveness,

  

وَلا فِي عَمَلِي مَا أَسْتَحِقُّ بِهِ عَفْوَكَ

 

wa-la fi a'mali ma as-tahiq-qu bihi a'f-wak

 

nothing in my works to make me merit but Your pardon,

  

وَمَا لِي بَعْدَ أَنْ حَكَمْتُ عَلَى نَفْسِي إلاَّ فَضْلُكَ

 

wa ma li ba'-da an hakam-tu a'la naf-si il-la fazluka

 

And nothing on my behalf after I judge my soul but Your bounty,

  

فَصَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

fa-sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lihi

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household

  

وَتَفَضَّلْ عَلَيَّ اللَّهُمَّ

 

wa tafaz-zal a'layil allahumma

 

O Allah, bestow Your bounty upon me!

  

وَأَنطِقْنِي بِالْهُدَى

 

wa antiq-ni bial-huda

 

make my speech be guidance,

  

وَأَلْهِمْنِي التِّقْوَى

 

wa al-him-nit-tiq-wa

 

inspire me with reverential fear,

  

وَوَفِّقْنِي للَّتِي هِي أَزْكَى

 

wa waf-fiq-ni lil-lati hiya azka

 

give me success in that which is most pure,

  

وَاسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِمَا هُوَ أَرْضَى

 

was-ta'-mil-ni bima huwa ar-za

 

And employ me in what is most pleasing to You!

  

اللَّهُمَّ اسْلُكْ بِي الطَّرِيقَةَ الْمُثْلَى

 

allahummas-luk bi-yat-tariqatal-muth-la

 

O Allah, let me tread the most exemplary path

  

وَاجْعَلْنِي عَلَى مِلَّتِكَ أَمُوتُ وَأَحْيَا

 

waj-a'l-ni a'la mil-latika amutu wa ah-ya

 

And make me live and die in Your creed!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَمَتِّعْنِي بِالإقْتِصَادِ

 

wa mat-tia'-ni bil-iq-tisad

 

give me to enjoy moderation,

  

وَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ أَهْلِ السَّدَادِ،

 

waj-a'l-ni min ah-lis-sadad

 

make me into one of the people of right behavior,

  

وَمِنْ أَدِلَّةِ الرَّشَادِ،

 

wa min adil-latir-rashad

 

the proofs of right conduct,

  

وَمِن صَاِلحِي الْعِبَادِ

 

wa min salihil-i'bad

 

And the servants of righteousness,

  

وَارْزُقْنِي فَوْزَ الْمَعَادِ،

 

war-zuq-ni fawzal-ma'adi

 

And provide me with triumph at the place of Return

  

وَسَلاَمَةَ الْمِرْصَادِ

 

wa salamatal-mir-sad

 

And safety from the Ambush!

  

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

خُذْ لِنَفْسِكَ مِن نَّفْسِي مَا يُخَلِّصُهَا

 

khudh linaf-sika min-naf-si ma yukhal-lisuha

 

take to Yourself from my soul what will purify it

  

وَأَبْقِ لِنَفْسِي مِن نَّفْسِي مَا يُصْلِحُهَا،

 

wa ab-qi linaf-si min-naf-si ma yus-lihuha

 

And leave for my soul that of my soul that will set it right,

  

فَإِنَّ نَفْسِي هَاِلكَةً أَوْ تَعْصِمَهَا

 

fa-in-na naf-si halikatun aw ta'-simaha

 

for my soul will perish unless You preservest it!

  

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

أَنتَ عُدَّتِي إِنْ حَزِنتُ

 

anta u'd-dati in hazintu

 

You are my stores when I sorrow,

  

وَأَنتَ مُنتَجَعِي إِنْ حُرِمْتُ

 

wa anta muntajae'e in hurim-tu

 

You are my recourse when I am deprived,

  

وَبِكَ اسْتِغَاثَتِي إِن كُرِثْتُ

 

wa bikas-tigha-thati in kurith-tu

 

from You I seek aid when troubled

  

وَعِندَكَ مِمَّا فَاتَ خَلَفٌ،

 

wa i'ndaka mimma fata khalaf

 

and with You is a substitute for everything gone by,

  

وَلِمَا فَسَدَ صَلاَحٌ،

 

wa lima fasada salah

 

a correction for everything corrupted,

  

وَفِيمَا أَنكَرْتَ تَغْيِيرٌ

 

wa fima ankar-ta tagh-yir

 

a change from everything You is approvest.

  

فَامْنُنْ عَلَيَّ قَبْلَ الْبَلاءِ بِالْعَافِيَةِ،

 

fam-nun a'lay-ya qab-lal-bala-i bil-a'afi-yah

 

So show kindness to me with well-being before affliction,

  

وَقَبْلَ الطَّلَبِ بِالْجِدَةِ،

 

wa qab-lat-talabi bial-jidah

 

wealth before asking,

  

وَقَبْلَ الضَّلاَلِ بِالرَّشَادِ

 

wa qab-laz-zalali bilr-rashad

 

right conduct before misguidance;

  

وَاكْفِنِي مَؤُونَةَ مَعَرَّةِ الْعِبَادِ

 

wak-fini ma’unata ma'r-ratil-i'badi

 

suffice me against the burden of shame toward the servants,

  

وَهَبْ لِي أَمْنَ يَوْمِ الْمَعَادِ

 

wa hab liya am-na yaw-mil-ma'ad

 

give me security on the Day of Return,

  

وَامْنَحْنِي حُسْنَ الإِرْشَادِ

 

wam-nah-ni hus-nal-ir-shad

 

And grant me excellent right guidance!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَادْرَأْْ عَنِّي بِلُطْفِكَ

 

wad-ra a'n-ni bi-lut-fik

 

repel from me through Your gentleness,

  

وَاغْذُنِي بِنِعْمَتِكَ

 

wagh-dhuni binia'-matik

 

feed me through Your favour,

  

وَأَصْلِحْنِي بِكَرَمِكَ

 

wa as-lih-ni bikaramik

 

set me right through Your generosity,

  

وَدَاوِنِي بِصُنعِكَ

 

wa dawini bisuni'k

 

heal me through Your benefaction,

  

وَأَظِلَّنِي فِي ذَرَاكَ

 

wa azil-lani fi dharak

 

shade me in Your shelter,

  

وَجَلِّلْنِي رِضَاكَ

 

wa jal-lil-ni rizak

 

wrap me in Your good pleasure,

  

وَوَفِّقْنِي إِذَا اشْتَكَلَتْ عَلَيَّ الأُمُورُ لأَهْدَاهَا،

 

wa waf-fiq-ni idhash-takalat a'lay-yal-umuru li-ah-daha

 

And give me success to reach the most guided of affairs when affairs confuse me,

  

وَإِذَا تَشَابَهَتِ الأَعْمَالُ لأَزْكَاهَا

 

wa idha tasha-bahatil-a'-malu li-azkaha

 

the purest of works when works seem similar,

  

