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Read the inspiring MayDay Rally speeches! #1 by Howard Woodhouse
I’ve come here today with several questions:
What is a University?
What are some of the defining characteristics of a public university like the U of S?
Shouldn’t a university provide universal, or rather inclusive, forms of understanding to those who come to learn?
Hence, a place where there is a balanced relationship between teaching, learning, scholarship, and research?
Certainly, these have until recently been defining characteristics of public universities.
So, in light of these, let us imagine a family from Saskatchewan who wish to send their daughter to the U of S.
There are two immediate questions they have to ask: first, can we afford to send our daughter to the U of S; second, how much choice will she have in her undergraduate programs?
To the first question, the family will soon learn that Saskatchewan universities have the second highest fees in the country, according to Stats Canada.
To the second question, the daughter will soon learn that among the programs under threat by TransformUS are those in languages, mathematics, philosophy, religion and culture, art, music, and drama.
In other words, a liberal arts education may well be expunged together with the critical thought which it develops.
As a result, the sons and daughters of the people of Saskatchewan who pay for the U of S are being robbed of a pillar of university education.
And what, one might ask do senior administrators have to say about this state of affairs?
Bearing in mind that their numbers have increased by more than 100% since the year 2000 and that their salaries amount to $4.74 million?
In December, the president offered some encouragement by stating that “the university missions are teaching and learning and discovery, and any dollar spent on administration is a dollar that isn’t going to the core missions” (SP, 10 December 2013, p.A2).
This is a frank admission that senior administrators do not carry out any of the core functions of the U of S.
However, at the GAA last month the president stated that she did not know what educational quality means and was mistrustful of its use.
This is another frank admission, one that reveals either an ignorance of pedagogical practice or a dismissal of its importance.
Considerable research shows that educational quality requires classes small enough that dialogue can take place among faculty and students, enabling critical thought in which all knowledge claims can be questioned.
But, of course, the practice of questioning knowledge claims by faculty and students has its dangers for those in power.
When questioned by a student at the same meeting, the president ruled out not only a debate about TransformUS but also any further discussion of the alleged deficit in the university budget.
Is this a trend we can expect from senior administrators, namely the abandonment of reason in the one place in society where one should expect rationality to be sovereign?
Today’s rally demonstrates that some of us – students, faculty, staff, alumni, members of the public – are aware of the need to defend the core values of the university before they are frittered away for a few pieces of gold.
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Some News Articles and videos a regarding the Rally and issues that lead to it:
Rally held opposing TransformUS plan of action (Video and Article on Global News):
globalnews.ca/news/1305395/rally-held-opposing-university...
As rally takes place on campus, NDP raises concerns about University of Saskatchewan's overhaul plan (Video on The StarPhoenix)
www.thestarphoenix.com/news/rally+takes+place+campus+rais...
U of S should face elephant in room (The StarPhoenix): www.thestarphoenix.com/should+face+elephant+room/9794892/...
U of S upheaval unwarranted (The StarPhoenix): www.thestarphoenix.com/upheaval+unwarranted/9799333/story...
Campus May Day rally protests looming cuts (The StarPhoenix):
www.thestarphoenix.com/business/Campus+rally+protests+loo...
TransformUS plan to cut $25.3M from University of Saskatchewan spending (The StarPhoenix): www.thestarphoenix.com/news/saskatoon/TransformUS+plan+mi...
Campus rally pans U of S cuts(CKOM):
ckom.com/story/campus-rally-pans-u-s-cuts/330558
Free Academia at USask:
freeacademiausask.blogspot.ca/
U of S cost-cutting a ‘disaster,’ Killam Prize winner says (The StarPhoenix):
www.thestarphoenix.com/entertainment/cost+cutting+disaste...
U of S distanced from noble ideal (The StarPhoenix):
www.thestarphoenix.com/touch/story.html?id=9424521
University of Saskatchewan Faculty Association VOX (USFA):
To address low understanding of nutrition among Russian school children and their parents, Nestlé developed a ‘Good Nutrition’ programme to help families adopt good nutrition habits, such as regular consumption of fruits and vegetables. The programme teaches low-income families how to allocate budgets for buying healthier food and provides recipes for cooking affordable and healthy Russian food.
Nestlé Research Center studies behaviour to understand drivers of pleasure and healthy food choices.
ABOUT ME:
a) I've got double digit peripheral vision.
b) My skin has been compared to that of a baby dolphin.
c) I'm in a music act called Adult Film Stars.
d) My power is beyond your understanding.
e) I've got one foot in the grave and one on a banana pill.
f) I really enjoy trees.
g) I'm a co-founder of PRO SMOKERS TOUR.
h) I'm good at nuetralizing bad situations. It's a gift.
i) I can {F} but I can't {L}....so I've been told.
j) it's a gift.
k) I would love to lay Juliette Lewis and Drew Barrymore.
l) When I was a teenager I jacked off a lot.
m) I didn't have sex for one year and a half once.
n) I gotta love kissing a woman for me to perform sexually.
o) I regret not having sex with Vanessa.
p) I've sold marijuana occasionally if I really "needed" the money.
q) I still love all my ex-girlfriends.
r) For the most part I delivered a baby once.
s) I was born in Heidelberg, Germany.
t) The first time I performed cunnilingus I was 17. LOVED IT!!
u) Rockn a live show is pretty cool too.
v) I know I'm the one to do what needs to be done.
w) I was invited to a Bukkake Party 3 years ago. I didn't go.
x) Women seem to like me a lot. I like them too.
y) Lately I've found slightly chubby chicks really fn hot.
z) I'm that guy who said, "just put ur {D} in the wind".
CONTACTS:
www.facebook.com/danieldayzuko
www.facebook.com/ProSmokersAssociation
The U.S. Embassy in Islamabad and Kuch Khaas commemorated Daniel Pearl World Music Days with an evening of poetry, music, and dance titled Harmony for Humanity” at the Pakistan National Council of the Arts on Saturday, October 3. The event demonstrated the important role the arts play in promoting peace, tolerance, and mutual understanding. Lahore-based choreographer Nighat Chaodhry and composer Faheem Mazhar melded contemporary and traditional Pakistani music and dance to show how unity and harmony can develop out of conflict.
U.S. Ambassador Richard G. Olson welcomed the crowd of 500 students, educators, cultural representatives, and arts enthusiasts, and highlighted “our shared tradition – Pakistani and American – of using music to spread peace and tolerance.”
The concert was part of the fourteenth annual Daniel Pearl World Music Days, held worldwide in October since 2002 to commemorate the life of slain U.S. Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. Daniel Pearl World Music Days is an international network of concerts that uses the power of music to reaffirm a global commitment to tolerance and humanity. Since its inception, Daniel Pearl World Music Days has grown to more than 13,400 performances in 138 countries.
The evening performance followed two days of dance workshops organized around the theme of peace and tolerance led by renowned choreographer Nighat Chaodhry. Chaodhry worked with students across Islamabad to demonstrate the powerful role dance and music play in promoting tolerance and building mutual understanding. Students left the workshops prepared to incorporate powerful social messages in their own artistic endeavors.
The U.S. Embassy provides over $1 million annually in support of musical arts programming in Pakistan. Each year, dozens of Pakistani artists participate in musical exchange programs to the United States, collaborations with U.S. musicians, and performances both in Pakistan and abroad with U.S. government support.
Learn more about the event at www.facebook.com/pakistan.usembassy.
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The exhibition "Understanding AI" shows how neural networks are structured and offers visitors the opportunity to train neural networks themselveswith via interactive stations.
Credit: Ars Electronica / Robert Bauernhansl
Leipziger Buchmesse 2017 / Leipzig Book Fair 2017
2017-03-24 (Friday)
2017_002
2017#289 / 2017#290
Elisa_010901 (Elisa) ____ as Harley Quinn from Batman
Rebecca-1110 (Rebecca) ____ as Ratana from ____
Thank you for any group invites which I'd be glad to accept. However, if I can't check the content of such groups ("This group is not available to you") I'd rather not add any of my photos. Thank you for your understanding.
Continued from: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52652408863/in/datepos...
My Master’s Wrath and Mercy
رَبَّنَاۤ إِنَّكَ مَن تُدۡخِلِ ٱلنَّارَ فَقَدۡ أَخۡزَیۡتَهُۥۖ وَمَا لِلظَّـٰلِمِینَ مِنۡ أَنصَارࣲ
Our Lord! Indeed [You] whom You admit in the Fire then surely You (have) disgraced him, and not for the wrongdoers (are) any helpers.
Surah Aal e Imran, Verse 192
Tafseer e Jilani
Rabbana innaka man tudkhil in-naar: O my Lord! Indeed You are the one who admits into the Fire, so surely…
Akhzaytahu: you have disgraced him and made him (stuck) in the narrowness of imkaan, possibilities, imprisoned, punished, exiled (from Your Self), because they wronged themselves with their focus upon those other than You…
Wa ma lid-daalimeen: and there isn’t for the transgressors, the ones who have firmly placed themselves in the shadows of imkaan, possibilities…
Min ansaar: any helper who can help them and make them exit from those possibilities, except for the one who received permission from You to (be a helper) and make them exit from the possibilites from amongst the Prophets and the Auliya, Your Friends, after Your granting ability to them by the sending of the Messengers.
On the evening of that second day of hell, I went to the shrine near my house. I did not ask the blessed person of the shrine for anything. Not for relief, not for some understanding of how I had become so entrapped in a thought that only appeared to be nonsensical. I couldn’t even discuss it with anyone. Not that there was anyone to discuss it with! I sat there like a zombie for a while and then left. I knew in my silence, I had surrendered the matter in any case.
When I entered my bedroom, I saw a copy of Al Fath Ar Rabbani that I didn’t use for my regular reading. Qari Sahib had gifted it to me but it was much heavier and larger than my Urdu copy. This one had a side by side Arabic to Urdu translation on each page. I prayed the prayer of the istakhara and pried the book open to a random page.
Al Fath Ar Rabbani:
It started with a verse:
وَمَن یَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ یَجۡعَل لَّهُۥ مَخۡرَجࣰا
And whoever fears Allah, He will make for him a way out,
وَیَرۡزُقۡهُ مِنۡ حَیۡثُ لَا یَحۡتَسِبُۚ
And He will provide for him from where he doesn’t think (it is possible).
Surah At Talaq, Verse 2-3
I didn’t look up the exegesis of the verse then. Qari Sahib wasn’t there anyway and I really wanted to know what the rest of the page said.
“(The above verse) closed the door of depending on means. It closed the door of the wealthy and the kings and opened the door of tawakkul, reliance. The one who was mindful, the reward for him is that He, Subhanahu, will make relief for him and a way out from what is constricted for (other) people.”
The first two lines gave me pause. Doors had been spoken about earlier. Now Ghaus Pak (ra) was closing them. Two of the people I happened to be thinking of were in fact rich. They were wealthy. That had never played into our interaction in terms of a factor. There wasn’t a remarkable difference in our life styles. But the mention was specific for a reason. That was not lost on me.
I continued to read each word, carefully going back and forth from the Arabic to the Urdu.
“What should I do with you, say to you? You would have been heard if you called the living but he is not alive, the one you call.”
From the word “alive” I knew again that I had already been told, warned, alerted by all those verses about the dead and the graves, the deaf and the blind. Not once but repeatedly. Each time gently. After translating the verses I had always felt calm. Then just like that I would forget them as if they had never even appeared.
Then in the next line, Ghaus Pak (ra) expressed his fury at my own “prolonged” state of stubborn-ness and ignorance and he didn’t mince his words.
“Your heart is empty of islam, surrender and imaan, faith and iqaan, certainty. There is no Ma’rifat, Divine Recognition, for you. There is no ilm, knowledge, for you. For you are only hawas, indulging in foolish behaviour that is dangerous, therefore speaking to you is a waste.”
That’s when my heart first felt fear. Never ever before had Ghaus Pak (ra) said anything remotely harsh to me. Speaking to me was a waste of his time? I just stared at the words in disbelief.
“O hypocrites! You were contented with words about tawakkul, reliance upon Allah, with your tongues while your hearts are mushrik, worshippers of other gods in Creation. My heart is filled with anger towards you out of ardency (of love) for Allah Azzo Jal. If you are silent and you leave your rivalry (with Him), it is better, otherwise your houses will be burned.”
My heartbeat increased. I stopped reading.
“Your houses will be burned.” “My heart is filled with anger.” I felt scared to read the next line.
But then I saw that it was a prayer. For it was addressing Subhanahu and it started with the words, “Ya Haailo…”
It was a new Name of Allah for me. The word existed in Urdu as well. I knew what it mean. Haa’il, that which comes in between. I peered at the next words closely, fearfully. And it said:
يا حائل بين الماء المالح والعذب،
“Ya Haail-u! O One who protects, stops and obstructs and causes not to happen, by coming in between the water salty and fresh.”
The appearance of the words from the verse I had just translated was uncanny.
حل بيننا وبين التسخط عليك والمنازعة لك في أقدارك،
“Come between us and between discontentment towards You and quarreling with You about fate decreed.
حل بيننا وبين معاصيك ببرزخ من رحمتك
Come between us and between resistances to Your Authority with the barzakh, the protective partition, of Your Rahma, Mercy!
آمين
Ameen…”
Each time I moved to the Urdu the words had a pounding effect on me. To be sure of the meaning, I started looking up each Arabic word.
التسخط : displeasure, irritation, anger.
المنازعة : opposition, disagreement, conflict, dispute.
معاصي : resistance to authority.
I was left dumbfounded.
He continued:
“O listener! If you were Muttaqi, the one who is mindful and conscious of your Rabb, who raised you, Azzo Jal, Dakir, in remembrance of Him, as Muwwahidan, in union only with Him, Musheeran, pointing towards Him, before the trial, then when you are dropped into the fire of the distress that causes suffering, He will order,
یَـٰنَارُ كُونِی بَرۡدࣰا وَسَلَـٰمًا
O fire! Be coolness and safety.
After that it was a crazy day.
Ghaus Pak (ra) had exactly followed the Sunnah of the Quran. First had come the admonition, then the mercy. For an hour, I stared at the page and read it over and over. My heart sank every time I came to the words of his wrath. It was the first time in my life that my Master was angry with me.
I couldn’t get over it. Obedience was woven, no, kneaded into my nature. But all my efforts that had to do with changing the fabric of my nafs were superficial. Giving charity was easy. It was the expression of gratitude. As promised it brought me a serene state of peace. Why wouldn’t I do it only sincerely, in utter obedience? Why wouldn’t I increase it? I was the recipient of all its rewards which were truly indescribable in terms of rendering me a joy.
It was the changing of the nafs that was impossible.
I decided to immediately memorize the prayer. It was about to entail for me the most perfect expression of fear and sincere need for deliverance. That was something that I had never experienced before.
First I went back to re-read the verse of the seas salty and sweet.
That was the first moment I realized, I am both a Mo’min and I am a Kafir. All I could see in the state of being a Mo’min was the ill-will in my disposition. And all I could see in my state of Kufr was my carelessness and unawareness. There was no longer an “other.” In everything it was only me!
That was first forced the question; when am I which?
وَمَا یَسۡتَوِی ٱلۡبَحۡرَانِ هَـٰذَا عَذۡبࣱ فُرَاتࣱ سَاۤىِٕغࣱ شَرَابُهُۥ وَهَـٰذَا مِلۡحٌ أُجَاجࣱۖ
And not are alike the two seas.
This (is) fresh, sweet, pleasant its drink, and this salty (and) bitter…
Surah Fatir, Verse 12
Tafseer e Jilani
Then exemplified Subhanahu both of the groups, the Mo’min, the believer and the Kafir, the denier of truth, as two seas sweet and salty, so He said:
Wa ma yastawi al bahraane: And the two seas are not alike in advantage and benefit received from them both because…
Hada: the (state of the) Mo’min, the attester to the sea of Imaan, faith and Irfaan, Divine Recognition, the one upon whom is poured water from the Sea of the Essence of One-ness…
Adb-un: is like water fresh and delightful, giving pleasure to the mind, sweet in perfect sweetness…
Furat-un: sweet, it breaks the persistent feeling of ill will (to harm and avenge people) for those burning with thirst in the mirage of the world with the coolness of Yaqeen, certainty…
Saa’ighun sharaabuhu: easy is its drinking i.e. easy is its going down, for those set up on the nature of Tauheed, Allah Subhanahu’s One-ness.