وَإِذَا تَنَاقَضَتِ المِلَلُ لأَرْضَاهَا

 

wa idha tanaqazatil-milalu li-ar-zaha

 

and the most pleasing to You of creeds when creeds conflict!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَتَوِّجْنِي بِالْكِفَايَةِ

 

wa taw-wij-ni bil-kifayah

 

crown me with sufficiency,

  

وَسُمْنِي حُسْنَ الْوِلاَيةِ

 

wa sum-ni hus-nal-wilayah

 

place in me excellent guardianship

  

وَهَبْ لِي صِدْقَ الْهِدَايَةِ

 

wa hab li sid-qal-hidayah

 

give me to guide correctly ,

  

وَلا تَفْتِنِّي بِالسَّعَةِ

 

wa-la taf-tin-ni bis-sa'ah

 

tempt me not with plenty,

  

وَامْنَحْنِي حُسْنَ الدَّعَةِ

 

wam-nah-ni hus-nad-da'ah

 

grant me excellent ease,

  

وَلا تَجْعَلْ عَيْشِي كَداًّ كَداًّ

 

wa-la taj-a'l a'yshi kad-dan kad-da

 

make not my life toil and trouble,

  

وَلا تَرُدَّ دُعَائِي عَلَيَّ رَدّاً

 

wa-la tarud-da dua'a-i a'lay-ya rad-da

 

And refuse not my supplication in rejection,

  

فَإِنِّي لا أَجْعَلُ لَكَ ضِدّاً

 

fa-in-ni la aj-a'lu laka zid-da

 

for I make none rival to You

  

وَلا أَدْعُو مَعَكَ نِدّاً

 

wa-la ad-o'o ma'ka nid-da

 

And I supplicate none with You as equal!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَامْنَعْنِي مِنَ السَّرَفِ

 

wam-na'-ni minas-saraf

 

hold me back from prodigality,

  

وَحَصِّن رِّزْقِي مِنَ التَّلَفِ

 

wa has-sir-rizqi minat-talaf

 

fortify my provision against ruin,

  

وَوَفِّرْ مَلَكَتِي بِالْبَرَكَةِ فِيهِ

 

wa waf-fir malakati bil-barakati fih

 

increase my possessions through blessing them,

  

وَأَصِبْ بِي سَبِيلَ الْهِدَايَةِ لِلْبِرِّ فِيمَا أُنفِقُ مِنْهُ

 

wa asib bi sabilal-hidayati lil-bir-ri fima unfiqu minh

 

And set me upon the path of guidance through piety in what I spend!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَاكْفِنِي مَؤُونَةَ الإكْتِسَابِ،

 

wak-fini ma’unatal-ik-tisab

 

And spare me the burden of earning,

  

وَارْزُقْنِي مِنْ غَيْرِ احْتِسَابٍ

 

warzuq-ni min ghayrih-tisab

 

provide for me without reckoning,

  

فَلا أَشْتَغِلَ عَنْ عِبَادَتِكَ بِالطَّلَبِ،

 

fa-la ash-taghila a'n i'badatika bit-talab

 

lest I be distracted from Your worship through seeking

  

وَلا أَحْتَمِلَ إِصْرَ تَبِعَاتِ الْمَكْسَبِ

 

wa-la ah-tamila is-ra tabia'atil-mak-sab

 

And carry the load of earning's ill results!

  

اللَّهُمَّ

 

allahumma

 

O Allah,

  

فَأَطْلِبْنِي بِقُدْرَتِكَ مَا أَطْلُبُ

 

fa-t-lib-ni bi-qud-ratika ma at-lubu

 

bestow upon me what I seek through Your power

  

وَأَجِرْنِي بِعِزَّتِكَ مِمَّا أَرْهَبُ

 

wa ajir-ni bi-i'z-zatika mim-ma ar-hab

 

And grant me sanctuary from what I fear through Your might!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَصُن وَّجْهِي بِالْيَسَارِ،

 

wa suw-waj-hiya bil-yasar

 

save my face through ease,

  

وَلا تَبْتَذِلْ جَاهِي بِالإِقْتَارِ

 

wa-la tab-tadhil jahi bi-liq-tar

 

And demean not my dignity through neediness,

  

فَأَسْتَرْزِقَ أَهْلَ رِزْقِكَ،

 

fa-as-tarziqa ah-la rizqik

 

lest I seek provision from those whom You hast provided

  

وَأَسْتَعْطِي شِرَارَ خَلْقِكَ

 

wa as-ta'-ti shirara khal-qik

 

And ask for bestowal from the worst of Your creatures!

  

فَأَفْتَتِنَ بِحَمْدِ مَنْ أَعْطَانِي،

 

fa-af-tatina biham-di man a'-tani

 

And Then I would be tried by praising him who gave to me

  

وَأُبْتَلي بِذَمِّ مَن مَّنَعَنِي

 

wa ub-tala bidhammi mam-mana'ni

 

afflicted with blaming him who held back from me,

  

وَأَنتَ مِن دُونِهِمْ وَلِيُّ الإِعْطَاءِ وَالْمَنْعِ

 

wa anta min dunihim wali-yul-ia'-ta-i wal-man-i'

 

While You— not they— art patron of giving and holding back

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household

  

وَارْزُقْنِي صِحَّةً فِي عِبَادَةٍ،

 

warzuq-ni sih-hatan fi i'badah

 

And provide me with soundness in worship,

  

وَفَرَاغاً فِي زَهَادَةٍ،

 

wa faraghan fi zahadah

 

detachment in renunciation,

  

وَعِلْماً فِي اسْتِعْمَالٍ،

 

wa i'l-man fis-tia'-mal

 

knowledge put into action,

  

وَوَرَعاً فِي إِجْمَالٍ

 

wa wara'an fi ij-mal

 

And abstinence in measure!

  

اللَّهُمَّ اخْتِم بِعَفْوِكَ أَجَلِي

 

allahummakh-tim bia'f-wika ajali

 

O Allah, seal my term with Your pardon,

  

وَحَقِّقْ فِي رَجَاءِ رَحْمَتِكَ أَمَلِي

 

wa haq-qiq fi raja-i rah-matika amali

 

verify my expectation in hoping for thy mercy,

  

وَسَهِّلْ إِلَى بُلُوغِ رِضَاكَ سُبُلِي

 

wa sah-hil ila bulughi rizaka subuli

 

smooth my paths to reach Your good pleasure,

  

وَحَسِّن فِي جَمِيعِ أَحْوَاِلي عَمَلِي

 

wa has-sin fi jamii' ah-wali a'mali

 

And make my works good in all my states!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lih

 

O Allah, bless Muhammad and his Household,

  

وَنَبِّهْنِي لِذِكْرِكَ فِي أَوْقَاتِ الْغَفْلَةِ

 

wa nab-bih-ni lidhik-rika fi aw-qatil-ghaf-lah

 

Incite me to remember You in times of heedlessness,

  

وَاسْتَعْمِلْنِي بِطَاعَتِكَ في أَيَّامِ الْمُهْلَةِ

 

was-ta'-mil-ni bita'tika fi ay-yamil-muh-lah

 

employ me in Your obedience in days of disregard,

  

وَانْهَجْ لِي إِلَى مَحَبَّتِكَ سَبِيلاً سَهْلَةً

 

wan-haj li ila mahab-batika sabilan sah-lah

 

open a smooth road for me to Your love,

  

أَكْمِلْ لِي بِهَا خَيْرَ الدُّنيَا وَالآخِرَةِ

 

ak-milu li biha khayrad-dunyawal-a-khirah

And complete for me thereby the good of this world and the next!

  

اللَّهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّدٍ وَّآلِهِ كَأَفْضَلِ مَا صَلَّيْتَ عَلَى أَحَدٍ مِّنْ خَلْقِكَ قَبْلَهُ وَأَنتَ مُصَلٍّ عَلى أَحَدٍ بَعْدَهُ

 

allahumma sal-li a'la muhammadiw-wa a-lihi ka-af-zali ma sal-layta a'la ahadim min khal-qika qab-lahu wa anta musal-lin a'la ahadim-ba'-dah

 

O Allah, and bless Muhammad and his Household the best You hast blessed any of Your creatures before him and wilt bless any of them after him,

  

وَآتِنَا فِي الدُّنْيَا حَسَنَةً وَّفِي الآخِرَةِ حَسَنَةً

 

wa a-tina fid-dunya hasanataw-wa fil-a-khirati hasanah

 

And give to us in this world good, and in the next world good,

  

وَقِنِي بِرَحْمَتِكَ عَذَابَ النَّارِ

 

wa qini birah-matika a'dhaban-nar

 

And protect me through Your mercy from the chastisement of the Fire!

  

إِنَّكَ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيٍْء قَدِيرٌ، وَهُوَ عَلَيْكَ يَسِيرٌ

 

in-naka a'la kul-li shay-in qadiruw-wahua a'ilayka yasir

 

You are powerful over everything, and that is easy for You!

 

Ameen summa Ameen summa Ameen...

 

and now that things were picking up.

 

just my luck.

Haymarket Reenactment/125th Anniversary

Where Marie Antoinette went to the guillotine with remarkable dignity, her father-in-law's mistress Madame Du Barry was far less composed. The spectacle of her absolute terror and her begging for mercy were pitiful, and her last words were "One moment more, Monsieur Executioner, I beg you!"

Crucifixion role reversal part 3

 

x-lord-x.deviantart.com/art/Crucifixion-role-reversal-par...

 

''Now, retribution is at hand. There is no path too perilous or hazard too great. Giving birth to this dream is my most coveted wish. I will see them all burn. As my pain ends...Theirs begins. and we will rain down our retribution on them. And the land will bathed in light once more. We will kill them all. And they will come to pick the rotting carcass of these demons. Beware, demons. I have the power of the light at my disposal. Enough to fry your rotten bones...And send you back to whatever foul pit you crawled out from. In time they will realize that they merely saved their own tomb. I look forward to watch them rot in it.''

  

Crucifixion is an ancient form of execution in which a person was nailed or bound to a cross.

 

there is little evidence that the Romans used to flog their victims before crucifixion.

 

This is my version of the story where Lord takes the role of Jesus Christ who is not crucified but instead crucifies the demons that tried unsuccessfully to hurt him.

  

Devil May Cry 6

 

Characters:

 

Lord (OC)

 

Lady/ Mary

 

Dante

 

Trish

 

(c) Capcom

 

(c) Platinum Games

 

Devil May Cry

 

Devil May Cry is a video game series developed by Capcom and created by Hideki Kamiya. The gameplay consists of heavy combat scenes in which the player must attempt to extend long chains of attacks while avoiding damage in order to exhibit stylized combat; this element along with time and the amount of items collected and used are taken under consideration when grading the player's performance.

 

''Didn't your daddy teach you how to use a sword?''

 

Trish is a major protagonist in the series. She joined Dante at his shop, and showed excitement at being his partner.

 

Alias Gloria

 

Occupation(s) Vigilante Devil Hunter

 

Appearances Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry 2

Devil May Cry 4

Devil May Cry: The Animated Series

  

"Though a fight every now and then does make life a little more interesting, don't ya think?"

 

Dante is the main protagonist of the Devil May Cry series.Dante is a paranormal mercenary, private investigator, and vigilante Devil Hunter dedicated to exterminating evil demons and other malevolent supernatural forces; a mission he follows in pursuit of those that killed his mother and corrupted his brother.

  

Devil Hunter

Son of Sparda

Legendary Dark Knight

 

Occupation(s) Paranomal Investigator

Mercenary

Devil Hunter

 

Appearance(s) Devil May Cry

Devil May Cry 2

Devil May Cry 3

Devil May Cry 4

 

As a puppet of Mundus, Trish was originally cruel and uncaring, but after Dante saved her, she began to develop emotions towards him, and eventually sacrificed herself to save him from Mundus's attack. After being revived, Trish joined Dante at his shop, and showed excitement at being his partner. She rejoins him in Devil May Cry 4 she has basically the same habits, and additionally seems to enjoy pizza, like Dante, though with a different behavior, such as sitting with her legs over one and the other on dantes table, while flirting with Dante, licking her fingers after finishing the piece she got from the Dante's pizza box, doing a stereotypical girly thing, reapplying lipstick while looking into the reflective blade of Sparda, similar to a vanity mirror. She also executes taunts, such as mentioning "May the Savior be with you." until she chuckles and mentions "As if.", and showm to be lovey-dovey with demons by blowing an explosive kiss.

 

While disguised as Gloria, Trish is very flirtatious and sexually teasing.

 

Devil May Cry 1

 

The demon king Mundus tries to kill Dante by using a very powerful beam from his third eye. However, Trish returns Dante's favor and sacrifices herself instead, pushing Dante out of the beam's path and allowing herself to be struck instead. Before following Mundus into the Underworld, and believing Trish to be dead, Dante utters the famous line, "I should have been the one to fill your dark soul with light!" He then leaves her with the Sparda and the Perfect Amulet. Later, cornered by a heavily mutated Mundus. She lends him her power and Mundus is defeated. With Mundus destroyed, Dante and Trish embrace, and she begins to cry. Dante tells Trish that she has become human, because "Devils never cry". It is implied that she works with Dante at the newly-renamed Devil Never Cry.

 

Devil May Cry 4 Special Edition

 

By this time, Trish is seemingly living with Dante and working alongside him as a Devil Hunter. When Lady informs them about the actions of the Order of the Sword, Trish takes the Sparda to Sanctus while posing as "Gloria", and is made an Executive of the Holy Knights. She uses this placement to spy on the Holy Knights. She discards her disguise once Dante and Nero reach the Order's headquarters, and after the Savior is activated, she goes to evacuate the island's townspeople while Dante attacks the giant statue.