Wa hada: And this (the other sea/group) i.e. the Kafir, the denier of truth or ungrateful, malevolent, unkind, is in the sea of ghaflat, unawareness and carelessness…
Milh-un: (is like water) salty, it does not reform a person who wants to reform themselves, whoever tastes from it, instead…
Ujaaj-un: (it is) burning, bitter, corrupting for the disposition. The one who tasted from it was destroyed, devastatingly, forever such that there is no rescue for him, instead…
Wa: the sea of bitterness, in it is still an advantage, but there is no benefit for the Kafir, the denier of truth, and the one who refuses to be guided at all.
The Kufr a Muslim most often imbues is that of ingratitude.
That is why the Quran says, it is a choice.
إِنَّا هَدَيْنَهُ ٱلسَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًۭا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا
Indeed, We guided him to the way, whether he be grateful and whether he be ungrateful.
Surah Al Insaan, Verse 3
Tafseer e Jilani
Allah Subhanahu made the way clear completely and perfectly. Now the human being has the choice:
Imma shakiran: Either he becomes grateful, occupied with the thankfulness of blessings and regularity upon fulfilling the rights of Divine Kindness, giving the reins of his determination and his choice to the rightful guidance and commands so that he may become of the Arbaab il Anayate wa Sadaad, the people of blessings and correct-ness and Al Mutana’imeena, the ones granted favours in the Heaven of Raza, God’s Pleasure and Tasleem, surrender.
Wa imam kafoor-an: Or he can be ungrateful for blessings (bestowed), being in denial of The One bestowing the blessings, following in the footsteps of the people of ghafalat, forgetfulness and enemity (towards Allah), disputing and being corrupt until he will become of the people of Hell.
“The people forever burning in the fire of possibilities!”
The intensity of the incident first exploded upon me once I started reciting the prayer. Each time I uttered the words, I broke down so severely, it was like someone beloved to my heart had died. Each time I heard the words in my ear that I was displeased, in opposition, resistant to my Lord, to His Authority, to His Being, I would cover my ears with my hands and almost wail.
One word entered my life like it had never done before. I had been saying a tasbeeh of it for years but my heart hadn’t felt the plea in the words even once till now.
Astaghfirullah! – I seek the forgiveness of my Lord!
I would repeat it incessantly through my tears. But the prayer had three lines and each line had in it a word that was the proof of my state of rebellion. The experience was intense and whatever I’m writing here to express it, the truth is that it is inexpressible. It cannot be related.
Only when the last line came,
ببرزخ من رحمتك
…with the barzakh, the protective partition, of Your Rahma, Mercy!
did I feel a tranquility come over me so instantly, every other feeling preceding it absolute vanished. Obviously I became hooked to the prayer.
I started saying it every single time an imkaan returned, those useless, worthless, mirages of possibilities bearing my ill-will towards others who were all absent and insignificant. I would say the prayer from the beginning till the end. Each time I spanned the cycle in the same way. I cried and cried, my tears trying to drown my self.
Then I would despise myself for being in such abominable state. How could I have the audacity to be displeased, quarreling, resistant? I would be pausing through the entire utterance with Astaghfirullah in repetition until I would reach the part of the barzakh, the partition. Then again I would be calm like nothing had happened. Instantly!
وَٱسۡتَغۡفِرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَۖ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورࣱ رَّحِیمُۢ
And seek forgiveness (of) Allah. Indeed, Allah (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah Al Muzzammil, Verse 20
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa: And what happened to you in your past which came from the leaving of istighfar, the seeking of forgiveness…
Astaghfirullah: (so now it is time to) keep seeking the forgiveness of Allah, Al Mufaddil, The Bestower of Bounty, Al Mukarrim, The Granter of Forgiveness for what you did and become occupied with compliance to His Commands in the rest of your life as compensation for what has elapsed.
Innallaha: Indeed Allah, Al Muta’lliu, The Only One informed of your regrets and your intentions in it (that seeking of forgiveness and being in obedience of His Orders)…
Ghafoorun: is Forgiving, He forgives your sins from the past also…
Raheem-un: is All Merciful, He accepts your tauba, repentance, which is followed by your errors by His Favour and His Generosity (of which you are undeserving).
The prayer took over my life for the next few days. I didn’t speak about it to anyone. I continued my classes with Qari Sahib. In my next class, the first thing I did was look up the verse my page had opened to:
وَمَن یَتَّقِ ٱللَّهَ یَجۡعَل لَّهُۥ مَخۡرَجࣰا
And whoever is in taqwa, conscious of Allah, He will make for him a way out,
وَیَرۡزُقۡهُ مِنۡ حَیۡثُ لَا یَحۡتَسِبُۚ
And He will provide for him from where not he thinks (it is possible).
Surah At Talaq, Verse 2-3
Tafseer Jilani
Wa: And overall…
Mayyattaqillah: the one who is mindful of Allah Subhanahu and safeguards his nafs, self, from His Qahr, Wrath, and Ghadab, Displeasure and keeps watch over himself from crossing the limits of His Boundaries which are drawn by Him, (the boundaries created) for the safeguarding of the rights of the people, especially the rights of spouses and practice mutual love for each other and (the one who) relies upon Him in all his states and entrusted his matters, all of them, to Him…
Yaj’al lahu: He, Allah Subhanahu, makes for him…
Makhrajan: a way out from the narrowness of possibilities which give result to different kinds of khudlan, humiliation and khusraan, losses.
Wa yarzaquhu: And He gives sustenance and carries towards him all of his needs that he is needful of in the subsistence of his family…
Min haysu la yahtasibu: i.e. from a place not expected and where he doesn’t have to wish for it to come from.
Narrowness of possibilities, humiliation, losses! There was a way made out, unexpected, unforeseen, “where he doesn’t have to wish it from.” With sustenance, not livelihood in currency as rizq is most often translated, but sustenance, emotional, mental, physical, spiritual, not for one individual in question but the entire family.
For whom? The one who was in a state of consciousness of Subhanahu and who was mindful of the rights of others. The one who was watchful that His Displeasure and His Wrath did not reach him because of crossing boundaries set by Him.
Like the displeasure and wrath of my Master had reached me.
There was a time I used to pride myself on a relationship with my Lord that didn’t have fear in it. But two years ago, whilst writing a piece for the Urs Mubarik of Maulana Rum (ra), I had felt intense fear. I had been translating stories from the Masnavi and one of them had been about the Day of Judgement and how each person would have to fend for themselves. I had come across one of the verses alluding to that reality recently.
وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةࣱ وِزۡرَ أُخۡرَىٰۚ وَإِن تَدۡعُ مُثۡقَلَةٌ إِلَىٰ حِمۡلِهَا لَا یُحۡمَلۡ مِنۡهُ شَیۡءࣱ وَلَوۡ كَانَ ذَا قُرۡبَىٰۤۗ
إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ ٱلَّذِینَ یَخۡشَوۡنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلۡغَیۡبِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَۚ وَمَن تَزَكَّىٰ فَإِنَّمَا یَتَزَكَّىٰ لِنَفۡسِهِۦۚ
وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلۡمَصِیرُ
And no bearer will bear burdens (of) another.
And if a call heavily laden (soul) calls another to (carry) its load, nothing will be carried of it anything even if he be (from) near of kin.
You can only warn those who are conscious of their Lord - unseen and who establish the prayer.
And whoever purifies himself, then only he purifies for his own self.
And to Allah (is) the destination.
Surah Fatir, Verse 18
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa: And after that you recognized the Qudra, Authority, of Allah and you heard of the perfection of His Being in no need of anything, so for all of you is compulsory, the executing of His Commands and staying away from what He has forbidden because…
La taziru: no nafs, self, will, bear …
Waaziratu-n: as the bearer of burdens for being sinful, resisting authority…
Wizra: the burden (of) a wrong action of the nafs, self, that is indisciplined…
Ukhra wa in tad’u: of another and if any nafs, soul, asks…
Musqalatu-n: heavily laden by burdens and resisting authority…
Ila himliha: to share its burden i.e. someone else carry some of the burdens received by it to lessen them…
La yuhmal minhu shay-an: he will not carry any thing from another’s burden even if he consents to carry the burden because it is the demand of Allah’s Justice…
Wa lau kana: And if the person who was called to carry the burden…
Da qurba: is the family i.e. from the family of the asker, still all of the selves on that Day pledged (to carry) what they earned from their resistance. Each nafs will carry for its own self and no accountability will be for it except what it earned.
Then said Subhanahu addressing His Beloved (sending salutations and greetings upon him and his family the whole while) in the matters of His Servants:
Innama tundiru alladina yakhshauna Rabba-hum bil ghaib: only will you warn those who surrender to their Lord Unseen: meaning they are not beneficial, your warnings, which you recite O Akmal Ar Rusul, O Messenger who perfects Messenger-hood (salutations and greetings upon you and your family are sent by Him who made you the Nazeer) upon those wayward, with the exception of the group who are fearful of Allah and His Wrath and His Punishment, even though He is unseen for them, hearing Him, in submission to what has descended from Him, fearful of what can come from Him suddenly…
Wa: and along with that…
Aqaamus salata: they established prayer commanded, bringing closeness for them to His Essence, Al Mukhlisoona, sincere in it, Al Muttaharreena, purifying their selves from the inclination of everything except Allah Al Haqq, The Only Truth.
Wa man tazakka: And the one who purified himself and he cleansed his self from the leaning towards the capacity to invent a deceitful practice and whims…
Fa innama yatazakka li nafsihi: so indeed he only purified his nafs for his own self because the benefit of his purification returned to him, beneficial for him in his beginning and his end.
Wa: And after his purification from the demands of being human and the demands of animalistic desires which block from reaching of the origin of his nature…
Ilallahi: towards Allah, Al Munazza, The One Above all shortcomings, Al Mubarra’, The One Above all things lowly…
Al Maseer-u: (who is) The Destination i.e. Al Munqallab, the place returned to and the final abode i.e. everything returns towards Him and everyone’s purpose is Him, Subhanahu.
I was reminded of the exaltedness of the Chosen before Allah by the word Al Muttaharreena, the ones pure. How everyone had to purify themselves. Only one group was purified by Subhanahu Himself. That was the family of His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his kin who were rendered void of any shortcoming at all).
The Name of Allah Subhanahu that Ghaus Pak (ra) used to begin the tafseer was an absolute favourite. I loved using it when calling out to Him in my prayers. It made no other words to follow the call even necessary. He was Al Musleh, The Reformer!
إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُذْهِبَ عَنكُمُ ٱلرِّجْسَ أَهْلَ ٱلْبَيْتِ وَيُطَهِّرَكُمْ تَطْهِيرًۭا
Indeed, Allah wishes to remove from you the impurity, (O) People (of) the House!
And to purify you (with thorough) purification.
Surah al Ahzab, Verse 33
Tafseer e Jilani
Innama yureedullahu: Indeed Allah Al Musleh, The Reformer of the states of His Worshipper, wishes for those who are chosen by Him, teaching them such advice and reminders which enter the heart and giving them warnings strange, unlike any other…
Liyudhiba ankum ar-rijsa: removing impurities from you, unattractive, loathsome by both the mind and by Jurisprudence (which can be in contradiction to one another), O…
Ahl e Bait: the people of the house of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), Al Majbooleen, who are raised upon honour and nobility..
Wa yutahhirakum: (and it is also His Will) to make you absolutely pure from the dirt of one’s nature and things that are hateful imperfections that exist from the beginning (from birth like the Shaitaan attached to each person), which are hurdles in the cleansing of personal nature (for e.g. menstruation or emissions)…
Tat-hirah: (to make you, O family of the Beloved, absolutely pure) in absolute purity. Such purity that nothing remains in you, any doubt of disfigurement and the disgrace of any shortcoming.
The verse of each person having to bear the consequences of their own actions had made me reflect on all the parallels I was drawing after Damascus of what I had thought was for that Day but seemed to exist and play out in our lives here. The nafs experiencing being Mutma’inna was the greatest of them all.
But no one could carry anyone’s burden in this world either.
Parents want to take on their child’s disease. Children want to give happiness to parents whose bitterness tells them that they will never come to possess it again. I have often wanted to give of the sight of one of my eyes to a cousin who lost it in both.
My nafs would ask me things like, “We won’t be able to drive again.”
I would consider it and say, “It’s ok. We don’t drive that much anyway.”
So on and so forth it goes. But it was not impossible. Each nafs had to pay the price for each decision in this world as well. Bear its consequence. Asking for forgiveness though, feeling repentant, held in it the promise of being forgiven. That existed for a relationship worldly or with Subhanahu. If it was sincere!
فَمَن تَابَ مِنۢ بَعْدِ ظُلْمِهِۦ وَأَصْلَحَ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَتُوبُ عَلَيْهِ ۗ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ
But whoever repented from after his wrongdoing and reforms, then indeed,
Allah will turn in forgiveness to him. Indeed, Allah (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah Al Maidah, Verse 39
Tafseer e Jilani:
Faman ta’aba: So the one who repents and returns towards Allah mukhlis-an, sincere (in heart), khai’ifan, in fear (of reckoning)…
Min ba’ada dulmihi: after he transgressed boundaries set by Him …
Wa aslaha: and reformed themselves with repentance (by returning towards Allah with sincerity) for the corruption that they have brought upon their own nafs (self) by disobeying Allah’s Orders.
Fa innallaha: Indeed, Allah is Al Musleh, The Reformer of all states of His Servant.
Yatubu alaihi: And Allah also turns towards Him and accepts his tauba, repentance, after giving him the ability for that repentance.
Innallaha: Without doubt, Allah is the One who is Al Muyassir, the One who gives ease in all matter for His Servants…
Ghafur an: He is the Forgiver of all their sins.
The identity of the one repenting, Ta’ib, was defined specifically:
Faman ta’aba: So the one who repents and returns towards Allah sincere (in heart), in fear (of reckoning)…
Fear was requisite.
The Necessity of Fear
وَءَاخَرُونَ ٱعْتَرَفُوا۟ بِذُنُوبِهِمْ خَلَطُوا۟ عَمَلًۭا صَلِحًۭا وَءَاخَرَ سَيِّئًا عَسَى ٱللَّهُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيْهِمْ ۚ
إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌۭ رَّحِيمٌ
And others who have acknowledged their sins.
They had mixed a deed righteous (with) other (that was) evil.
Perhaps Allah will turn (in mercy) to them.
Indeed, Allah (is) Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
Surah At Tauba, Verse 102
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa: And the people of Medina…
Aakharoona: others, not from the ones who were Al
Munafiqoona, persistent upon hypocrisy, Al Muttarraneena, and who practice it, but instead…
A’tarifu bi dhunobihim: acknowledge their sins which happened from them from mukhalifa, being against (someone) and bughz, grudges, and ta’an, being accusatory and
istikhfaaf, showing disregard and gheebat, back-biting, when sitting alone with the hypocrites and the ones who practice hypocricy.
And while they have the appearance of imaan, faith, and ikhlas, sincerity, but they…
Khalatu amalan salihan: mixed good deeds from ikhlas, sincerity and raza, seeking the pleasure of Allah and tasleem, submission…
Wa: and deeds…
Aakhara sayyan: others which were bad and those deeds were done while in the community of the hypocrites in their discourse and being accusatory. For this reason they are downgraded from the rank of the Mukhliseen, Sincere, in all their circumstances.
Asallaho an yatooba alayhim: And Allah will most likely accept their repentance i.e. He gives them ability upon tauba, repentance and nidama, regret and accepts from them their repentance after they become sincere in it.
Innallaha: Indeed, Allah Al Musleh, The One who corrects the states of His Servants…
Ghafooran: is Forgiving of the one who repents and regrets from the core of the qalb, the Station of Recognition of Allah in the heart…
Rahim: is The One who accepts their repentance when they are excessive (trangressors).
In writing that piece for Maulana’s Urs Mubarik I had been crying too. That crying was out of fear for a time yet to come. It was the first time I had learnt the purpose of fear in a relationship with my Lord. It was deemed essential for a believer. In that relationship fear was an element that was necessary for it to reach completion.
Verses attesting to that had appeared again and again.
The way out with an all encompassing rizq from the Divine was promised for whom? The one who was in a state of consciousness of Subhanahu and who was mindful of the rights of others. The one who was watchful that His Displeasure and His Wrath did not reach him because of crossing boundaries set by Him.
The Message could only be received by those “who are fearful of Allah and His Wrath and His Punishment, even though He is unseen for them, hearing Him, in submission to what has descended from Him, fearful of what can come from Him suddenly…”
Suddenly I understood why all those hours and days and weeks, months and years I spent trying to tell the ones I loved what might save them from pain were a waste of time. Theirs as well as mine. At the end of the day they never really cared if I might become angry with them or not. It never mattered. When it did, they always listened. When it didn’t that’s when they took me for granted.