After Sanctus and the Savior are defeated, Trish returns to the Devil May Cry shop with Dante

 

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

Devil May Cry X The Last Judgement is the latest entry in the Devil May Cry franchise. Unlike previous games, this one is a pachinko game, rather than a console game.

Dozens of pickets protesting the pending execution of the Julius and Ethel Rosenberg file past the White House February 14, 1953 after Inaugural stands were removed.

 

A 24-hour vigil had earlier been restricted to East Executive Drive until the stands were removed.

 

Some of the picket signs read, “Mr. President The Rosenbergs Maintain Their Innocence!” “Afro-American says there are Grave Doubts in this Case!” “Mr. President 3000 Ministers Appealed to your Conscience! Reconsider Clemency for the Rosenbergs!” and “The electric chair can’t kill the doubts in the Rosenberg case.”

 

The vigil and picketers were seeking clemency for the Rosenbergs who were convicted of passing atomic secrets to the then wartime ally Soviet Union during 1943-44.

 

The signs read: “Millions All Over the World Plead: Spare the Rosenbergs,” “Wire-write to President Truman today: clemency for the Rosenbergs,” “While doubt of guilt remains commute the Rosenbergs’ death sentence” and “Justice in the United States must not be more vindictive than in other countries.”

 

The protest was sponsored by the Committee to Secure Justice for the Rosenbergs that vowed to organize 24-hour vigils until Truman granted clemency. Picket lines in and around the White House were in fact continuous until the Rosenberg’s execution.

 

The Rosenbergs and a third man, Morton Sobell, were tried together for passing classified information to the Soviet Union related to an atomic bomb.

 

Part of the prosecution strategy was to emphasize their ties to the Communist Party at a time when hysteria over communists in the U.S. was at an all-time high during the Cold War and with U.S. troops battling in Korea against forces aided by both the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of China.

 

The Rosenbergs were convicted, sentenced to death and then executed June 19, 1953 despite an international outcry for clemency. Sobell served 17 ½ years of a 30-year sentence.

 

The Rosenbergs were the only people executed by the U.S. for espionage during the Cold War and the only U.S. citizen civilians in modern times executed by the U.S. for their role in passing secrets to another country.

 

The debate over their sentences continues today, with President Barack Obama refusing to grant posthumous clemency to Ethel Rosenberg while he was in office.

 

The political climate in the U.S. at the time of their arrest and conviction was one of fear--the onset of the Cold War with the Soviet Union following confrontation in Europe and the Soviet Union’s test of an atomic bomb in 1949.

 

Leadership at many levels of the Communist Party USA were being sentenced to jail for their beliefs while the rank and file members were blacklisted from employment and persecuted during the second red scare.

 

At the same time, U.S. forces were fighting in Korea against the communist-led regime centered in North Korea and aided by the People’s Republic of China and the Soviet Union.

 

While the U.S. and the Soviet Union were allies in World War II, the U.S. did not share information on the atom bomb project.

 

The Rosenbergs joined the Young Communist League in the late 1930s. According to his former Soviet handler Alexander Feklisov, Julius began passing classified documents to the Soviet Union while at the Army Signal Corps Engineering Laboratories at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey in 1940.

 

The prosecution saw Julius’ potential cooperation as a chance to break a larger Soviet intelligence group in the U.S. and believed the only way to break Julius was to expose his wife Ethel to the death penalty. The ploy didn’t work.

 

In imposing the death penalty, Judge Irving Kaufman noted that he held them responsible not only for espionage but also for the deaths of the Korean War:

 

“I consider your crime worse than murder... I believe your conduct in putting into the hands of the Russians the A-Bomb years before our best scientists predicted Russia would perfect the bomb has already caused, in my opinion, the Communist aggression in Korea, with the resultant casualties exceeding 50,000 and who knows but that millions more of innocent people may pay the price of your treason. Indeed, by your betrayal you undoubtedly have altered the course of history to the disadvantage of our country. No one can say that we do not live in a constant state of tension. We have evidence of your treachery all around us every day for the civilian defense activities throughout the nation are aimed at preparing us for an atom bomb attack.”

 

Commenting on the sentence given to them, Julius Rosenberg claimed the case was a political frame-up.

 

“This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be. There had to be a Rosenberg case, because there had to be an intensification of the hysteria in America to make the Korean War acceptable to the American people. There had to be hysteria and a fear sent through America in order to get increased war budgets. And there had to be a dagger thrust in the heart of the left to tell them that you are no longer gonna get five years for a Smith Act prosecution or one year for contempt of court, but we're gonna kill ya!”

 

An article by Norman Markowitz for Political Affairs in 2008 sums up another point of view.

 

“These were people who, for ill or for good, admired both Soviet leader Joseph Stalin and President Franklin Roosevelt as advancing the struggle for working-class liberation against fascism. They saw them as helping to bring about more than a “better world,” but a world with a socialist system that fostered equality, peace and social justice. If patriotism in its most simple definition means love of country, this was the America that communists defended and loved, rather than the America of Standard Oil, Herbert and J. Edgar Hoover, the corporate leadership ready and willing to do business with Hitler, Mussolini and the Japanese militarists both to make money and fight socialist revolutions.”

 

This point of view also holds that providing the Soviets with intelligence on the atomic bomb helped ensure that the U.S. would not launch nuclear weapons again after the bombings of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in 1945.

 

The question of the Rosenberg’s guilt has been debated since their arrest. Evidence uncovered in more recent years that convincingly indicates that Julius was involved in espionage. The evidence against Ethel is less convincing and more circumstantial.

 

Those charged or implicated with the Rosenbergs include:

 

Julius Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953

Ethel Rosenberg: executed June 19, 1953

David Greenglass: served 9 and half years of a 15-year sentence

Ruth Greenglass: not charged, granted immunity

Morton Sobell: served 17 years, nine months of a 30-year sentence

Harry Gold: served 14 years of a 30-year sentence

Klaus Fuchs: served 9 years of a 14-year sentence in Great Britain

 

For more information and related images, see flic.kr/s/aHskkQha2c

 

Photo by Ranny Routt. The image is courtesy of the D.C. Public Library Washington Star Collection © Washington Post.

 

安平東興洋行 - 四季公園日本式庭園 / 雖然在角落裡藏身 - 張大眼睛就有靈魂

An Ping Old Julius Mannich Merchant House - The four seasons park The Japanese style garden / Although hides in the corner - Open the eyes to be have the soul

Una casa vieja del comerciante de Julio Mannich del silbido de bala - Las cuatro estaciones parquean el jardín del estilo japonés / Aunque oculte en la esquina - abra los ojos para ser tienen el alma

安平東興洋行 - 四季の公園日本式の花や木のある庭 / 隅の中で身を隠しますが - 目を誇張して魂があります

Ein Kaufmanns-Haus Klingeln-altes Julius-Mannich - Der Park mit vier Jahreszeiten Der Garten der japanischen Art / Obgleich in der Ecke sich versteckt - öffnen Sie die Augen, um zu sein haben die Seele

Une vieille Chambre du négociant de Jules Mannich de cinglement - Les quatre saisons garent le jardin de modèle japonais / Bien que se cache dans le coin - ouvrez les yeux pour être ont l'âme

 

Anping Tainan Taiwan / Anping Tainan Taiwán / 台灣台南安平

 

真誠地 / 碁魂

{Sincerely / 切実に}

 

{View large size on fluidr / 觀看大圖}

  

{My Blog / 管樂小集精彩演出-觸動你的心}

{My Blog / Great Music The splendid performance touches your heart}

{My Blog / 管楽小集すばらしい公演-はあなたの心を心を打ちます}

{Mi blog / La gran música el funcionamiento espléndido toca su corazón}

{Mein Blog / Große Musik die herrliche Leistung berührt Ihr Herz}

{Mon blog / La grande musique l'exécution splendide touche votre coeur}

  

家住安南鹽溪邊

The family lives in nearby the Annan salt river

 

隔壁就是聽雨軒

The next door listens to the rain porch

 

一旦落日照大員

The sunset Shineing to the Taiwan at once

 

左岸青龍飛九天

The left bank white dragon flying in the sky

day 85 – Saddam’s execution has haunted me all day.

My TV is set to wake me in the morning; it is a more gentle way to wake up than the insipid beeping of an alarm clock which, as well as waking you, induces a coronary heart attack.

This morning I woke gently to the news that a man had been executed. At 6am Iraq time Saddam Hussein was hanged. I couldn't quite believe it had happened. I sat up and watched the continuous report on BBC news and all I could think of was that one more person had lost a life.

Saddam, from what little I know, was not a nice man. He was directly and indirectly responsible for literally millions of lost lives. His regime tortured and brutalised a nation and his legacy continues to infect what was once the centre of civilisation.

This presents me with a moral problem. I just can not condone capital punishment. It is a brutal way to carry out justice and no one, and I mean no one, deserves to die in that manner. But in taking that stance I am asking for mercy and compassion for a man that showed none to his victims. I have to admit I briefly thought that his death was a good thing but I quickly retracted that thought. In a modern society we should not execute people. Let’s face it, there is no punishment that befits genocide and mass murder and another death does little to help.

The other disturbing thing about this event is the display of the execution on TV. I remember the uproar when terrorists executed Kenneth Bigley by beheading him. They then distributed the video over the Internet. The world was outraged. Are we any different presenting Saddam’s execution? We need to take a step back and think about what we are looking at. I heard someone say “Oh the hanging is on the Internet, Can I look?” I said “Why?” The reply was slightly chilling “Oh I don’t know. It might be interesting, might be fun.” I was taken aback at the thought that someone I know well could actually see the death of another human as entertaining.

 

I wonder if we will ever learn.

 

Why are you still standing here? Would you like to be decapitated?

Taliban Execution - Three Northern Alliance soldiers fire simultaneously into a Taliban soldier who had been captured while attempting to resist their advance toward Kabul, Afghanistan. A small number of hardline Taliban soldiers chose to stay on the front line and fight the Northern Alliance, and those who didn't escape were killed immediately. The man yelling in the background was encouraging the soldiers in their actions.

Austria Kunsthistorisches Museum

Federal Museum

Logo KHM

Regulatory authority (ies)/organs to the Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture

Founded 17 October 1891

Headquartered Castle Ring (Burgring), Vienna 1, Austria

Management Sabine Haag

www.khm.at website

Main building of the Kunsthistorisches Museum at Maria-Theresa-Square

The Kunsthistorisches Museum (KHM abbreviated) is an art museum in Vienna. It is one of the largest and most important museums in the world. It was opened in 1891 and 2012 visited of 1.351.940 million people.

The museum

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is with its opposite sister building, the Natural History Museum (Naturhistorisches Museum), the most important historicist large buildings of the Ringstrasse time. Together they stand around the Maria Theresa square, on which also the Maria Theresa monument stands. This course spans the former glacis between today's ring road and 2-line, and is forming a historical landmark that also belongs to World Heritage Site Historic Centre of Vienna.

History

Archduke Leopold Wilhelm in his Gallery

The Museum came from the collections of the Habsburgs, especially from the portrait and armor collections of Ferdinand of Tyrol, the collection of Emperor Rudolf II (most of which, however scattered) and the art collection of Archduke Leopold Wilhelm into existence. Already In 1833 asked Joseph Arneth, curator (and later director) of the Imperial Coins and Antiquities Cabinet, bringing together all the imperial collections in a single building .

Architectural History

The contract to build the museum in the city had been given in 1858 by Emperor Franz Joseph. Subsequently, many designs were submitted for the ring road zone. Plans by August Sicard von Sicardsburg and Eduard van der Null planned to build two museum buildings in the immediate aftermath of the Imperial Palace on the left and right of the Heroes' Square (Heldenplatz). The architect Ludwig Förster planned museum buildings between the Schwarzenberg Square and the City Park, Martin Ritter von Kink favored buildings at the corner Währingerstraße/ Scots ring (Schottenring), Peter Joseph, the area Bellariastraße, Moritz von Loehr the south side of the opera ring, and Ludwig Zettl the southeast side of the grain market (Getreidemarkt).

From 1867, a competition was announced for the museums, and thereby set their current position - at the request of the Emperor, the museum should not be too close to the Imperial Palace, but arise beyond the ring road. The architect Carl von Hasenauer participated in this competition and was able the at that time in Zürich operating Gottfried Semper to encourage to work together. The two museum buildings should be built here in the sense of the style of the Italian Renaissance. The plans got the benevolence of the imperial family. In April 1869, there was an audience with of Joseph Semper at the Emperor Franz Joseph and an oral contract was concluded, in July 1870 was issued the written order to Semper and Hasenauer.

Crucial for the success of Semper and Hasenauer against the projects of other architects were among others Semper's vision of a large building complex called "Imperial Forum", in which the museums would have been a part of. Not least by the death of Semper in 1879 came the Imperial Forum not as planned for execution, the two museums were built, however.

Construction of the two museums began without ceremony on 27 November 1871 instead. Semper moved to Vienna in the sequence. From the beginning, there were considerable personal differences between him and Hasenauer, who finally in 1877 took over sole construction management. 1874, the scaffolds were placed up to the attic and the first floor completed, built in 1878, the first windows installed in 1879, the Attica and the balustrade from 1880 to 1881 and built the dome and the Tabernacle. The dome is topped with a bronze statue of Pallas Athena by Johannes Benk.