Like I, God forbid, had been taking my Creator and His Benevelonce for granted. Astaghfirullah!
After the tafseer I returned to the page to re-read the next part which I had couldn’t focus on before. The incident of the fire was about the Prophet Ibrahim (as). How it was ordered to change its intrinsic nature and become cool for him by Divine Command. It was an incident only about him and for him. Not anyone else and certainly not the ordinary.
“…before the trial then, when you are dropped into the fire of the distress that causes suffering, He will order,
یَـٰنَارُ كُونِی بَرۡدࣰا وَسَلَـٰمًا
O fire! Be coolness and safety.
I had done the tafseer from before so I looked it up.
Tafseer e Jilani
Ya Naaro: O Fire, created on the nature of burning and heat…
Kooni bardan: become cool and leave your burning and heat…
Wa: and don’t harm Our Friend by your coolness as well but instead become…
Salaman: safety i.e. a glad reception and peaceful for him and don’t harm him.
How did that come to happen? If
1.I was a Muttaqi, the one who is mindful and conscious of their Rabb, who raised them, Azzo Jal,
2.I was sincere in my Zikr because it came from the heart. Not the mind and not the tongue.
3.I was Muwwahidan, in union only with Him forgetting the others,
4.Musheeran, pointing towards Him, feeling that nearness because I was aware that I was always being seen by Him,
5.then BEFORE the trial, when I was dropped into the fire of the distress that causes suffering, He would order for me,
یَـٰنَارُ كُونِی بَرۡدࣰا وَسَلَـٰمًا
O fire! Be coolness and safety.
It was unbelievable!
Shaitaan has endless tactics. Ways to enter lives and ruin then. His favourite tactic though is causing ghaflat.
Forgetfulness of obeying Divine Commands, forgetfulness of crossing boundaries in the rights of others, forgetfulness of Allah’s remembrance.
Fa ansaahum dikr Allah: so he made them forget the remembrance of Allah, Al Munqad, The Only Deliverer from deviation from the straight path, Al Murshid, The Only Guide towards guidance.
Hence ghaflat was the deadliest weapon. It naturally created the absence of repentance. That show of remorse was his worst nightmare because he possesses intimate knowledge of the Essence of Subhanahu. He knew what repentance could deliver when expressed with sincerity.
The incident from the Masnavi I had translated for that piece was about the waking of Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) by Iblis to say his prayers:
“Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) was asleep one day when he was awakened by someone. When he looked around he saw no one. Then he noticed a man skulking behind the door. He asked, “Who are you?” The man replied, “The world knows me. I am unfortunate Iblis.”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) asked him sternly, “Why have you woken me?” He responded, “The time for prayer is about to pass, O Amir.”
Then he quoted the Prophet of God (salutations and greetings be upon the one most distinguished in the blessings of Allah and his beloved family),
عجلوا ألطاعات قبل الفوت
Complete your worship before it (its time) expires.
You should run to the mosque before you miss it.”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) retorted, “You can never want such a thing so as to guide someone. You came in like a thief and now you tell me you are a well-wisher? Why would I believe a thief and then one who claims he wants to benefit me?”
Here Iblis uttered the words revealing his envy:
‘Once I was ranked amongst the angels and walked the path of obedience willingly. I was the knower of Divine Secrets and a companion of the ones who lived near Allah’s Throne. As travelers roam wherever they might go, the love of the homeland never leaves them. Who has ever forgotten their first love?
I have also drunk the waters from the rivers of The Divine’s Blessings and I have also walked in the Gardens of His Pleasure. He placed His Affection upon me as well, looked upon me with Favour. When I was a child, who fed me and guided me? He did.
Once I too was a lover of His Entity and Essence. If then that mighty Ocean of His Generosity rejected me, so what? When the heart is separated from what it once loved, then it learns to value the days where there was union.’
تا دهد جان را فراقش گوشمال
جان بداند قدر ايام وصال
When the separation from Him softly offers reproach,
then one is nostalgic for days passed.
Whether it was “kufr,” refusal or whether it was “imaan,” believing, both were made by that Power and both belong to Him.”
Hazrat Amir Muawaia (ratu) remained unmoved. “What you say is true but you have no part in it anymore. You misguided countless before me. You are fire, yet you expect me to believe you will not burn me? Who has not been deceived by you? Because of your cunning, the nation of Nuh (as) is still burning in regret. You caused the destruction of the nation of A’ad, drowning them in punishment and grief. The people of Lut (as) were stoned because of you.
You have created countless trials for Mankind. Firaoun, the philosopher, scholarly, his powers to reflect were blinded by you. Abu Lahab became ignorant because of you. Abul Hikm was rendered Abu Jahal because of you. You are the ocean of deceit, people but a drop. Answer truthfully. Why would you wake me to pray?”
Iblis replied, “Oh man of despair! You do not accept the truth despite a 100 arguments. My fault is only that one bad deed has made me renowned for sinfulness. The truth is that if you had missed your prayer, nothing of the world would have remained of value before your eyes. Tears of pain and loss would have been shed. This crying, this softness of the heart, this intense pain and sadness, would have become the reward of a 100 prayers. I did not want you to let out the sigh that would gain you the deep appreciation of Allah.
Remember the man who arrived at the Mosque late and was told by the congregation leaving it that the Messenger of God (peace be upon him and his family by their Lord who gazes upon them) had already said the last “salam.”
The young man sighed so deeply, the sound of it shook the listeners’ hearts.
One of them said, ‘Give me your sigh and take the blessing of my prayer.’
The man accepted his namaz and presented his sigh to me in turn. The sigh was filled with such humility and submission, the one who traded his prayer for it attained a higher rank and more.
A voice of the Unseen said to him in a dream, ‘In your trade, you have received the best of life, so rejoice!’
Your fear, O Amir, of The Divine and my envy are the reason I woke you. I woke you from the fear that your cries of repentance would burn me with jealousy. I am the envier of Mankind. I can never want anything good for them. In this envy I did what I did. I am the enemy of humans. How can I want that any benefit comes to them?”
Hazrat Amir Muawia (ratu) listened to his words then said to Iblis, “Now you have told the truth, O thief. In reality, you do not want that I humbly plead before my Lord with sincerity, that I weep tears of regret and repentance because the rank of that sighing and distress is more dear to Allah than anything else.”
ﮐﮧ ﺑﺮﺍﺑﺮ می ﮐﻨﺪ ﺷﺎﮦ ﻣﺠﯿﺪ
ﺍﺷﮏ ﺭﺍ ﺩﺭ ﻭﺯﻥ ﺑﺎ ﺧﻮﻥ ﺷﮩﯿﺪ
In equal regard holds The Almighty,
the tears of the sinner, the repentant, and the blood of the martyr.
Subhan Allah! The story was exquisitely narrated by Maulana (ra). Was it any wonder that the Masnavi was given the honour of being called the Quran in Farsi.
Shaitaan knows what Subhanahu’s Exalted Name Al Ghafoor encompasses. That His Mercy prevails over everything else. So he’s worried that the expression of regret, if it is sincere, might yield a person instant forgiveness. Of not one sin but all of them in one go!
Bishar Haafi (ra) was the most extraordinary example of that:
Hazrat Bishr Haafi (ra) spent most of his life drinking alcohol and roaming the streets in a state of intoxication. He belonged to a very wealthy family and lived alone. Twice, sometimes thrice a day, he changed his clothes, each garment finer than the next.
One day upon reaching his house he came upon a piece of paper lying on the road. It had the words Bismillah Ar-Rahman Ar-Rahim written on it. When he saw his Lord’s Name thrown on the ground like that he started weeping. Then he picked up the paper, kissed it, put some itar (perfume) on it and placed it on a high spot.
That night he heard the voice of Allah Al-Afuww, The Supreme Pardoner, asking him, was he not tired yet of being so distant from Him. And just like that, overnight, he became a wali (saint). He left his all of his wealth and roamed the streets barefoot. That is how he got his title, Haafi, the one who walks barefoot.
He was one of the few people for whom Imam Hanbal (ra) rose from his seat to greet when he entered and one of the only he walked with out to the street when he left.
When asked why he treated a faqeer, one who had given up the world and its possessions for poverty and worship, with such honour, Imam Hanbal (ra) replied, ““Jiss Rab ko mein maanta hun, Bishr Haafi uss Rab to jaante hain – the Lord that I merely believe in, Bishr Haafi knows that Lord.”
Subhan Allah!
Shaitaan takes pride in the destruction of Man, declaring it often in the Quran. He thinks he’s fulfilling his promise, keeping his word. One of those is his announcing that he will take a share of everything a Servant of God is bestowed.
Before I read the verse, I thought that was in the context of worldly possessions. Taking control of their possessions to fulfill his general mission to destroy Mankind. The usual ways of doing it via the mechanics inherent in capitalism, endless dictatorships and such. I had written about those extensively because it played out all the time. How it guaranteed his success.
But Ghaus Pak (ra) explained it differently.
لَّعَنَهُ ٱللَّهُۘ وَقَالَ لَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنۡ عِبَادِكَ نَصِیبࣰا مَّفۡرُوضࣰا
Allah cursed him and he said, "I will surely take from Your Slaves a portion appointed."
Surah An Nisa, Verse 118
Tafseer e Jilani
And how can we worship him and call him and indeed…
La’anaullahu: cursed Him Allah Subhanahu and expelled him from the Honour of His Presence and made him leave from (the list) of His Sincere Worshippers for the sake of deceiving the worshippers for the purpose of shirrk, associating others with Allah, and tughyan, oppression…
Wa: and after that he became hopeless of Allah’s Clemency and in despair of His Mercy…
Qala la’attakhidanna min ibadika: he said, “I will surely take from Your Servants, the ones because of whom you expelled me and because of whom you made me distant (from You)…
Naseeban: a portion, a share complete from what You made for him…
Mafroudan: appointed for them from Your Tauheed, Your One-ness, and honouring You by deluding them and deceiving them so that they commit shirrk (hoping and expecting from others except You) and associate others with You and say about You what is inappropriate for Your Majesty till they will fall by this from the binding of Your Safekeeping and Your Guardianship and become deserving of Your Displeasure and Your Anger.
The Displeasure and Anger would be coming one way or the other. It could be felt willingly or one would be made to feel it. Either way, it was unavoidable!
In each tafseer I was noticing what caused Allah Subhanahu’s Anger and Displeasure. Shaitaan had robbed me of my share for my entire life. I would have remained in that robbed state performing rote rituals even if some of them were above what was obligatory. I would have remained a Mushrik till my dying day had my Master not intervened in the manner that he did.
Ghaus Pak (ra) was the perfect manifestation of the undeniable truth that ends Surah Fatiha. Only following in the footsteps of the ones bestowed inaam, Divine Favours, was the path of least resistance. Least humiliation. Least agony.
For as I shockingly learnt from the Quran, even the infidels of Mecca who were proud of being Mushrikeen, it was their inherited tradition, believed in Subhanahu. After Him they worshipped those self-created idols of clay that they adorned the Ka’aba with.
Even they, when asked, who made these heavens and the earth, replied, “Allah.”
وَلَىِٕن سَأَلۡتَهُم مَّنۡ خَلَقَ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلۡأَرۡضَ لَیَقُولُنَّ ٱللَّهُۚ
And if you ask them who created the heavens and the earth? Surely, they will say, "Allah." Say, "Then do you see what you invoke from besides Allah?
Surah Az-Zumar, Verse 38
Tafseer e Jilani
Then pointed Subhanahu towards elaborating on His Tauheed, Divine One-ness, indicating to the Mushrikeen, the ones who associate others with Him, registering their state of beguile and allurement and being foolish, so He said, addressing His Beloved (upon whom and whose family He sends greetings and salutations continuously):
Wa la’in sa’altahum: And if you ask them, O Akmal Ar Rusul, Messenger who perfects the Messengerhood (Allah sends greetings and salutations upon you and your family since always), the disbelievers of the Quresh…
Man khalaqas samawaati wal ard: who created the Heavens and the Earth i.e. the highest in creation and the lowest in creation and what is between them from their mixing and who has brought them into existence and who has constructed in them and who has made to appear what is in them from the natural wonders and peculiarities…
Layaqoolunna: so they say, for sure…
Allah: Al Muttafarrid, The Only One who creates and invents, Al Muttwaahid, The One All Alone in His being worshipped and His being The Sustainer, because they have no power to turn away from this answer with their backs.
Ghaus Pak (ra) too was displeased and angry with me. But only out of his love for His Lord. That was the way of His Friends. They only loved because of Him. They only had enemity because of Him. I was deserving of that wrath upon me. In hindsight I was fortunate that it came.
In a single page he had expressed his irritation, reprimanded me, then taught me a prayer that brought me before my Lord in utmost repentance and showed me how even suffering ordained could morph into the opposite, become a blessing.
Thus I began to see how the barzakh, that partition of the Divine’s Mercy, began to take form in my life.
In Lahore it was part of my daily routine to visit an elderly friend who had been unwell for years. There were good days and bad but as a result of ever increasing illnesses that brought with them acute pain, more and more they would be in the worst mood possible.
But they too had a Spiritual Master. So every so often, he would step in and lift them out of the bitterness they were drowning in. Like a breather to remind them of who they were and not who they had become. Then they would be let go again and sink. That was how it was playing out for now.
The Spiritual Master is the Arif. Since Ghaus Pak (ra) says that they can see destiny ordained, they decide when to step in, for how long and when to retreat to let the disciple’s journey play out. But they are always there, keeping their eye on those who are in their charge, looking into their hearts to see how rusted they have become.
Each day I entered the house not knowing what mood awaited me. Mostly I was greeted with intense sarcasm, mistrust which manifested in a poisonous tongue resulting in complete humiliation. Sometimes I was alone in the room, other times people were present who ignored the incidence. I always wondered why they were silent. I was about to find out.
I had been reciting the prayer gifted to me by Ghaus Pak (ra). Then I was uttering it as my own repentance but like all prayers, there were branches of other Divine Mercies emanating from it. A day or two later, I entered the room expecting a thrashing. We happened to be sitting right next to each other. It was early in the day. She was being served breakfast.
All I had said thus far was “How did you sleep?”
In response came a fire of reproaches. How I could not be relied upon. I was insincere. Selfish. And so on. On every other occasion, no exceptions, I would attempt to exercise patience as I had learnt it. Silent in the tongue, begrudging in the heart, angry in the mind. Even that didn’t always work. Sometimes I would lose it and say something curt, leaving earlier than I would otherwise. Only to be extremely disappointed in my failure of restraint, beating myself up about it before I even reached my car to head home.
On that day, as we sat so close to each other that our thighs almost touched, I listened to the sharpness of the words that normally sliced through my heart with a calm I had never experienced before. It was so eerie that I just sat there making sure what I was feeling was in fact real. I felt like they were speaking to someone else in the room. But there was no one else.
I focused on my heart. Did it feel a grudge, sorry for itself for being attacked without provocation? It didn’t. I honed in on my mind. Was it angry or rolling its eyes thinking, “Here we go again.” It wasn’t. There was a partition between us. The barzakh I had pleaded for with my weeping had appeared.
It was so unexpectedly crazy it felt like magic!
The truth, as it turned out, was that everyone followed Iblis. The believers, the non-believers. The grateful, the ungrateful. He turns each Mo’min into a Kafir. At some point or the other, everyone was taken in by his seduction. No one’s nafs was spared.
Except for one group!
وَلَقَدۡ صَدَّقَ عَلَیۡهِمۡ إِبۡلِیسُ ظَنَّهُۥ فَٱتَّبَعُوهُ إِلَّا فَرِیقࣰا مِّنَ ٱلۡمُؤۡمِنِینَ
And certainly, Iblis found his assumption about them to be true, so they (all) followed him except a group of the believers.
Surah As Saba, Verse 20
Tafseer e Jilani
Then said Subhanahu taking an oath…
Wa: upon Himself…
Laqad saddaqa: indeed he, Iblis, authenticated…
Alayhim: upon those, Al Haalikeen, the ones who destroy themselves in the maze of khusraan, losses and kufraan, denial and ingratitude…
Iblis: the enemy for them, persistent, permanent in enemity with them from the beginning of their creation…
Dannahu: his belief, which was what he thought to be true for them when he said to their father, the Prophet Adam (as),
لَأَحۡتَنِكَنَّ ذُرِّیَّتَهُۥۤ إِلَّا قَلِیلࣰ
I will surely destroy his offspring except a few – Al Isra, 62
Tafseer e Jilani
La ahtanikanna durriyaatahu: Iblis said: I will make them wayward and trap them with vulgarity and by alluring them to do something wrong so that I can erase their names from the book of believers. So how can they become of the Arifeen, the ones who recognize Allah and the Al Mukaashifeen, for whom everything unveils, Al Mushahideen, the witnessing ones because what they are made from and their foundation, it demands different kinds of corruption and various kinds of sin and waywardness.