The lighting and air conditioning concept with double glazing of the ceilings made ​​the renunciation of artificial light (especially at that time, as gas light) possible, but this resulted due to seasonal variations depending on daylight to different opening times .

Kuppelhalle

Entrance (by clicking the link at the end of the side you can see all the pictures here indicated!)

Grand staircase

Hall

Empire

The Kunsthistorisches Museum was on 17 October 1891 officially opened by Emperor Franz Joseph I. Since 22 October 1891 , the museum is accessible to the public. Two years earlier, on 3 November 1889, the collection of arms, Arms and Armour today, had their doors open. On 1 January 1890 the library service resumed its operations. The merger and listing of other collections of the Highest Imperial Family from the Upper and Lower Belvedere, the Hofburg Palace and Ambras in Tyrol will need another two years.

189, the farm museum was organized in seven collections with three directorates:

Directorate of coins, medals and antiquities collection

The Egyptian Collection

The Antique Collection

The coins and medals collection

Management of the collection of weapons, art and industrial objects

Weapons collection

Collection of industrial art objects

Directorate of Art Gallery and Restaurieranstalt (Restoration Office)

Collection of watercolors, drawings, sketches, etc.

Restoration Office

Library

Very soon the room the Court Museum (Hofmuseum) for the imperial collections was offering became too narrow. To provide temporary help, an exhibition of ancient artifacts from Ephesus in the Theseus Temple was designed. However, additional space had to be rented in the Lower Belvedere.

1914, after the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, heir to the throne, his " Estonian Forensic Collection " passed to the administration of the Court Museum. This collection, which emerged from the art collection of the house of d' Este and world travel collection of Franz Ferdinand, was placed in the New Imperial Palace since 1908. For these stocks, the present collection of old musical instruments and the Museum of Ethnology emerged.

The First World War went by, apart from the oppressive economic situation without loss. The farm museum remained during the five years of war regularly open to the public.

Until 1919 the K.K. Art Historical Court Museum was under the authority of the Oberstkämmereramt (head chamberlain office) and belonged to the House of Habsburg-Lorraine. The officials and employees were part of the royal household.

First Republic

The transition from monarchy to republic, in the museum took place in complete tranquility. On 19 November 1918 the two imperial museums on Maria Theresa Square were placed under the state protection of the young Republic of German Austria. Threatening to the stocks of the museum were the claims raised in the following weeks and months of the "successor states" of the monarchy as well as Italy and Belgium on Austrian art collection. In fact, it came on 12th February 1919 to the violent removal of 62 paintings by armed Italian units. This "art theft" left a long time trauma among curators and art historians.

It was not until the Treaty of Saint-Germain of 10 September 1919, providing in Article 195 and 196 the settlement of rights in the cultural field by negotiations. The claims of Belgium, Czechoslovakia, and Italy again could mostly being averted in this way. Only Hungary, which presented the greatest demands by far, was met by more than ten years of negotiation in 147 cases.

On 3 April 1919 was the expropriation of the House of Habsburg-Lorraine by law and the acquisition of its property, including the "Collections of the Imperial House" , by the Republic. Of 18 June 1920 the then provisional administration of the former imperial museums and collections of Este and the secular and clergy treasury passed to the State Office of Internal Affairs and Education, since 10 November 1920, the Federal Ministry of the Interior and Education. A few days later it was renamed the Art History Court Museum in the "Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna State", 1921 "Kunsthistorisches Museum" . Of 1st January 1921 the employees of the museum staff passed to the state of the Republic.

Through the acquisition of the former imperial collections owned by the state, the museum found itself in a complete new situation. In order to meet the changed circumstances in the museum area, designed Hans Tietze in 1919 the "Vienna Museum program". It provided a close cooperation between the individual museums to focus at different houses on main collections. So dominated exchange, sales and equalizing the acquisition policy in the interwar period. Thus resulting until today still valid collection trends. Also pointing the way was the relocation of the weapons collection from 1934 in its present premises in the New Castle, where since 1916 the collection of ancient musical instruments was placed.

With the change of the imperial collections in the ownership of the Republic the reorganization of the internal organization went hand in hand, too. Thus the museum was divided in 1919 into the Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection (with the Oriental coins)

Collection of Classical Antiquities

Collection of ancient coins

Collection of modern coins and medals

Weapons collection

Collection of sculptures and crafts with the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments

Picture Gallery

The Museum 1938-1945

Count Philipp Ludwig Wenzel Sinzendorf according to Rigaud. Clarisse 1948 by Baroness de Rothschildt "dedicated" to the memory of Baron Alphonse de Rothschildt; restituted to the Rothschilds in 1999, and in 1999 donated by Bettina Looram Rothschild, the last Austrian heiress.

With the "Anschluss" of Austria to the German Reich all Jewish art collections such as the Rothschilds were forcibly "Aryanised". Collections were either "paid" or simply distributed by the Gestapo at the museums. This resulted in a significant increase in stocks. But the KHM was not the only museum that benefited from the linearization. Systematically looted Jewish property was sold to museums, collections or in pawnshops throughout the empire.

After the war, the museum struggled to reimburse the "Aryanised" art to the owners or their heirs. They forced the Rothschild family to leave the most important part of their own collection to the museum and called this "dedications", or "donations". As a reason, was the export law stated, which does not allow owners to perform certain works of art out of the country. Similar methods were used with other former owners. Only on the basis of international diplomatic and media pressure, to a large extent from the United States, the Austrian government decided to make a change in the law (Art Restitution Act of 1998, the so-called Lex Rothschild). The art objects were the Rothschild family refunded only in the 1990s.

The Kunsthistorisches Museum operates on the basis of the federal law on the restitution of art objects from the 4th December 1998 (Federal Law Gazette I, 181 /1998) extensive provenance research. Even before this decree was carried out in-house provenance research at the initiative of the then archive director Herbert Haupt. This was submitted in 1998 by him in collaboration with Lydia Grobl a comprehensive presentation of the facts about the changes in the inventory levels of the Kunsthistorisches Museum during the Nazi era and in the years leading up to the State Treaty of 1955, an important basis for further research provenance.

The two historians Susanne Hehenberger and Monika Löscher are since 1st April 2009 as provenance researchers at the Kunsthistorisches Museum on behalf of the Commission for Provenance Research operating and they deal with the investigation period from 1933 to the recent past.

The museum today

Today the museum is as a federal museum, with 1st January 1999 released to the full legal capacity - it was thus the first of the state museums of Austria, implementing the far-reaching self-financing. It is by far the most visited museum in Austria with 1.3 million visitors (2007).

The Kunsthistorisches Museum is under the name Kunsthistorisches Museum and Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian Theatre Museum with company number 182081t since 11 June 1999 as a research institution under public law of the Federal virtue of the Federal Museums Act, Federal Law Gazette I/115/1998 and the Museum of Procedure of the Kunsthistorisches Museum and Museum of Ethnology and the Austrian Theatre Museum, 3 January 2001, BGBl II 2/ 2001, in force since 1 January 2001, registered.

In fiscal 2008, the turnover was 37.185 million EUR and total assets amounted to EUR 22.204 million. In 2008 an average of 410 workers were employed.

Management

1919-1923: Gustav Glück as the first chairman of the College of science officials

1924-1933: Hermann Julius Hermann 1924-1925 as the first chairman of the College of the scientific officers in 1925 as first director

1933: Arpad Weixlgärtner first director

1934-1938: Alfred Stix first director

1938-1945: Fritz Dworschak 1938 as acting head, from 1938 as a chief in 1941 as first director

1945-1949: August von Loehr 1945-1948 as executive director of the State Art Collections in 1949 as general director of the historical collections of the Federation

1945-1949: Alfred Stix 1945-1948 as executive director of the State Art Collections in 1949 as general director of art historical collections of the Federation

1949-1950: Hans Demel as administrative director

1950: Karl Wisoko-Meytsky as general director of art and historical collections of the Federation

1951-1952: Fritz Eichler as administrative director

1953-1954: Ernst H. Buschbeck as administrative director

1955-1966: Vincent Oberhammer 1955-1959 as administrative director, from 1959 as first director

1967: Edward Holzmair as managing director

1968-1972: Erwin Auer first director

1973-1981: Friderike Klauner first director

1982-1990: Hermann Fillitz first director

1990: George Kugler as interim first director

1990-2008: Wilfried Seipel as general director

2009-2019: Sabine Haag as general director

2019– : Eike Schmidt (art historian, designated)

Collections

To the Kunsthistorisches Museum are also belonging the collections of the New Castle, the Austrian Theatre Museum in Palais Lobkowitz, the Museum of Ethnology and the Wagenburg (wagon fortress) in an outbuilding of Schönbrunn Palace. A branch office is also Ambras in Innsbruck.

Kunsthistorisches Museum (main building)

Picture Gallery

Egyptian and Near Eastern Collection

Collection of Classical Antiquities

Vienna Chamber of Art

Numismatic Collection

Library

New Castle

Ephesus Museum

Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments

Arms and Armour

Archive

Hofburg

The imperial crown in the Treasury

Imperial Treasury of Vienna

Insignia of the Austrian Hereditary Homage

Insignia of imperial Austria

Insignia of the Holy Roman Empire

Burgundian Inheritance and the Order of the Golden Fleece

Habsburg-Lorraine Household Treasure

Ecclesiastical Treasury

Schönbrunn Palace

Imperial Carriage Museum Vienna

Armory in Ambras Castle

Ambras Castle

Collections of Ambras Castle

Major exhibits

Among the most important exhibits of the Art Gallery rank inter alia:

Jan van Eyck: Cardinal Niccolò Albergati, 1438

Martin Schongauer: Holy Family, 1475-80

Albrecht Dürer : Trinity Altar, 1509-16

Portrait Johann Kleeberger, 1526

Parmigianino: Self Portrait in Convex Mirror, 1523/24

Giuseppe Arcimboldo: Summer 1563

Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio: Madonna of the Rosary 1606/ 07

Caravaggio: Madonna of the Rosary (1606-1607)

Titian: Nymph and Shepherd to 1570-75

Portrait of Jacopo de Strada, 1567/68

Raffaello Santi: Madonna of the Meadow, 1505 /06

Lorenzo Lotto: Portrait of a young man against white curtain, 1508

Peter Paul Rubens: The altar of St. Ildefonso, 1630-32

The Little Fur, about 1638

Jan Vermeer: The Art of Painting, 1665/66

Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Fight between Carnival and Lent, 1559

Kids, 1560

Tower of Babel, 1563

Christ Carrying the Cross, 1564

Gloomy Day (Early Spring), 1565

Return of the Herd (Autumn), 1565

Hunters in the Snow (Winter) 1565

Bauer and bird thief, 1568

Peasant Wedding, 1568/69

Peasant Dance, 1568/69

Paul's conversion (Conversion of St Paul), 1567

Cabinet of Curiosities:

Saliera from Benvenuto Cellini 1539-1543

Egyptian-Oriental Collection:

Mastaba of Ka Ni Nisut

Collection of Classical Antiquities:

Gemma Augustea

Treasure of Nagyszentmiklós

Gallery: Major exhibits

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kunsthistorisches_Museum

Electrum level

Dran, "Public Execution", POW, Londres, Février 2015

For a photosession during school

There is a lot of construction ongoing at this location which happens to be beside the Airbnb HQ. It should also be mentioned that Airbnb has leased more office space at the Reflector office building on Hanover Quay, directly beside its existing European headquarters building, and plans to build a physical link between the two blocks.

 

Grand Canal Dock was constructed in the 1790s, to designs by William Jessop, to terminate an extension of the Grand Canal, the Circular Line, from Grand Canal Harbour at James's Street. These sea locks were an integral component of the docks, as they were designed to accommodate the tidal River Liffey with the still water of the canal. Well executed in tooled granite, each lock was named after English viceroys. Westmoreland Lock, the smallest of the three, was designed to accommodate canal boats, while Camden and Buckingham Locks were intended to accommodate ocean-going vessels. However, by the 1830s, the newer varieties of steam-powered paddle steamer were too large for even Camden Lock, the largest of the three, rendering the docks unfit for purpose. Buckingham and Westmoreland Locks remain in working order. The use of tooled stone creates a sense of unity between these locks and the basin itself, while inscribed lettering to the walls lends contextual as well as decorative interest. There is an impressive level of skill and artisanship evident in their execution, an important reminder of Ireland's civil engineering and maritime history and heritage.

 

 

Douggy Carpool: hey how r u doin

Kaycee Nightfire: ok

Douggy Carpool: wat u doin out there

Kaycee Nightfire: shooting a bear

 

Guess I'm not going to Disney World anytime soon .....

Knight Elkcrown's squire won a fair battle. But no blood was to be spilled, said the bailiff, and the losing squire's life got spared.

Art of the lived experiment

 

Exhibition at the Bluecoat, Liverpool, 8 November 2014 until 11 January 2015

2007. Dachau. Execution yard.

  

NIKON D700

Nikon AF Fisheye Nikkor 16mm f/2.8D lens

ISO 200

F11

1/500 s

 

See bigger here and more here.

An old penny arcade machine in pretty bad taste at North Somerset Museum. You put in money... and the guy gets executed.

Exécution sans jugement sous les rois Maures de Grenade (Execution without judgement under the Moorish Kings of Grenada)

1870

By Henri Regnault (1843 - 1871)

Oil on canvas, H. 3.02 ; L. 1.46 m

musée d'Orsay, Paris, France

 

Regnault’s grand canvas still unsettles many visitors to the Musée d’Orsay. Whereas other nearby paintings in the museum have long since lost their avant-garde capacity to disturb viewers’ expectations, Regnault’s canvas has retained its shock value. One major reason for this response is not so much the bloody scene in the foreground as the viewer’s position vis-à-vis this macabre subject. As Linda Nochlin has pointed out, when the canvas is hung at the correct height, the decapitated corpse rests at the viewer’s own eye level.