And for me there are many opportunities (through these demands) to create paranoia for them and allure them till they become misguided from the straight path of guidance and the way of correctness…
Illa qaleela: except a few amongst them for indeed they are Sabitoon, steadfast on what they are set up on. I have no power to persuade them towards wrongdoing because they are Muwwayadeen, assisted by You and they are Muwwafiqeen, granted ability by Your Power.
And he said:
وَلَا تَجِدُ أَكْثَرَهُمْ شَكِرِينَ
And you will not find most of them to be grateful - Surah Al Araaf, Verse 17
Tafseer e Jilani
La tajidu: You will not find, Ya Muizzu, O You who is The Bestower of Honour to everybody else in in humiliation and The One directing the astray to the Right Path…
Aksarahim Shakireen: most of them to be grateful when they will return towards You, they will be not be the grateful ones, spending from what You bestowed them of blessings on what You commanded them not to do.
And he said:
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمۡ وَلَأُمَنِّیَنَّهُمۡ
And I will surely deceive them and surely arouse desires in them – An Nisa, Verse 119
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa laudillanahum: And I will surely deceive them by different deceptions and whisperings of doubt and paranoia from the Way of Your Tauheed, One-ness…
Wa layumanniannahum: and I will arouse desires in them by their concerns with their livelihood in this place of deception (the world) with hirs, greed and tool al amal, never ending hopes and all types of desires of their nafs, their egos, which arise from lust and (seeking of) pleasure and much else apart from this. And after that he misguided them from the path of
Shukr, Gratitude and Imaan, faith…
Fattaba’uhu: they followed him, ungrateful and denying of the blessings and Al Munim, the Bestower of those Blessings, all of them…
Illa fareeqan min al Mo’mineen: except a group from the
Mo’mineen, the believers, Al Mu’qineena, possessing certainy in the Tauheed, the One-ness of Allah, Al Musaddeqeena, attesting to His Prophets, Al Muttadakkireena, taking warning that he is their enemy forever, so they turned back from him and from his persuasion by deception, thus they remained Saalimeen, secure, from his persuasion to deceive.
No wonder a connection to that group was deemed essential to receive guidance. They were in a count, set apart from everyone else in Creation. They were the ones who were “an’amta alayhim.”
The inordinate focus on the prayer from Ghaus Pak (ra) brought my attention to the verses expounding on the etiquettes of the prayer in the Quran. I looked them up:
ٱدۡعُوا۟ رَبَّكُمۡ تَضَرُّعࣰا وَخُفۡیَةًۚ
إِنَّهُۥ لَا یُحِبُّ ٱلۡمُعۡتَدِینَ
Call upon your Lord humbly and privately.
Indeed, He (does) not love the transgressors.
Surah Al Araaf, Verse 55
Tafseer e Jilani
Udu’u: Call upon Him, those who have been set up on the true nature of Tauheed, One-ness…
Rabbukum: your Rabb, Al Mutafarraq, The One who is Unique in your raising and in making you appear…
Tadarru’an: (call upon Him) humbly as the ones who beseech Him…
Wa khufiatan: and quietly, as the ones hiding and the ones scared, and the ones submissive from the depths of the heart, not unstable in the edges of the tongue like the transgressors.
Innahu la yuhibbil Mu’tadeena: Indeed, He does not like the ones who cross the boundaries of what is right, the Al Mujawizeena, the ones who exceed limits, the Al Mujahireena, the ones who ask for things loudly, Al Maalliheena, the ones who ask for wrong things in their prayer because His Knowledge of their states is enough regarding their asking.
It was new word for me. Mu’tadeena! I knew already Subhanahu did not like the Kafireen, the deniers of truth. He did not like the Zalimeen, the unjust, the ones who crossed limits. He did not like the Faisqeen, those defiant in their disobedience. The Mu’tadeen were also transgressors. Overtly they seemed the same as the Kafireen.
Except in the tafseer, everything about them seemed to be related to those of us who were on the inside of the circle of Islam. For we the ones who were praying to Subhanahu. Except we were asking for things loudly. We were asking for things wrongly. We did not deny Subhanahu. We deluded ourselves that we were aspiring to be of the Mo’mineen, the believers. We didn’t even know we had become aligned with the disbelievers. Like them we were not scared of Him.
The most exalted of prayers in the Quran are the ones Allah Subhanahu Himself taught His Beloved (salutations and greetings upon him and his blessed family and the utterance that came forth from them that lead the way to our salvation). It was as if He said to him, “Ask from me this and ask it like this.”
One of those prayers then appeared that seemed to be exactly for such a situation. For if one was being rendered a transgressor whilst in prayer, then clearly refuge was in need from Shaitaan who was prevailing in exactly that moment. A moment that one thought was intensely private and only between them and their Lord.
وَقُل رَّبِّ أَعُوذُ بِكَ مِنۡ هَمَزَتِ ٱلشَّیَـٰطِینِ
And say, "My Lord! I seek refuge in You from the suggestions (of) the evil ones,
وَأَعُوذُ بِكَ رَبِّ أَن یَحۡضُرُونِ
And I seek refuge in You, My Lord! Lest they be present with me."
Surah Al Mu’minoon, Verse 97-98
Tafseer e Jilani
Wa qul Rabbi: So say, “O Lord who raises me by Your Kunf, Safekeeping and Jawaar, Watchfulness…
Audo bika min hamazaati Shayateen: I seek refuge in You from the promptings of the evil ones and their waswase, whisperings and the different kinds of seductions and
misleading.
Wa: And especially…
Aoudo: I seek protection and come into refuge…
Bika: with You, O…
Rabbi Ayyahdiroon: my Lord, lest they come near me and let my focus be upon You and when my heart is soft in its inclination towards You and I invoke You, especially during my prayer and during my recitation and during the time I present my needs to You.
It revealed to me why the recitation of the namaz, why the recitation of the Quran, all worship was made to begin with seeking of refuge from Shaitaan and his followers.
فَإِذَا قَرَأۡتَ ٱلۡقُرۡءَانَ فَٱسۡتَعِذۡ بِٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلشَّیۡطَـٰنِ ٱلرَّجِیمِ
So when you recite the Quran, seek refuge in Allah from the Shaitaan, the accursed.
Surah An Nahl, Verse 98
Fasta’id: then seek refuge and invoke, first of all…
Billahi: Allah, Al Mutajalli, The One who unveils, by the attribute of speech, which makes others helpless before it, Al Hafeed, The Protector of His Sincere Servants from everything in useless sins and disobedience…
Min: (which occur) due to doubts and paranoia…
Ash Shaitaan ar rajeem: from Shaitaan the accursed one, Al Matrood, the one expelled and the one made distant from the court of the Presence of Allah Azzo Jal with the stoning of the effects of the Attributes of Allah’s Wrath and (seek refuge) from his delusions and rationalizations which are the armies of desire and forgetfulness and false imaginings and thrilling hallucinations which persuade different kinds of hopes and lust.
Basically possibilities!
Yet another revelation that came to me through the prayer Ya Haailo had to with the virtue of patience.
قُلۡ یَـٰعِبَادِ ٱلَّذِینَ ءَامَنُوا۟ ٱتَّقُوا۟ رَبَّكُمۡۚ لِلَّذِینَ أَحۡسَنُوا۟ فِی هَـٰذِهِ ٱلدُّنۡیَا حَسَنَةࣱۗ
إِنَّمَا یُوَفَّى ٱلصَّـٰبِرُونَ أَجۡرَهُم بِغَیۡرِ حِسَابࣲ
Say, "O My slaves those who believe!
Be mindful of your Lord. For those who do good in this world is good,
Only will be paid back in full the patient ones their reward without account."
Surah Az Zumar, Verse 10
Tafseer e Jilani
Qul: Say, Ya Akmal Ar Rusul (Allah sends blessings and salutations upon you since the beginning of everything), O Messenger who completes the Messenger-hood, give this message on Our Behalf, calling out to the selected sincere amongst my Servants…
Ya ibadi: O My Worshippers, by attaching them with His Essence making them special and honouring them…
Alladina aamano: those who attained to faith from amongst you in the One-ness of My Essence and My Appearance according to My Affairs and My Ever changing-ness in accordance with My Names and Attributes, the requirement of your faith is taqwa, mindfulness from the demands of your desires…
Ittaqu Rabbukum: be conscious of your Lord and stay away from what is forbidden by Him and what He has ordered prevented for you and characterize yourself with His Commands and know that He…
Lilladina ahsanu: for the ones with spiritual excellence and beautiful regard with Allah…
Fi hadihi duniya: in this world, which is the place of gaining lessons and choosing…
Hasana: there is goodness, multifold and more than a thousand times more than that in the Hereafter which is the Dar al Qarar, the abode which is forever so take heed, O people of vision, both inner and outer.
…
Innama yuwaffa as sabiroon: Only the steadfast are given in full as the Al Mutahammiloona, the ones who carry their burdens with the different kinds of difficulties and toiling with patience in the practice of Imaan, faith…
Ajrahum: their reward and in abundance upon them will be goodness and different kinds of recompenses and honours…
Bighairi hisaab: without count, for all of it and exceeding it, with no possibility of measure and enumeration and without any number, merely by His Bounty for them and His Honour upon them.
My way of practicing it was about to change.
Continued on: www.flickr.com/photos/42093313@N00/52649820039/in/datepos...
When three hand sewing needles are arranged like this - with the point of each, penetrating the eye of the needle next to it - then this is a triangle of understanding; because when an eye sees the point of something, it understands it. This points towards our soul - our feeling of oneness with the things around us, but it is not yet a symbol of the singularity of understanding that we call Haven... because understanding is not uni-directional...
© DM Parody 2017 (www.dotcom.gi/photos) These images are protected by copyright. You CANNOT copy or republish any of these photos without written consent of the photographer even if you retain the watermark (if present) and/or credit the photographer. You cannot use on any media including social media either. You CAN post a link to the page where the image appears without reference to the photographer only if not promoting a commercial product or service. Copyright infringements will be followed up, legally if necessary. Thank you for your understanding.
An attendee at the opening of the White Rabbit gallery REFORMATION exhibition opening tries to get a better view of how the 'drawing machine' works. Sorry no artist information at the moment but will update after getting back to the exhibition. Soon!
Fujifilm X Pro1 - XF18mm F2.8 R
100th at F2.2 1600 iso
During the virtual dialogical tour through the Ars Electronica Center's Understanding AI exhibition, students are not only given a basic understanding of this technological phenomenon, but also discuss the range of applications that AI brings and also which chances and which dangers are involved.
This virtual tour is part of Ars Electronica Home Delivery.
To find out more about Ars Electronica Home Delivery go here: ars.electronica.art/homedelivery/en/
Credit: Ars Electronica - Robert Bauernhansl
For round 19 of the get pushed challenge I was paired with Edita www.flickr.com/photos/47380981@N04/ . She has an amazing photostream, it blew me away and is definately worth checking out!
This was her challenge to me
In your photostream I noticed the following:
www.flickr.com/photos/mamoomintroll/6727552673
Very few people shots
Not enough black and whites
No dark photos
So, based on the above, I think that a low-key black and white portrait would be a perfect challenge for you. If you do not find anyone willing to be your model, then you could try a selfie.
I'm definately not keen on selfies so I had to persuade my husband Dwayne to be my model. I have had a flash for over 2 years and not used it so I signed up to an online course which has just finished. I haven't even read all the lessons yet (and I confess to not understanding half of it!) and I am a real novice. I had to use the flash on camera as I have no triggers and don't know how to use it off camera but I did make myself a snoot out of cardboard which helped to direct the light a bit. I really struggled knowing where to point the flash, I knew I wanted directional lighting but wasn't really sure how to achieve it!
This was a great challenge, I LOVE low key as much as I love soft dreamy images and I will definately be re-visiting this. Thanks Edita x
constructive critique appreciated
The Memorandum of Understanding renews and expands collaboration on global scientific and technological solutions over the next five years. The extended agreement reaffirms both agencies’ commitment to jointly address critical development and humanitarian challenges affecting the United States and developing countries through the generation and use of scientific research, innovations, and technologies and advances further interagency collaboration under the President’s Emergency Plan for Adaptation and Resilience (PREPARE). Specifically, the partnership will draw on NASA's Earth science research and space technology development to help inform USAID’s global programming.
Exploring mountains and wilderness provides me a liberating sense of freedom - midwest Norway mountains
--- PLEASE WRITE SOME THOUGHTS ABOUT THE PICTURE - comments with group stamps will be deleted, thanks for understanding ---
model: Zoltán Szakál, Zsutti, András Schepácz
makeup: Márti Folmeg
hair: Attila Kárpáti
assistant: _Nec
gear: Canon EOS 40D, Canon EF 70-200mm f2.8 L IS II USM lens
lights-setup: _Nec
stylist, photo, post-processing: me
strobist: yongnuo flash @ 1/8 with a beauty dish from the right and a yongnuo flash @ 1/8 with a small softbox from the left.
--- do not use my work without written permission, thank you ---
View in Black @ my Photoblog
All Rights Reserved. No parts of this Photo Stream may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purposes without the written permission from Soo Hon Keong. If you would like to license/buy any photo from this site, drop me a mail at soohonk@gmail.com. Thank you for your respect and understanding.
Copyright © Soo Hon Keong. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Understanding the role of food proteins in the development of type 1 diabetes. Read the article:
www.nutritionaldoublethink.com/blog/cows-milk-sugar-overl...
Immune system graphic created by Christine Dobrowolski using funny red bacteria by gmad, pancreas by maritacovarrubias and petrified smiley face silhouette by GDJ, CC0 1.0.
In the Kennedy Space Center's Operations and Support Building II, Thursday, Aug. 9, 2018, members of the media participate in a prelaunch mission briefing on NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Speaking to the media is Kathy Rice, launch weather officer, 45th Weather Squadron, Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. The Parker Solar Probe will lift off on a United Launch Alliance Delta IV Heavy rocket from Space Launch Complex 37 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida. The spacecraft was built by Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University in Laurel, Maryland. The mission will perform the closest-ever observations of a star when it travels through the Sun's atmosphere, called the corona. The probe will rely on measurements and imaging to revolutionize our understanding of the corona and the Sun-Earth connection. Photo credit: NASA/Kim Shiflett
A quote of Albert Einstein declaring that he did not use his rational mind to discover the Laws of the Universe he published.
MODERATOR: Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us this afternoon. Today we have with us two senior State Department officials to discuss the situation in Venezuela. We have with us [Senior State Department Official One] and [Senior State Department Official Two]. Hereafter for the rest of the call, they will be Senior State Department Official One and Senior State Department Official Two. This call is on background, so for all attribution we will refer to them as Senior State Department Officials.
So without further ado, I’m going to turn it over to Senior State Department Official Number One for some opening remarks before we get to your questions. Go ahead, Senior Official One.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you very much, [Moderator], and thanks to everyone for being on the line. Good afternoon. Let me start off just with a couple of quick things and then we can go to questions.
Yesterday was obviously a very, very busy day on Venezuela. First we had the press conference by Vice President Maduro in which there were a lot of allegations made about the United States and two of our officials were expelled, or PNG’d; and then just hours later, Vice President Maduro, of course, announced President Chavez’s death. The White House has put out a statement on the death of President Chavez. We, of course, have also responded to inquiries.
It’s a very difficult time for Venezuela right now. We are aware of that, and we have conveyed our belief that as they look forward beyond the death of President Chavez there will be elections upcoming according to the Venezuelan constitution, and we are hopeful that those elections will go forward according to their constitution, according to the regional documents, the Inter-American documents on democratic practices that we’ve all signed up to, in the coming days and months.
Let me also just say a word about one other thing that we have obviously been paying some attention to over the last 24 hours, which is the security situation in Venezuela, both for our official Americans and for American citizens more generally. The situation is really very calm. We have had conversations with all of the Venezuelan various security services – police, military – and they have been very responsive to us. We have no concerns about our own security at this point. We did put out – our Embassy did put out a Warden Message last night for Americans, the kind of thing that we do pretty regularly when we think there are reasons for Americans to be cautious. So we put that out yesterday.