   

My entry for the Vignette 2012 Contest Historic theme. This vignette displays the execution of Murdock. Murdock has stolen food from a towns food reserves that it needed to help bring the folk through the winter. This is a serious crime and is punished by "The Hunger Chain". The thief is chained so that he can almost reach the food and water in front of him. Almost. He will die a slow and terrible death. The Guard ensures that nobody tries to free or kill him. This will teach people not to steal from the food reserves!

 

f.y.i.: this is a rebuild of an earlier version.

35 Brewer St. Soho London W1

Here is George as the Robot Executioner reads him his sentence. He is to be JUICED!

  

More pics of Execution area. Added crowd and soldiers.

The Rebels Return Wood Sculptures. Wat Tyler Park, Basildon, Essex.

 

Full size high quality images available on request.

This book is next on my list of books to read. =) Hope I can learn something from it.

The Postcard

 

A postcard that was published by Valentine & Sons Ltd. of Dundee and London. The image is a glossy real photograph.

 

The card was posted in Glasgow on Wednesday the 7th. January 1959 to:

 

Mr. & Mrs. H. Johnson,

207, Churchill Road,

Parkstone,

Poole,

Dorset.

 

The message on the divided back of the card was as follows:

 

"Wed.

Arrived back all right.

Plenty of snow on the

way up but quite mild

here.

Thank you for our cards.

I have a small room but

nice and warm.

There are 22 of us in the

Y.M.C.A. so far.

Will write later.

Arthur".

 

Eddington

 

Eddington was a village in Kent, South East England to the south-east of Herne Bay, to the west of Beltinge and to the north of Herne.

 

It is now a suburb of Herne Bay, in Greenhill and Eddington Ward, one of the five wards of Herne Bay.

 

Its main landmark for over 100 years until 2010 was Herne Bay Court, a former school which once possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England. It later became a Christian conference centre.

 

Herne Bay Court

 

Herne Bay Court Evangelical Centre, known locally as Herne Bay Court, was a Herne Bay local landmark from around 1900 to around 2008.

 

Around 1900, James Thurman bought part of Parsonage Farm at Eddington from Joseph Gore who had leased 165 acres between Herne and the sea at the end of the 19th century. Gore kept the 15-acre field which still exists at the end of Parsonage Road, and kept a herd to supply The Creameries in Herne Bay, but sold up in 1914.

 

Meanwhile, on the site of the old farmstead Thurman built New College, known locally as Eddington College, as a school in competition with Herne Bay College which at that time occupied numbers 6–8 St George's Terrace, Herne Bay and was run by Captain Eustace Turner.

 

Both schools were evacuated in World War I, and were requisitioned by the military. Thurman retired, and after the war Eddington College was taken over by Captain Turner who ran it as Herne Bay College until 1939. The college specialised in engineering, and in the 1930's the college possessed one of the largest and best-equipped school engineering workshops in England, and was remarkable for its many engineering examination successes.

 

However the building and its engineering equipment were requisitioned for the World War II war effort. After the loss of the engineering equipment, the school could not re-open after the war, and the building was sold.

 

It re-opened in 1949 as Herne Bay Court: a Christian conference centre. By 2006 it had closed, and had been standing empty for several years, with the council discussing development plans.

 

Between 2007 and 2010 there was a local movement to save or reopen Herne Bay Court. The building is locally listed in respect of its use as army headquarters in World War II. The trees at Herne Bay court are subject to a tree preservation order.

 

Development of the Site

 

Developers had hoped to build 117 apartments for people aged over 55 on the former Christian holiday camp at Herne Bay Court in Canterbury Road.

 

However plans for a £35 million retirement village in Herne Bay were scrapped in June 2017. Bosses at Bethel Retirement Villages pulled the plug on the scheme, with the site expected to be used instead for conventional housing.

 

If anyone knows the current situation regarding Herne Bay Court, please leave a note. Google satellite view indicates that the grounds have not been built on.

 

Executions in Cuba

 

So what else happened on the day that Arthur posted the card?

 

Well, on the 7th. January 1959, Cuba's new government announced the first executions of former officials of Fulgencio Batista.

 

Ten officers were executed at Santiago de Cuba, including Col. Arcadio Casillas, who oversaw Santiago.

 

The same day, the United States recognized the new Cuban government of Fidel Castro.

 

'It's Only Male Believe'

 

Also on that day, the Number One chart hit in the UK was 'It's Only Make Believe' by Conway Twitty.

 

Ben-Hur

 

The 7th. January 1959 also marked the final day of shooting of the film Ben-Hur.

 

Ben-Hur is an American religious epic film directed by William Wyler, produced by Sam Zimbalist, and starring Charlton Heston as the title character. A remake of the 1925 silent film with a similar title, it was adapted from Lew Wallace's 1880 novel 'Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ'.

 

Ben-Hur had the largest budget ($15.175 million), as well as the largest sets built, of any film produced up to that time.

 

Costume designer Elizabeth Haffenden oversaw a staff of 100 wardrobe fabricators to make the costumes, and a workshop employing 200 artists and workmen provided the hundreds of friezes and statues needed in the film.

 

Filming commenced on the 18th. May 1958, and wrapped on the 7th. January 1959, with shooting lasting for 12 to 14 hours a day for six days a week. Pre-production began in Italy at Cinecittà around October 1957, and post-production took six months.

 

Under cinematographer Robert L. Surtees, executives at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer made the decision to produce the film in a widescreen format. Over 200 camels and 2,500 horses were used in the shooting of the film, with some 10,000 extras. The sea battle was filmed using miniatures in a huge tank on the back lot at the MGM Studios in Culver City, California.

 

The nine-minute chariot race has become one of cinema's most famous action sequences, and the score, composed and conducted by Miklós Rózsa, was at the time the longest ever composed for a film, and was highly influential on cinema in subsequent years.

 

Following a $14.7 million marketing effort, Ben-Hur premiered at Loew's State Theatre in New York City on the 18th. November 1959. It was the fastest-grossing, as well as the highest-grossing film of 1959, becoming the second highest-grossing film in history at the time, after Gone with the Wind.

 

Ben-Hur won a record eleven Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director (Wyler), Best Actor in a Leading Role (Heston), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Griffith), and Best Cinematography – Color (Surtees).

 

The film also won Golden Globe Awards for Best Motion Picture – Drama, Best Director, and Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture for Stephen Boyd.

 

In 1998, the American Film Institute named it the 72nd. best American film and the second best American epic film.

 

In 2004, the National Film Preservation Board selected Ben-Hur for preservation by the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress for being culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant.

my new guillotine

Public Domain

Spray Paint on Antique Advertisements and Wallpapered Birch

36" x 48" x 2"

2011