My understanding is that because of the national days of mourning, the schools are closed today. Our Embassy did not process visas this morning because they felt that it was better if they did not. So people who had not gotten the word that we were not going to do our visa appointments today were turned away this morning, but there were no problems with that. So I just want to make mention of the fact that we are very conscious of security issues but that everything seems to be going very well for now.
With that, I think I’ll stop unless Official Number Two has anything to add.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Nope, I don’t. Let’s go ahead.
MODERATOR: Operator, let’s go ahead to our Q&A session. Go ahead and get our first question.
OPERATOR: Certainly. Ladies and gentlemen, if you wish to ask a question, please press * then 1 on your phone (inaudible). If you are using a speakerphone, please pick up the handset before pressing the numbers. Once again, any questions, please press * then 1 at this time.
And our first question will come from the line of Elise Labott with CNN. Please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Thanks for doing this. Can you talk a little bit more about – I mean, this – the White House statement was kind of a little bit curt, didn’t necessarily offer condolences. We understand that Senior Official One put out a statement. If you could release that to the rest of the – of us, that would be great. It just seems as if you’re unsure how to respond in terms of showing condolences. The rhetoric coming not only from some of the Republicans on the Hill, talking about the fact that it’s good that he’s dead. I’m wondering, given what’s going on on both sides, what you see the prospect is for improved relations between the U.S. and Venezuela as you move forward.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks, Elise. Let me start out by saying that I can’t really explain or otherwise characterize rhetoric that may be coming out from members of Congress or others. Let me say that I think it’s really important that I make clear that we definitely wanted to – we definitely understand that Venezuela is going through this incredibly difficult period. Their leader has died. We – and I don’t see any problem with making that available – and in the guidance that we’ve used have made clear that we expressed our sympathy to his family and to the Venezuelan people. I think frankly, the way I was raised, when someone dies, you always express condolences. So we’ve done that.
But it’s obviously been a pretty complicated relationship, and this announcement was preceded by a 90-minute press conference in which we were accused of some pretty awful things that were pretty outrageous. But I think that reflects to some extent just how difficult it’s been to try and have the positive relationship with Venezuela that we’d like. I don’t think there’s a whole lot of conflict over President Chavez’s death. He was the leader of Venezuela. There are a lot of people who are feeling the effects of that death, taking it quite personally. There is a family involved here. We sympathize with that.
Looking forward and how the relationship will go in the future, I think we’ve also been pretty clear that we would like a productive, more functional relationship with the Venezuelan Government. And we remain, perhaps because we’re Americans, optimistic that that can be the case. But we’ll have to see how that progresses going forward. Obviously, yesterday’s first press conference, if you will, the first address, was not encouraging in that respect. It disappointed us.
OPERATOR: And next in queue we’ll go to the line of Luis Alonso. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hello, everybody. Many thanks for doing this call. I have two quick questions. The first one is if the United States will reciprocate the expulsion of the two military officers in Caracas, will ask Venezuela to do something similar? And the second question is, after these accusations yesterday by Vice President Maduro, do you plan to have any direct contact with him like the November contact that there was? Is there any prospect, any plan for talks in the near future? Thank you.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks, Luis. I think on the question of reciprocal action for the expulsion of our two officials, that’s something that we’re obviously reviewing right now and we’ll see where we go from here. It’s obviously always our right to take that action, and so we’re not ruling anything out at this point.
On the issue of contact with Vice President Maduro, [Senior State Department Official has] not had contact with him since November, but contact between others [in the State Department] have continued, not in a while now. We’ll see whether those can continue at this point.
Official Number Two, did you want to add anything to that?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: No, I think that’s right.
OPERATOR: And next we’ll go the line of Jo Biddle, AFP. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hello, my question was actually just answered, which was about the rhetoric and whether there’d be any reciprocal actions by the United States on – after the expulsion of these two Air Force officers. But perhaps going forward, maybe you could talk a little bit more about how you think you might be able to build your relationship with Venezuela perhaps once we get past the elections and where you would like to see that going in the future.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you. I think that we’ve – we’ve said from the beginning that we think the best way to move ahead in this relationship is twofold. One is to have conversations on things where I think there may be mutual interest in moving ahead, and there are clearly some areas in which we think that could be possible – counternarcotics, counterterrorism, economic or commercial issues including energy.
But the second part of this is – and we’ve always been clear on this as well, I think – that we are going to continue to speak out when we believe there are issues of democratic principle that need to be talked about, that need to be highlighted. Obviously, Venezuela will also speak out and speak its own mind on – the Venezuelan Government will speak its own mind on issues they think that they have to speak out about.
So I think that’s part of this equation, but there clearly are issues in which we have mutual interest, and I think that’s the way you start this. You start by talking about the things that matter to both of us and seeing if we can make progress on those issues on those functional areas, and then you move on to trying to build on that as you build confidence. So for us, it’s a step-by-step process during which we will continue to speak out and to defend democratic principles if that is the appropriate thing to do.
OPERATOR: And next in queue we’ll go directly to the line of Brad Clapper with Associated Press. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, yes. Thank you for doing the call. I just wanted to ask for your reaction to the late-night tweet by Venezuelan State Television saying that Defense Minister Molero was pledging military support for Maduro’s candidacy. Is that something that worries you, and do you see already these democratic principles that you have said you would speak out in favor of already being challenged?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks, Brad. I actually had not seen that tweet, but I do think that it’s important that the elections be free and fair, that they be – that the democratic principles enshrined in the Inter-American Democratic Charter and other documents be respected. It seems to me that if government entities guaranteeing a free and fair election, then that’s one thing; if they are acting on behalf of an individual candidate, that would probably cause us some concern.
It’s important that, to the greatest extent possible, everybody have a level playing field and a clear field, whether that’s candidates or voters or political groups, to express themselves, to have a vote that is secret and counted and not influenced by those outside the electoral process. So we’ll obviously be taking a look at all of these things as we go forward.
Official Number Two?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: The only thing I’d say in addition to that is, and this is not – Official Number One’s comments about how we respond to this, I think, is right on. This is no different from positions that have been taken by the armed forces in the past, including things – saying things like we’re married to the revolution, et cetera. And the fundamental point here is about – and the separation of powers and ensuring that institutions in the democratic structure have the independence that they need to function as designed.
OPERATOR: And next, we’ll go to the line of Lucia Leal with EFE News Service. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, good afternoon. Thank you for making this call. I was wondering if you could comment on the specific process announced by Vice President Maduro up until the elections next month, because some analysts are saying that the constitution provides for Mr. Cabello and not him to head the interim government. So I just wanted to know what your views are on that. Thank you.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks, Lucia. We’ve obviously seen lots of comments by analysts. It’s not going to be our place to interpret the Venezuelan constitution for Venezuelans, so I really – I’m not going to make a comment on whether that interpretation is accurate or not.
From what I understand – and then I’m going to turn it over to Official Number Two, who is a much better expert on the process going forward – but from what I understand, there – like any constitution, there are rules that are laid out, and then interpretations of the same. We’ve also seen reports that elections need to be held in 30 days, which is an incredibly short timeframe. Or there have been comments that elections need to be called within 30 days.
So all of this will have to be worked out going forward. I think the most important thing is that the rules be applicable across the board to everybody, and that there be an opportunity for Venezuelans to organize and to vote and to be independent in that vote. But beyond that, I’m not going to interpret Venezuela’s constitution.
[Senior State Department Official Two]?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Yeah. I mean, this is right. I mean, it’s a constitution like many constitutions. It’s subject to differential interpretations. For their part, the Venezuelans and the Venezuelan Supreme Court in the past – and they had the tradition of judicial review – the Venezuelan Supreme Court ruled that Maduro didn’t need to be inaugurated because there was a continuity of government. And as – the whole theory behind two-thirds of that article is that you would need to move the acting presidency to the president of the National Assembly because there was no inauguration.
So the point is, is that the judicial branch has kind of looked at this already. For our part, what’s important now is less that issue and more the conditions under which the election, which must be held, which Chavez, before he went to – back to Cuba said would be held, that that election take place in conditions that are demonstrably free and fair and that conform to the rules that the hemisphere had set up for itself with respect to democratic practice.
OPERATOR: And next we’ll go to the line of Karen DeYoung with The Washington Post. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: My question’s been asked and answered. Thank you.
OPERATOR: You’re welcome. Thank you. Next we’ll go to the line of Juan Lopez, CNN Espanol. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Thank you. So what happens now? Will the U.S. send a delegation for Friday? Who will be in that delegation? How do you take it from here? And how do you deal? You’re saying you want – there’s a moment of pause and waiting to see what could happen in the relationship, but for example, Cabello is – he’s still on the kingpin list. And how does that affect any possible change for the future?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks, Juan Carlos. I’m going to start – let me start at the beginning, I think, if I can remember all the questions. You’ll let me know if I’ve missed some.
The question of what happens next, obviously, things are still pretty much in flux. It’s sort of early days. Whether a delegation will be sent for the funeral and ceremony that’s going to be held at the end of the week, I think on that all I would say is that’s a White House decision but I do expect that there will be a delegation. So, basically, stay tuned for that. I don’t want to preempt the White House on that.
In terms of moving forward, obviously we began a dialogue very initially with Vice President Maduro, and then with others beyond that, because we felt it was important to see if we could kind of reconstruct this relationship, starting with the issues where we have mutual interests. That’s been a little bit of a rocky road, obviously. And I think all of us know that electoral campaigns may not always be the best time to make – to break new ground on policy.
So we will continue to desire that positive relationship, to be open to having those conversations to try and move that ahead, while recognizing that it may take a little while before the Venezuelan Government that emerges from the elections that will be coming up is ready to have that conversation a bit more regularly and a bit more seriously.
But I think we’ve set out sort of a roadmap, if you will, of the way we’d like to do this, a sort of step-by-step process. And to some extent, it’s up to the Venezuelans to whether they want to head down that path and explore whether it’ll work.
Official Number Two, what am I missing of those questions? I can’t recall.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Yeah. What – there was another question at the end there. Can you repeat that question?
Apparently not. Locked out.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: There was a question about Cabello, I think, at the end.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Well, the only – I mean, I heard – it may have gone to the constitution question, but one just point of fact is the questioner suggested that Cabello was on the kingpin list, which is not accurate. I mean, there are eight Venezuelans who are on the kingpin list, but he is not currently one of them.
MODERATOR: And next, we’ll go to the line of Lori Montenegro with Telemundo Network. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Yes, good afternoon. Senator Marco Rubio, in his statement, was encouraging the Administration and others in what he called the democratic community to be aware and be vigilant of the security situation in Venezuela during the coming weeks and months. Is there – do you have any indication of – that there should be concern about the security situation in Venezuela and how that could affect security in the rest of the region?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you. I started with security in part to try and get at this issue, but I appreciate sort of coming back to it.
We have no indication right now that there is any threat to our personnel or Americans in Venezuela. Now obviously, after you have the kind of broadside, if you will, that Vice President Maduro launched against the United States yesterday, we obviously have security concerns, and we will remain very vigilant and review security issues regularly within our Embassy and here in Washington. And we’ll put out any additional notices to the public that we think necessary.
But at this point, I have to say, cooperation with the Venezuelan security services has been excellent, and we have no reason to think that there is any unusual threat against Americans or our personnel. And as far as I know, so far today, things have been very quiet and very peaceful, although obviously I think there are people out in the street in mourning, et cetera. So, so far, I think things have been quite quiet.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: If I could just add, just briefly here, is the only other thing is that all that is so, and we need to concern ourselves with the security of American citizens and of our mission. But let’s be clear; I mean, Venezuela is one of the most violent countries in the world with 20,000 murders, 19,000 murders annually being registered, a rate which is five times what it was in 1999. It’s inherently a violent place.
But there’s a distinction there between that sort of violence and then violence which might be – and it would appear that the comment of the senator was directed about sort of political violence. And Senior Official One’s comments were on point in that regard.
MODERATOR: And next we’ll go to the line of Ginger Thompson, New York Times. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi, you all, and thanks for doing the call. I’m wondering if, [Senior State Department Official One], you could give us a few more details about what has happened specifically in the relationship between your – the time of that phone call with Vice President Maduro to yesterday’s press conference. I mean, there was the phone call. Have there been regular diplomatic communications between the two governments? Were there meetings planned? How did things begin to sort of unravel, if you will – not that they were ever fully together?
SENIOR STATE DEPATMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. I think, Ginger, what you’re asking for is a more logical progression than actually exists. (Laughter.) The phone calls took place at the end of November. There were some – a couple of follow-up meetings after that phone call. We laid out, if you will, what we thought was kind of a good plan and where we could start. And to be honest, we did not get much response. We didn’t really begin the substantive portion of those conversations. We were still kind of meeting to meet and laying out what we would talk about.
So we really hadn’t gotten very far and were not sure whether the Government of Venezuela wanted to continue down that road when yesterday occurred. I could not tell you that there was a lot of preparation or anticipation of what happened yesterday, or something that’s built up or that tensions were growing, and that’s why yesterday occurred. In fact, I don’t think that’s the case.
I think yesterday was a part of an election campaign, and therefore not necessarily directly related to the process we’ve had of trying to improve the relationship. But it is directly related, from our perspective, obviously, that is to say regardless of reasons for it, there were some outrageous charges leveled against the United States publicly yesterday. And that’s really unfortunate and we rejected those.
But I can’t tell you that those two events are linked – the process that we’ve had to try and improve to have a conversation on the functional issues, as I call them, and what happened yesterday.
OPERATOR: The next in queue, we’ll go directly to the line of Jay Newton-Small with Time Magazine. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi. Yes, I wanted to know whether you see relations improving in the short or in the medium term now that Chavez is gone. Was he the biggest hurdle in this relationship, or are there other hurdles?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thanks. I’m going to start this one off and then I’m going to ask Official Two to continue a little bit.
I think one of the things that happens over 14 years in a government like Venezuela’s is it really did revolve around one man. So while I hesitate to say that a change in an individual or the passing of an individual completely changes the relationship, I do think your question, in a way, comes from an acknowledgement that he played an outsized role in that government, and therefore his absence can have an outsized implication, if you will.
But it’s very hard for me to tell. Obviously, there’s an election that’s going to take place in the coming weeks or months. And that campaign itself may raise issues; it may be a difficult campaign for many. We will no doubt continue to hear things about the United States that will not help improve this relationship. But it’s very hard for us to know right now whether the current government, as they preside over elections, or the government that comes out of those elections will, in fact, either accelerate or continue or stop the momentum towards a better relationship. [Senior State Department Official Two], you want to jump in?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: The only thing I would add there is if you go back over time and look at how Hugo Chavez managed things politically in his country, one of the consistent elements was using us as a foil, using us as sort of a straw man that could be attacked.
And the regrettable part about this is that, notwithstanding his political needs, there are issues on which we’re really compelled to cooperate or at least talk to one another because there’s – they’re generally issues of mutual interest, where our interests coincide.
The speech yesterday, the first speech yesterday by Maduro, was very consistent with the way that this government has traditionally addressed these matters. And in that respect, it wasn’t very encouraging. On the other hand, it’s our obligation to see if there’s any space to work these things, and I think that if there’s space to do so on their side, then we’ll find out. But we can’t make these decisions for them, only they can.
MODERATOR: Operator, we’ve only got time for two more questions.
OPERATOR: Very good. We’ll go directly to the line of Keith Johnson with the Wall Street Journal. Please, go ahead.
QUESTION: Okay. Thanks a lot for doing this call. The main question I had, just to broaden things out a little bit, I mean in recent years, despite all of the provocations – and [Senior State Department Official Two], you just mentioned his use of the U.S. as a foil constantly, but the U.S. had consistently sort of refused to take that bait. And I wonder, dealing with this post-Chavez transition and all the uncertainty there, if this is going to have any impact on the broader western hemisphere agenda that you’ve laid out, whether it’s energy cooperation, Connect 2020, democracy institutions, social inclusion. I mean, does this change your broader goals for relations with Latin America? Does this create any sort of openings or should it basically not alter the path you guys have already laid out?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. Let me start that one. I guess my own view is that, at least initially, I don't see this changing that much. What we said from the beginning was we’ve laid out, obviously, the issues that we think are important to move ahead on, includes defense of democracy, economic opportunity and social inclusion, moving on energy, including clean energy, citizen security issues, which obviously, as Official Number Two pointed out, are critical in Venezuela. But I don't see the overall goals in the hemisphere changing or being affected all that radically by these events.
That said, the other thing that we’ve done procedurally, if you will, since the beginning of the Obama Administration, the first term, is we’ve sought partnerships with countries that wish to partner with us, where we have things in common that we want to achieve. And we’ve tried to continue to say we want to have a positive relationship, even with countries that seem not to demonstrate much will to do so, to leave that door open, to make sure that they recognize that we’re ready to do so should things change.
Now, that’s what we’re hoping for Venezuela, that whether before, during President Chavez’s years, or now, that they’re ready to actually have that relationship that’s more productive around stuff that I think matters a lot to Venezuelans, not just to Americans, whether it’s working on citizen security issues, whether it’s talking about counternarcotics and the way it’s impacting both of our countries. I mean, this is the kind of discussion we want to have.
I don't know whether more space has opened up to have that discussion now. I do know that, as Official Number Two pointed out earlier, if you look at what’s affecting Venezuelans day to day, whether it’s the highest inflation rate in the hemisphere, or whether it’s number of homicides and other crimes, or whether we’re talking about shortages of foodstuffs on the shelves, Venezuelans are not, I don’t think, in a very good place right now. There’s a lot of things that they are demanding of their leaders that I’m not sure are being met. That’s not something that the United States can necessarily do for Venezuela. Those are things the Venezuelans have to decide to prioritize and their leaders have to decide to respond to.
But surely these are conversations throughout the hemisphere on common issues that Venezuela would benefit from greater engagement in, and that’s what we would hope. So I don't see changes in our policy, but I would love and be very encouraged if we found Venezuela joining those conversations more actively.
OPERATOR: And our final question at this time will come from the line of Margaret Warner, PBS NewsHour. Please go ahead.
QUESTION: Hi. Thank you for doing this. Just back to the concerns about the coming election and your wish that it be – hope that it be free and fair, what is it in the conduct, if anything, of past elections, like the one in October, that would raise concerns on that score?
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Well, thank you, Margaret. I think that we’ve been pretty clear that one of the ways that you ensure that elections really do qualify as free and fair is you invite in observers, international election observers. Election observers in this hemisphere have a particularly long and distinguished history. Election observers have been deployed most recently to Ecuador. Former President of Costa Rica Oscar Arias is heading an election observation mission right now in Paraguay to prepare for their elections.
Venezuela has not invited the OAS to observe its elections in at least certainly the October elections. I’m not sure much before that. [Senior State Department Official Two] may recall. But that would be one thing where the absence, frankly, often concerns us and the presence would be extremely helpful we think. There are lots of groups that do election observation, the OAS being one. The EU is another that does a good job. So it can be any of a number of organizations, but they haven’t been allowed to do so.
But we also think it’s really important that the playing field be as level as it can. The opposition, obviously, is looking to try and get its message across, just as the government is doing, but the government has resources that are used in that process. And it’s important that fairness and some kind of equal shot be given to all the participants. And so we think that would be pretty important. That hasn’t always been the case.
Most people that we talk to in Venezuela – and I think – let me mention about election observation – it is perhaps even more critical not just that international observers observe an election but that domestic observation groups in Venezuela be allowed to observe any and all electoral processes that they can. And I think that’s going to be critical moving forward, and that always – hasn’t always been as transparent as it should be.
On the day of election, in general terms, election observers in Venezuela have felt that things go pretty well. But it’s often in the preparations of elections that kind of the fairness and the evenness of the space gets laid, and I think that’s what we’ll be looking for as things move ahead.
[Senior State Department Official Two].
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: I think that that’s exactly right. I don't have anything to add to that.
MODERATOR: Thank you all for joining us this afternoon. That’s the conclusion of our call.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL ONE: Thank you all very much.
SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT OFFICIAL TWO: Thanks.
PRN: 2013/0252
Coretta Scott King, wife of U.S. Civil Rights Leader Martin Luther King, Jr., receiving the Jawaharlal Nehru Award for International Understanding for the year 1966 on behalf of her husband, from Dr. Zakir Hussain, President of India, on January 24, 1969.
Source: US Embassy, India
ODC2 - Symbolic
29/03/13
Peace, Love and Understanding! The symbol for peace, a rainbow, which in times like these symbolise the gay pride/rights to me, a smiley and some other odds and sods. Ella was playing in the backyard when I asked her to help me hold this.does that show.lol
Check out my Facebook page and hit the like button if you'd like 8)
Islamabad, July 31, 2015 – Ambassador Richard G. Olson officially inaugurated the new building of the U.S. Embassy on July 29 in Islamabad at a ceremony on the diplomatic enclave. The Ambassador was joined by numerous Pakistani government officials and foreign diplomats to commemorate the occasion. Special Representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Daniel F. Feldman, and the State Department Director for Overseas Building Operations, Casey Jones, also traveled from Washington to take part in the ceremony.
Ambassador Olson said, “As we dedicate our new United States Embassy in Pakistan, let us also re-dedicate ourselves to promoting peace and continued mutual understanding between our two countries. This building represents a venue where Pakistanis and Americans can continue to come together to build a better future for both our countries.”
The state-of-the-art facilities began construction in 2011 and were built utilizing the expertise and skill of numerous Pakistani tradespeople and crews. More than $85 million has been invested in the Pakistani economy through purchases of steel, cement, gravel, stone, sand and tile for the completion of the project. The new Embassy building incorporates numerous features designed to protect the environment, including an array of solar panels, energy efficient lighting, and architectural sunshades to reduce heat in the building. An on-site waste water treatment plant allows water to be recycled for irrigating landscaping throughout the campus and local Pakistani plants were used throughout the grounds to discourage erosion and maintain the original topography.
U.S. Embassy Islamabad is also one of the first U.S. embassies in the world designed to be fully compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). ADA, which celebrates its 25th anniversary this year, is one of America's most comprehensive pieces of civil rights legislation, which prohibits discrimination and guarantees that people with disabilities have equal opportunities, including employment and the ability to participate and access all government programs and services.
Women and children from Mugeyo, a small village north east of Kigali, in Gasabo district take part in a survey aimed at understanding the links between agriculture and nutrition and determine the specific causes of stunting in children under two.
In Rwanda, agricultural production and GDP have increased yet 43 per cent of children under five suffer chronic malnutrition, and stunting in some areas is as high as 60 per cent. www.ciatnews.cgiar.org/?p=7981
Credit: ©2014CIAT/StephanieMalyon
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The Temple of Dendur
•Period: Roman Period
•Reign: reign of Augustus Caesar
•Date: completed by 10 B.C.
•Geography: From Egypt, Nubia, Dendur, West bank of the Nile River, 50 miles South of Aswan
•Medium: Aeolian sandstone
•Dimensions:
oTemple Proper:
Height: 6.40 m (21 ft.)
Width: 6.40 m (21 ft.)
Length: 12.50 m (41 ft.)
oGate:
Height: 8.08 m (26.5 ft.)
Width: 3.66 m (12 ft.)
Depth: 3.35 m (11 ft.)
•Credit Line: Given to the United States by Egypt in 1965, awarded to The Metropolitan Museum of Art in 1967, and installed in The Sackler Wing in 1978
•Accession Number: 68.154
On view at The Met Fifth Avenue in Gallery 131.
Egyptian temples were not simply houses for a cult image but also represented, in their design and decoration, a variety of religious and mythological concepts. One important symbolic aspect was based on the understanding of the temple as an image of the natural world as the Egyptians knew it. Lining the temple base are carvings of papyrus and lotus plants that seem to grow from water, symbolized by figures of the Nile god Hapy. The two columns on the porch rise toward the sky like tall bundles of papyrus stalks with lotus blossoms bound with them. Above the gate and temple entrance are images of the sun disk flanked by the outspread wings of Horus, the sky god. The sky is also represented by the vultures, wings outspread, that appear on the ceiling of the entrance porch.
On the outer walls between earth and sky are carved scenes of the king making offerings to deities who hold scepters and the ankh, the symbol of life. The figures are carved in sunk relief. In the brilliant Egyptian sunlight, shadows cast along the figures’ edges would have emphasized their outlines. Isis, Osiris, their son Horus, and the other deities are identified by their crowns and the inscriptions beside their figures. These scenes are repeated in two horizontal registers. The king is identified by his regalia and by his names, which appear close to his head in elongated oval shapes called cartouches; many of the cartouches simply read “pharaoh.” This king was actually Caesar Augustus of Rome, who, as ruler of Egypt, had himself depicted in the traditional regalia of the pharaoh. Augustus had many temples erected in Egyptian style, honoring Egyptian deities. This small temple, built about 15 B.C., honored the goddess Isis and, beside her, Pedesi and Pihor, deified sons of a local Nubian chieftain.
In the first room of the temple, reliefs again show the “pharaoh” praying and offering to the gods, but the relief here is raised from the background so that the figures can be seen easily in the more indirect light. From this room one can look into the temple past the middle room used for offering ceremonies and into the sanctuary of the goddess Isis. The only carvings in these two rooms are around the door frame leading into the sanctuary and on the back wall of the sanctuary, where a relief depicts Pihor worshiping Isis, and below—partly destroyed—Pedesi worshiping Osiris.
Curatorial Interpretation
History
After the conquest of Egypt in 31 B.C., Augustus confiscated the property of Egyptian temples and centralized their administration. As a kind of compensation, he commissioned at least 17 building projects for local gods, including the small Isis-temple of Dendur (ancient Tutzis) in Lower Nubia. No date for the temple’s construction is recorded except that the cartouches include the name of the “Autokrator Kaisaros,” that is Augustus. But one assumes reasonably that it was built during the peaceful years following the Roman-Kushite wars of 25-22 B.C., which had ended with the treaty of Samos of the year 21 B.C.
The dates 20 or 15 B.C. are usually given. Since Augustus only died in 14 A.D., a later date can not be ruled out. There is also no evidence for the Roman prefect who may have commissioned the building. The three possible candidates are:
•Gaius Petronius or Publius Petronius: 24 B.C. - 21 B.C. (who destroyed Napata)
•Publius Rubrius Barbarus: to 12 B.C.
•Gaius Turranius: 7 B.C. - 4 B.C.
A detailed Coptic inscription states that in 577 (or 559?) A.D. the temple was converted into a Christian church. Since 1820, the temple has been a favorite travel destination for explorers and artists, who produced numerous depictions and early photographs of the temple. Graffiti on the pronaos walls recall their visits.
The first Aswan dam brought the water 3 m below the doorsill of the temple. In 1908, conservation work was carried out in preparation for a seasonal flooding of the building. The building was completely drowned annually by the two raisings of the first Aswan dam, in 1907-12 and 1929-33. Remains of the wall paint were washed away but the walls remained structurally unharmed. Lake Nasser, created in 1970 by the building of the Aswan High Dam, would have submerged the temple forever. In 1962, the gate and temple were therefore documented and taken down as part of the Nubian salvage campaign. In recognition of the American contribution to the campaign, the gate and temple were presented to the United States in 1965.
Thanks to the initiative of Henry Fischer and Thomas Hoving, the temple was awarded to the Metropolitan Museum and in 1974/75 rebuilt in the newly created Sackler wing designed by Kevin Roche (born 1922) and John Dinkeloo (1918-81). The architects were faced with the problem that the temple was not free standing but built into a sloping rock surface, a landscape that was not desired by the Museum. The temple therefore had to be squeezed into the shape of a freestanding building, presented on a granite stage. The material chosen (red granite and “mason granite”) reflects with its shiny, polished surfaces the architect’s imagination of imperial-style pharaonic architecture. The stepped planes in front and around the temple house are modern creations that do not follow the original arrangement. These alterations, implemented for practical reasons, are quite appealing for the visitor but not hold up against modern conservation standards. The opening was celebrated on September 27, 1978.
Description
a)Cult Terrace
The temple towered impressively over the water of the Nile, visually supported by a 3.5 m high, 15 m broad and 16 m deep terrace (much higher than the reconstruction in the Museum). The front of the terrace had no opening but a front curving inward, probably better to withstand the torrent of the Nile. Similar terraces are known at Elephantine, Philae, Qasr Ibrim, Kalabsha, Ajuala and Dabod (see Jaritz 1980, pls. 48-49). The waterfront and the sides were closed with low parapet walls, which were underpinned by a heavy, protruding ledge. The re-creation in the Museum is made of granite because the original sandstone would not have withstood the museum’s traffic. The granite parapet wall designed by Roche-Dinkeloo consisted originally of two courses of blocks. The upper course was removed in 1995 in order to improve the vista on the temple terrace.
b)Temple Enclosure and Gate
The temple enclosure (temenos) rose on top of a 90 cm high step above the rear (west) side of the terrace. A monumental gate in the center formed the east front of the temenos.
The gate was for unknown reasons not exactly aligned with the temple-house behind. The visible parts of the gate are decorated with relief. The gate is 6.50 m high (including the cavetto), the doorway is 1.60 m wide and 4.35 m (from the court level). A staircase of 5 steps leads from the gate down onto the cult terrace.
The rough outer sidewalls of the gate suggest that it was incorporated in a massive wall or pylon built of brick or stone, closing off the Nile front of the temenos. Apparently no traces of a pylon were noticed at the site and it could well be that it was never built. However, the existence of a pylon is implied in the Museum’s reconstruction by a layer of irregular stones.
One would expect that high walls running east-west from the pylon to the mountain slope behind would have enclosed the sides of the temenos. Blackman’s plan shows the remains of these walls, but they no longer appear on Ashiri’s plan of 1972. In the Museum reconstruction, the parapet walls flanking the front platform suggest a continuation backwards in the direction of the cliffs.
The interior floor of the temenos was never completely level and the rock surface began to slope up beginning at the pronaos. The irregular lower edge of the exterior reliefs of the temple walls indicate the inclination of the slope. The center of the east court was treated differently. There, the gate and temple were connected by a 7 m broad walkway, made of masonry and rising 50 cm above the rough court level. This walkway is clearly visible on an old photo of the site. However, the photo was taken after modern consolidation of the temple and how much of it was modern is not recorded.
A door in the lateral south wall is shown on Blackman’s plan. Perhaps another one opened in the north side. However, there was no processional approach from the riverside because the cult terrace blocked an axial approach.
c)Temple House
The temple was primarily dedicated to Isis, mistress of Philae, who was the patron saint of Lower Nubia, an area known as the Dodekaschoinos. Attached was the cult of two brothers, Pedesi and Pihor, the sons of a local Nubian chieftain Quper. They carry the title hesy, which is normally bestowed on people drowned in the Nile. One assumes that Quper and his sons had earned merit in the Meroitic wars of the Romans.
The actual temple house represents a distyle in antis, with two quatrefoil column capitals in the front opening. This temple type was common in Ptolemaic times (as seen for example in tomb chapels at Tuna el-Gebel and Dakka) with several larger variations that include a wider pronaos with more front columns. The temple house is ca. 13 m long, 6.5 m wide and 5 m high (to the roof) and includes 3 consecutive rooms: entrance hall or pronaos; offering hall; and sanctuary. Depictions from the 19th century suggest that the cavetto cornice of the temple house was still largely in place around 1839. Today, only one block is left.
The entrance hall or pronaos has an open front with two 3.95 m high columns (including the abacus) columns carrying the architraves. The columns have quatrefoil papyrus capitals with a four-story lily decoration. The lateral interspaces were closed with screen walls.
The pronaos has a small side door in the southwest corner. This door was part of the temple structure and is incorporated into the decoration of the walls. Another, smaller side door in the northeast corner was cut through the existing building, damaging the wall reliefs. Both doors suggest that the access from the front of the pronaos was not always possible.
A large room follows behind, assumed to have been the offering hall. Except for the door in the rear wall, the room is undecorated, and was apparently unfinished.
The walls of the sanctuary are also undecorated except for a stela-like panel in the center of the rear wall. Its decoration depicts Pihor worshiping Isis, and below – partly destroyed – Pedesi worshiping Osiris. The floor and lowermost part of the rear and sidewalls are carved from the rock.
All the rest of the interior and exterior is covered with relief, showing the “pharaoh” (“kaisaros autokrator”) praying and offering to the gods.
d)Rock Chamber
In the cliff behind the temple was a small rock chamber with a basin in the floor. In front was a court with a kind of tiny pylon. One assumes that this was the tomb of the two brothers and perhaps the predecessor of the temple. The entrance was behind the stela of Pedesi and Pihor.
The 1.65 m thick rear wall of the temple-house includes a built-in secret chamber accessed from the south end through a door closed with a thin, removable block. This crypt has been explained as the tomb of one of the brothers or as a hiding place for a priest giving oracles through a hole in the wall. The crypt could also have been a hiding place for liturgical equipment.
e)Evaluation
The Dendur temple is comparatively small but impressive and a major example of Roman architecture based on the Ptolemaic building tradition in Egypt. The temple demonstrates an important aspect of Egyptian architecture. The modern viewer is impressed by the monumental gate or pylon forming the front of the temple. However, the gate of temples like that of Dendur cannot be reached by a frontal, axial approach. The access is blocked by a cult terrace (for example the first pylon of Karnak or the pylon of Medinet Habu). These pylons/gates were not intended as entrances but as exits, monumental stages where the god (in the form of a cult figure) emerges from the interior and performs his/her appearance at the “gates of appearances.” From the gate of the Dendur temple, the divinity descended onto the cult terrace, were it reposed and viewed the Nile and the realm. Jaritz (1980, pp. 61-654) has shown that the cult terrace of the Khnum temple on Elephantine also was the gathering place for cult communities who celebrated repasts with the divinity.
Dieter Arnold 2016
Provenance
Given to the United States by the Egyptian Government, 1965. Awarded to the Museum by the U.S. Government, 1967.
Selected References
•Gau, Francois Chretien 1822. Antiquités de la Nubie : ou, Monumens inédits des bords du Nil, situés entre la première et la seconde cataracte, dessinés et mesurés en 1819. Stuttgart, pl. 23-5.
•Rifaud, Jean-Jacques 1830. Voyage en Égypte, en Nubie et lieux circonvoisins depuis 1805 jusqu’en 1827. Paris: Crapelet, pp. 27-8.
•Blackman, Aylward M. 1911. The temple of Dendûr. Cairo: Imprimerie de l’Institut Français d’Archeologie Orientale.
•Monnet-Saleh, Janine 1969. “Observations sur le temple de Dendour.” In Bulletin de l’Institut Français d’Archéologie Orientale, 68, pp. 1–13.
•El-Achiri, Hassan, M. Aly, F.-A. Hamid, and Ch. LeBlanc 1972. Le temple de Dandour, 1-3. Collection scientifique (Markaz Tasjīl al-Āthār al-Miṣrīyah), Cairo.
•Jaritz, Horst 1980. Elephantine III : Die Terrassen vor den Tempeln des Chnum und der Satet : Architektur und Deutung. Mainz am Rhein: Zabern.
•Bagnall, Roger 1985. “Publius Petronius, Augustan Prefect of Egypt.” In Papyrology. Cambridge and New York: Cambridge University Press, pp. 85-93.
•Bianchi, Robert Steven 1998. “The Oracle at the Temple of Dendur.” In Egyptian Religion. The Last Thousand Years. Studies Dedicated to the Memory of Jan Quaegebeur, 85, pp. 773-80.
•Arnold, Dieter 1999. Temples of the Last Pharaohs. New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 244-46.
•Hill, Marsha 2000. “Roman Egypt.” In The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West, edited by Elizabeth J. Milleker. New Haven: Metropolitan Museum of Art, pp. 84-5, figs. 62-63, p. 207.
•Metropolitan Museum of Art 2012. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, p. 58.
•Metropolitan Museum of Art 2012. The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide. New York and New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press, p. 58.
Timeline of Art History (2000-Present)
Timelines
•Egypt, 1-500A.D.
MetPublications
•The Art of Ancient Egypt: A Resource for Educators
•“Dendur: The Six-Hundred-Forty-Third Stone”: Metropolitan Museum Journal, v. 33 (1998)
•Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
•Masterpieces of The Metropolitan Museum of Art
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Arabic)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Chinese)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (French)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (German)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Italian)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Japanese)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Korean)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Portuguese)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Russian)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art Guide (Spanish)
•The Metropolitan Museum of Art. Vol. 1, Egypt and the Ancient Near East
•One Met. Many Worlds.
•“The Temple of Dendur”: The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin, v. 36, no. 1 (Summer, 1978)
•The Year One: Art of the Ancient World East and West
Vatican Museums
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Vatican Museums (Italian: Musei Vaticani; Latin: Musea Vaticana) are Christian and art museums located within the city boundaries of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by popes throughout the centuries including several of the most renowned Roman sculptures and most important masterpieces of Renaissance art in the world. The museums contain roughly 70,000 works, of which 20,000 are on display,[3] and currently employ 640 people who work in 40 different administrative, scholarly, and restoration departments.[4]
Pope Julius II founded the museums in the early 16th century.[5] The Sistine Chapel, with its ceiling decorated by Michelangelo and the Stanze di Raffaello decorated by Raphael, are on the visitor route through the Vatican Museums. In 2017, they were visited by 6 million people, which combined makes it the 4th most visited art museum in the world.[6][7]
There are 54 galleries, or sale, in total,[citation needed] with the Sistine Chapel, notably, being the very last sala within the Museum. It is one of the largest museums in the world.
In 2017, the Museum's official website and social media presence was completely redone, in accord with current standards and appearances for modern websites.[8]
History
The Vatican Museums trace their origin to one marble sculpture, purchased in the 16th century: Laocoön and His Sons was discovered on 14 January 1506, in a vineyard near the basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore in Rome. Pope Julius II sent Giuliano da Sangallo and Michelangelo Buonarroti, who were working at the Vatican, to examine the discovery. On their recommendation, the pope immediately purchased the sculpture from the vineyard owner. The pope put the sculpture, which depicts the Trojan priest Laocoön and his two sons being attacked by giant serpents, on public display at the Vatican exactly one month after its discovery.
Benedict XIV founded the Museum Christianum, and some of the Vatican collections formed the Lateran Museum, which Pius IX founded by decree in 1854.[9]
The Museums celebrated their 500th anniversary in October 2006 by permanently opening the excavations of a Vatican Hill necropolis to the public.[10]
On 1 January 2017, Barbara Jatta became the Director of the Vatican Museums, replacing Antonio Paolucci who had been director since 2007.
Pinacoteca Vaticana
The art gallery was housed in the Borgia Apartment until Pope Pius XI ordered construction of a proper building. The new building, designed by Luca Beltrami, was inaugurated on 27 October 1932.[13] The museum has paintings including:
•Giotto's Stefaneschi Triptych
•Olivuccio di Ciccarello, Opere di Misericordia
•Raphael's Madonna of Foligno, Oddi Altarpiece and Transfiguration
•Leonardo da Vinci's St. Jerome in the Wilderness
•Caravaggio's Entombment
•Perugino's Madonna and Child with Saints and San Francesco al Prato Resurrection
•Filippo Lippi's Marsuppini Coronation
•Jan Matejko's Sobieski at Vienna
Collection of Modern Religious Art
The Collection of Modern Religious Art was added in 1973 and houses paintings and sculptures from artists like Carlo Carrà, Giorgio de Chirico, Vincent van Gogh, Paul Gauguin, Marc Chagall, Paul Klee, Salvador Dalí, and Pablo Picasso.[14]
Sculpture museums
The group of museums includes several sculpture museums surrounding the Cortile del Belvedere. These are the Gregoriano Profano Museum, with classical sculpture, and others as below:
Museo Pio-Clementino
A Roman naval bireme depicted in a relief from the Temple of Fortuna Primigenia in Praeneste (Palestrina),[15] constructed c. 120 BC;[16] exhibited in the Pius-Clementine Museum (Museo Pio-Clementino) of the Vatican.
The museum takes its name from two popes; Clement XIV, who established the museum, and Pius VI, the pope who brought the museum to completion. Clement XIV came up with the idea of creating a new museum in Innocent VIII's Belvedere Palace and started the refurbishment work.[17]
Pope Clement XIV founded the Pio-Clementino museum in 1771, and originally it contained the Renaissance and antique works. The museum and collection were enlarged by Clement's successor Pius VI. Today, the museum houses works of Greek and Roman sculpture. Some notable galleries are:
•Greek Cross Gallery: (Sala a Croce Greca): with the porphyri sarcophagi of Constance and Saint Helen, daughter and mother of Constantine the Great.
•Sala Rotonda: shaped like a miniature Pantheon, the room has impressive ancient mosaics on the floors, and ancient statues lining the perimeter, including a gilded bronze statue of Hercules.
•Gallery of the Statues (Galleria delle Statue): as its name implies, holds various important statues, including Sleeping Ariadne and the bust of Menander. It also contains the Barberini Candelabra.
•Gallery of the Busts (Galleria dei Busti): Many ancient busts are displayed.
•Cabinet of the Masks (Gabinetto delle Maschere): The name comes from the mosaic on the floor of the gallery, found in Villa Adriana, which shows ancient theater masks. Statues are displayed along the walls, including the Three Graces.
•Sala delle Muse: Houses the statue group of Apollo and the nine muses, uncovered in a Roman villa near Tivoli in 1774, as well as statues by important ancient Greek or Roman sculptors. The centerpiece is the Belvedere Torso, revered by Michelangelo and other Renaissance men.[18]
•Sala degli Animali: So named because of the many ancient statues of animals.
Museo Chiaramonti
This museum was founded in the early 19th century by Pope Pius VII, whose surname before his election as pope was Chiaramonti. The museum consists of a large arched gallery in which are exhibited several statues, sarcophagi and friezes. The New Wing, Braccio Nuovo, built by Raffaele Stern, houses statues including the Augustus of Prima Porta, the Doryphoros, and The River Nile. The Galeria Lapidaria forms part of the Museo Chiaramonti, and contains over 3,000 stone tablets and inscriptions. It is accessible only with special permission, usually for the purpose of academic study.
Museo Gregoriano Etrusco[edit]
Founded by Pope Gregory XVI in 1836, this museum has eight galleries and houses important Etruscan pieces, coming from archaeological excavations.[19] The pieces include: vases, sarcophagus, bronzes and the Guglielmi Collection.
Museo Gregoriano Egiziano
This museum houses a large collection of artifacts from Ancient Egypt.[20] Such material includes papyruses, the Grassi Collection, animal mummies, and reproductions of the Book of the Dead.[21]
History
The Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was inaugurated on 2 February 1839 to commemorate the anniversary of Gregory XVI's accession to the papacy. The creation of the Museo Gregoriano Egiziano was particularly close to the pope's heart as he believed the understanding of ancient Egyptian civilisation was vital in terms of its scientific importance as well as its value in understanding the Old Testament. This feeling was expressed in a paper by the museum's first curator, the physiologist and Barnabite, Father Luigi Maria Ungarelli.[17]
Vatican Historical Museum
The Vatican Historical Museum (Italian: Museo storico vaticano) was founded in 1973 at the behest of Pope Paul VI,[22] and was initially hosted in environments under the Square Garden. In 1987, it moved to the main floor of the Apostolic Palace of the Lateran where it opened in March 1991.
The Vatican Historical Museum has a unique collection of portraits of the Popes from the 16th century to date, the memorable items of the Papal Military Corps of the 16–17th centuries and old religious paraphernalia related to rituals of the papacy. Also on display on the lower floor are the papamobili (Popemobiles); carriages and motorcars of Popes and Cardinals, including the first cars used by Popes.[23]
COMM 335 Photojournalism in COMM 335 - Fall 2013 Photojournalism Benedictine University, Springfield, “We decide what is real and what is an illusion”
Class Objectives:
In today’s media landscape, an understanding of photography is crucial to most jobs. Copy editors, page designers, web designers and photographers have to create and evaluate images on a daily basis. The purpose of this class is to give you those skills.This class will stress many different skills. Learning the technical tools and software of a photographer will be covered at the start. We will focus on the creation of the highest quality still images. The class will focus on storytelling, since this is the primary purpose of professional photojournalism and many other specialized areas of photography. Anyone seeking employment in media must possess the ability to create and discern quality images and effective content. This class will stress actual production of photojournalistic material. Instructor Information:
Instructor: Gerald SchneiderOffice: lower level of Becker Library, extension 245 /Capital Area Career Center 2201 Toronto Road room 206 phone 529-5431 ext.162Email: jschneider@caccschool.org gschneider@ben.edu Office hours: 11:30 am - 3:00 pm M-F at the CACC office photography lab (217) 529-5431 ext 162 or by appointment MTW 8am-9amClass website: www.classes.
Required Material:
Text: Photojournalism6th Editionby Ken KobreISBN: 978-0-7506-8593-1
SLR or equivalent camera (digital preferred). The university does have a few cameras that can be checked out.USB Device with min. 2gb capacity, Proper Memory card.
Grades:
•Portrait photo - 100 points•Coverage photo - 200 points•Photo essay - 150 points•Shoot off - 50 points•Final - 85 points•Attendance - 15 points Photojournalist -50 points
Total: 500 points
Grading scale
500 - 450 A449 - 400 B399 - 350C349 - 300 D299 - 0 F
There is no rounding up of pointsAttendance policy:• Two or less classes missed - 15 points• Three classes missed - 7 points• Four or more classes missed - 0 points
I do not differentiate between excused and unexcused absences. Save your two “free” days for when you really need them.
There will be an attendance sheet for you to sign every day. The sheet is the arbiter on missed classes, so don’t forget to sign in.
Assignments
Benedictine Magazine - This will be a semester long project which will use photographs the class has created about our University.Cover design, articles about students and staff, sports, activities and school architecture will be the content to be published at the end of the semester. This will become a regular publication for the University with proper funding as generated by the class marketing activities. Most assignments will contribute to this final publication project. The students will learn from the actual production of a photojournalistic publication.
Portrait photo(s) - This is an image of a person that conveys something about that person. The photo should be done as an environmental portrait, not a canned one (like your senior photo). Proper lighting, composition, focus and exposure are part of the grade as well. An accurate cutline should also be included.This assignment will be one of our first in order to identify with each other and will be repeated for other University staff and students. You will also present your photo(s) to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Coverage photo(s) - This can be photos from a news event or a sporting event. Benedictine events are fine, as are any other venues (community activities, intramural sports, etc.) The key moment(s) should be presented as well as good lighting, composition, focus and exposure. An accurate cutline should also be included. You will have several of these assignments with multiple subjects or themes. You will also present your photo(s) to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Architecture - This project will capture the rich historical building on campus. You will also present your photo(s) to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Seasonal - This project will have a theme relative to a season or celebration. October, November and December are times when seasonal atmosphere can really effect the creative process. You will also present your photo(s) to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Photo essay - Each student will choose an event or person and record an in-depth photographic story. This assignment should contain quality images. It should be between ten and fifteen frames, effective lighting, composition, and editing (enhancement) are part of the grade as well. You will also present your photo essay to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Shoot today - Student will be assigned a topic at the start of class and then have the rest of the period to wander around campus to fulfill that assignment. The following class period, students will edit their shoot and present their images to the class. There will be several of these assignments when conditions allow. You will also present your photo(s) to the class; it will count towards the grade.
Photo Journalist research - This assignment each student will research a specific photojournalist and discuss his best photograph with the class
Quiz - Multiple choice, fill in the blank and short answer questions, which will cover the material from class as well as the material in the textbook. The quiz will be open book.
- Students need to have a decent camera; a SLR or equivalent. The university does have a few that can be checked out. Film cameras are OK, but processing costs are the student’s responsibility. All projects must be turned in as digital files, as well as all photos from a student’s shoot. Most film processors can burn you a CD with digital copies of your prints. You may also use the darkrooms at the Capital Area Career Center under the direction of lab assistants. See your instructor for details.
- All photos can be uploaded to the class Flickr site: www.flickr.com/groups/benedictinephotojournalism335/ (click to join the group) this is so we can learn from each other and get the experience of actually producing something. We will spend class time examining everyone’s projects. This website will be live to the world; anybody will be able to see your work. Being able to critique other photographers work and to benefit from others who critique your work is most critical. You must also have your original projects and photographs available for critique during class on your camera media card or USB device. The quality of your work and your participation during critiques is the most import part of this class.
About your instructor
Mr. Schneider has been a photographer for 35 years. He has served on the faculty at Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois, District 186 Springfield,Lincoln Land Community College, The Lincoln Institute, Lincoln Scholars, the Capital Area Career Center and the Springfield Art Association. He has administered a private photography business for 35 years. He has attended Southern Illinois University, University of Illinois, Illinois StateUniversity, Chicago State University, Royal Academy London, University ofNotre Dame . University Policies1. The search for truth and the dissemination of knowledge are the central missions of a university. Benedictine University pursues these missions in an environment guided by our Roman Catholic tradition and our Benedictine heritage. Integrity and honesty are therefore expected of all members of the University community, including students, faculty members, administration, and staff.Actions such as cheating, plagiarism, collusion, fabrication, forgery, falsification, destruction, multiple submission, solicitation, and misrepresentation, are violations of these expectations and constitute unacceptable behavior in the University community. The penalties for such actions can range from a private verbal warning, all the way to expulsion from the University. The University’s Academic Honesty Policy is available at http:/www.ben.edu/AHP and students are expected to read it.2. A student whose religious obligation conflicts with a course requirement may request an academic accommodation from the instructor.Students must make such requests in writing by theend of the first week of the class.
3. Benedictine University at Springfield strives to provide individuals with disabilities reasonable accommodations to participate in educational programs, activities and services. Students with a documented permanent or temporary disability requiring accommodations should contact Disability Services as early in the semester as possible. Disability Services works with students, faculty and other campus personnel in a cooperative and confidential effort to find appropriate solutions to each individual’s special needs.
To request an appointment or for further information please contact Disability Services at 217-525-1420 X 3306 or email springaccess@ben.edu. If you need help Email me jschneider@caccschool.org or gschneider@ben.edu Class Policies•All assignments must be turned in on the day they are due and at the beginning of class. Late work will not be accepted and there are no extra credit assignments. Assignments notturned in when they are due will result in a score of zero points for that assignment.
•Turn OFF all cell phones, beepers,.mp3 players, etc. If you are waiting for an emergency phone call, see me before class. Do not check messages during class time, but before class is fine.
•Please do not bring laptops/netbooks into class unless we are working with photoshop.Do not surf the Internet during class time. If you need to take notes on a computer, please clearit with me first.
•Respect your fellow students and teacher.Disruptions (such as talking with friends during class, doing homework during class, reading newspapers during class, etc.) will not be tolerated. • Do not be tardy to class. If you cannot make the start of class regularly, see me. There will be an attendance sheet for you to sign. Remember to sign in each class period.
•You are responsible for the material if you miss a class; either get the notes from a fellow student or see me during office hours. Do not email me something like: “Did I miss anything important?”
•Your campus email address will be the official way I contact you with course and/or academic performance information. Check your email often. “I didn’t get your email,” is not an excuse for missed work and/or information.
•Check D2L, the Twitter feed and the class website often. Your grades will be posted on D2L.
•Feedback on your projects will be during critique sessions.
Class schedule - COMM 335 MW 9:00 am - 10:15 am (3) (3105) room D 220
Week 1Aug. 26: Intro, class expectationsAug. 28: Camera basics / Photo gear/check out procedures/-Chapter 1
Week 2Sept. 2: Labor Day, no classSept. 4: 35mm SLR basics /Picture editing workshop/Chapter 2/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 3Sept. 9: Quiz on camera operation and care/discuss photojournalistSept. 11: Project # 1 Shoot a portrait of someone in the class and write a brief biography about that student./-Chapter 3/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 4Sept. 16: Basic composition and lighting - critique project 1/Chapter 4/discuss photojournalistSept. 18: Basic composition and lighting - Project # 2 Coverage of an event, activity, Benedictine staff or student story, Historical building on or off campus/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 5Sept. 23: PhotoShop basics - critique project 2 /-Chapter 5/discuss photojournalistSept. 25: PhotoShop basics-Project # 3 Coverage of an event, activity, Benedictine staff or student story, Historical building on or off campus/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 6Sept. 30: Portrait - Chapter 5/critique project #3/photoShop basics cont./-Chapter 6/discuss photojournalistOct. 2: In-class: Portraits / Photoshop / Project # 4 Coverage of an event, activity, Benedictine staff or student story, Historical building on or off campus/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 7Oct. 7: Fall break, no class Oct. 9: Portrait photo due/critique project # 4/photoshop practice/-Chapter 7/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class/discuss photojournalist
Week 8Oct. 14:Midsemester Break Oct. 16: Event coverage — Sports - Chapter 6 /Project # 5 Coverage of an event, activity, Benedictine staff or student story, Historical building on or off campus/photoShop practice/discuss photojournalistcritique project # 4/PhotoShop practice/-Chapter 8/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class
Week 9 Oct. 21: Seasonal project #6 /Chapter 9/critique project # 5 /PhotoShop practice /research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class//discuss photojournalist Oct. 23: No class,
Week 10 Oct. 28: PhotoShop practice / Critique project # 6 /discuss photojournalist Oct. 30: Photo essay - Chapter 10/photoShop practice/research a photojournalist choose his best photograph and be prepared to discuss it at next class Week 11 Nov. 4: Shoot-today, project #7 / Chapter 11//discuss photojournalist Nov. 6: Shoot-today , photoshop project #7
Week 12 Nov. 11:Critique Project #7 / Chapter 12 Nov. 13: Final project presentation and discussion
Week 13 Nov. 18: Photo essay of seasonal activity/-Chapter 13 Nov. 20: In-class: write cut lines for photo essay
Week 14 Nov. 25: Photoshop lab/- Chapter 14 Nov. 27: Photoshop lab
Week 15 Dec. 2: Career Day Dec. 4: Open day (work on make up assignments) photoshop lab/-Chapter 15&16/Final Exam presentation Week 16 : Dec. 9 : Final Exam presentation Dec.11: Final Exam due
*Note: Changes to the schedule may occur during the semester, depending on access to labs and equipment.
Grading scale
500 - 450 A449 - 400 B399 - 350C349 - 300 D299 - 0 F•Portrait photo/pohtojournalist discussions - 100 points•Coverage photo - 250 points•Shoot off - 50 points•Final Exam - 85 points•Attendance - 15 points
Total: 500 points
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - "Are you thinking about killing yourself?"
That question was asked time and time again as Soldiers from the 143d Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) immersed themselves in an Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training course conducted Jan. 5-6 at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Created by LivingWorks Education, ASIST has trained more than a million people worldwide on how to feel more comfortable, confident and competent in helping to prevent the immediate risk of suicide.
Sergeant First Class Michael Miller, a chaplain assistant for the 371st Special Troops Battalion, and Maj. Jim Lewis, a chaplain with the 371st Sustainment Brigade, led the two-day course that consisted of interactive lectures, dramatic videos, small group discussions and one-on-one role play scenarios. Miller and Lewis received formal training from LivingWorks Education to organize, manage and instruct the ASIST program.
Students learned how to use LivingWorks' research-driven methods to connect, understand and assist a person expressing suicidal thoughts and behaviors. Miller and Lewis showed students how they may apply "suicide first aid" in numerous situations from conversing with a battle buddy in an office to talking to a stranger standing on a ledge.
Miller and Lewis hope the ASIST program will continue to grow at Camp Arifjan after they redeploy later this year.
Photo by Sgt. John L. Carkeet IV, 143d ESC Public Affairs
Not only have I learned to accept the Darkness....I have learned to control some of its creatures!
I love the darkness...move over Ktn-Dragon....You have a Dawggie neighbor...with minions!
The Diagram Group - books on sex
This is part of the Diagram Group archive - The Diagram group archive consists of the finished artwork and the finished books, to highlight the process of book packaging
The Diagram Group/Diagram Visual Information is a cooperative group of graphic designers, writers, artists and editors. Diagram Visual Information Limited has been producing high quality graphic and text content for 50 years. Founded in 1960 by Bob Chapman and Bruce Robertson Diagram Visual Information developed as a supplier to publishers of visualised information in Britain.
To access the archives email archives@ucreative.ac.uk. You can view the catalogue record here archives.ucreative.ac.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmVie...
This artistic provocation seeks to estimate the orders of magnitude of critical ecosystem services fundamental to all planetary life processes. It is common to use economic metaphors, which entail specific understandings of value, to describe our relationships with society, the world, and the biosphere. Today’s prevailing economic conventions are unable to recognize the intrinsic value of the ecosystems on which all life depends. In cultures overdetermined by concepts from economics, we are left without adequate discursive instruments to socially or politically address the importance of ecosystem contribution to life on Earth. This experiment consists of 1 square meter of wheat, cultivated in a closed environment. Critical inputs such as water, light, heat, and nutrients are measured, monitored, and displayed for the public. This procedure makes palpable the immense scale of ecosystem contributions and provides a speculative reference for a reckoning of the undervalued and over exploited “work of the biosphere.”
Photo: Ars Electronica - Robert Bauernhansl
UNEP Executive Director Achim Steiner launches the UNEP Live platform at the Group on Earth Observations summit in Geneva.
From January 13 to 17, 2014 Geneva’s CICG center will be the site of a major international conference and exhibit aimed at improving access to critical information on the global environment. The GEO-X Plenary and Geneva Ministerial Summit brings together experts from 90 governments and nearly 70 organizations and will include an exhibit of cutting edge technology and more than 30 forums and panel discussions, many open to the general public. Topics will include Agriculture and Food Security, Measuring Biodiversity, Disaster Risk Reduction, Cholera Early Warning, Ocean Acidification, UNEP Live!, and Water Security. The summit will be presided over by GEO’s four co-chairs: China, the European Commission, South Africa and the United States. The United States will be represented at GEO-X by a high level multiagency delegation.
For nearly a decade, the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) has been driving the interoperability of thousands of individual space-based, airborne and in situ Earth observations around the world. Often these separate systems yield just snapshot assessments, leading to critical gaps in scientific understanding. GEO is addressing such gaps by providing easy, open access to organized observations that enable an increasingly integrated view of our changing Earth. Summit participants will look at how the international community can increase the sustainability and quality of observation networks and make the maximum possible volume of data freely accessible. For sound science to shape sound policy, leaders and other decision-makers require this fuller picture as an indispensable foundation of environmental decision-making.
U.S. Mission Geneva / Eric Bridiers
HAEGUE YANG
IN THE CONE OF UNCERTAINTY
NOV 2,2019-APR 5,2020
In the Cone of Uncertainty foregrounds Haegue Yang’s (b. 1971, Seoul) consistent curiosity about the world and tireless experimentation with materializing the complexity of identities in flux. Living between Seoul and Berlin, Yang employs industrially produced quotidian items, digital processes, and labor-intensive craft techniques. She mobilizes and enmeshes complex, often personal, histories and realities vis-à-vis sensual and immersive works by interweaving narrative with form. Often evoking performative, sonic and atmospheric perceptions with heat, wind and chiming bells, Yang’s environments appear familiar, yet engender bewildering experiences of time and place.
The exhibition presents a selection of Yang’s oeuvre spanning the last decade – including window blind installations, anthropomorphic sculptures, light sculptures, and mural-like graphic wallpaper – taking its title from an expression of the South Florida vernacular, that describes the predicted path of hurricanes. Alluding to our eagerness and desperation to track the unstable and ever-evolving future, this exhibition addresses current anxieties about climate change, overpopulation and resource scarcity. Framing this discourse within a broader consideration of movement, displacement and migration, the exhibition contextualizes contemporary concerns through a trans-historical and philosophical meditation of the self.
Given its location in Miami Beach, The Bass is a particularly resonant site to present Yang’s work, considering that over fifty percent[1] of the population in Miami-Dade County is born outside of the United States, and it is a geographical and metaphorical gateway to Latin America. Yang has been commissioned by the museum to conceive a site-specific wallpaper in the staircase that connects the exhibition spaces across The Bass’ two floors. This wallpaper will be applied to both transparent and opaque surfaces to accompany the ascending and descending path of visitors within the exhibition. Informed by research about Miami Beach’s climatically-precarious setting, the wallpaper, titled Coordinates of Speculative Solidarity (2019), will play with meteorological infographics and diagrams as vehicles for abstraction. Interested in how severe weather creates unusual access to negotiations of belonging and community, as well as the human urge to predict catastrophic circumstances, the work reflects a geographic commonality that unconsciously binds people together through a shared determination to face a challenge and react in solidarity.
Yang’s exhibition encompasses galleries on both the first and second floors of the museum and exemplifies an array of Yang’s formally, conceptually ambitious and rigorous body of work. Considered an important ‘Light Sculpture’ work and one of the last made in the series, Strange Fruit (2012-13) occupies one of the first spaces in the exhibition. The group of anthropomorphic sculptures take their title from Jewish-American Abel Meeropol’s poem famously vocalized by Billie Holiday in 1939. Hanging string lights dangling from metal clothing racks intertwined with colorfully painted papier-mâché bowls and hands that hold plants resonate with the poem’s subject matter. The work reflects a recurring interest within Yang’s practice, illuminating unlikely, less-known connections throughout history and elucidating asymmetrical relationships among figures of the past. In the story of Strange Fruit, the point of interest is in a poem about the horrors and tragedy of lynching of African-Americans in the American South born from the empathies of a Jewish man and member of the Communist party. Yang’s interests are filtered through different geopolitical spheres with a keen concentration in collapsing time and place, unlike today’s compartmentalized diasporic studies.
Central to In the Cone of Uncertainty is the daring juxtaposition of two major large-scale installations made of venetian blinds. Yearning Melancholy Red and Red Broken Mountainous Labyrinth are similar in that they are both from 2008, a year of significant development for Yang, and their use of the color red: one consists of red blinds, while the other features white blinds colored by red light. With its labyrinthine structure, Red Broken Mountainous Labyrinth bears a story of the chance encounter between Korean revolutionary Kim San (1905-1938) and American journalist Nym Wales (1907-1997), without which a chapter of Korean history would not survive to this day. Yearning Melancholy Red references the seemingly apolitical childhood of French writer and filmmaker Marguerite Duras (1914-1996). While living in French Indochina (present-day Cambodia, Vietnam, and Laos), Duras and her family experienced a type of double isolation in material and moral poverty, by neither belonging to the native communities nor to the French colonizers, embodying the potentiality for her later political engagement. Despite their divergent subject matter, both works continue to envelop an interest in viewing histories from different perspectives and the unexpected connections that arise. By staging the two works together, what remains is Yang’s compelling constellation of blinds, choreographed moving lights, paradoxical pairings of sensorial devices – fans and infrared heaters – and our physical presence in an intensely charged field of unspoken narratives.
A third space of the exhibition will feature work from Yang’s signature ‘Sonic Sculpture’ series titled, Boxing Ballet (2013/2015). The work offers Yang’s translation of Oskar Schlemmmer’s Triadic Ballet (1922), transforming the historical lineage of time-based performance into spatial, sculptural and sensorial abstraction. Through elements of movement and sound, Yang develops an installation with a relationship to the Western Avant-Garde, investigating their understanding in the human body, movement and figuration.
Observing hidden structures to reimagine a possible community, Yang addresses themes that recur in her works such as migration, diasporas and history writing. Works presented in In the Cone of Uncertainty offer a substantial view into Yang’s rich artistic language, including her use of bodily experience as a means of evoking history and memory.
Haegue Yang lives and works in Berlin, Germany and Seoul, South Korea. She is a Professor at the Staedelschule in Frankfurt am Main. Yang has participated in major international exhibitions including the 21st Biennale of Sydney (2018), La Biennale de Montréal (2016), the 12th Sharjah Biennial (2015), the 9th Taipei Biennial (2014), dOCUMENTA (13) in Kassel (2012) and the 53rd Venice Biennale (2009) as the South Korean representative.
Recipient of the 2018 Wolfgang Hahn Prize, she held a survey exhibition titled ETA at the Museum Ludwig in Cologne in the same year, which displayed over 120 works of Yang from 1994-2018. Her recent solo exhibitions include Tracing Movement, South London Gallery (2019); Chronotopic Traverses, La Panacée-MoCo, Montpellier (2018); Tightrope Walking and Its Wordless Shadow, La Triennale di Milano (2018); Triple Vita Nestings, Govett-Brewster Art Gallery, New Plymouth, which travelled from the Institute of Modern Art, Brisbane (2018); VIP’s Union, Kunsthaus Graz (2017); Silo of Silence – Clicked Core, KINDL – Centre for Contemporary Art, Berlin (2017); Lingering Nous, Centre Pompidou, Paris (2016); Quasi-Pagan Serial, Hamburger Kunsthalle (2016); Come Shower or Shine, It Is Equally Blissful, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2015); and Shooting the Elephant 象 Thinking the Elephant, Leeum, Samsung Museum of Art, Seoul (2015). Forthcoming projects include the Museum of Modern Art (October 2019), Tate St. Ives (May 2020) and Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto (2020).
Yang’s work is included in permanent collections such as the Museum of Modern Art, New York, USA; M+, Hong Kong, China; National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, South Korea; Tate Modern, London, UK; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA; and The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, USA. Her work has been the subject of numerous monographs, such as Haegue Yang: Anthology 2006–2018: Tightrope Walking and Its Wordless Shadow (2019); Haegue Yang: ETA 1994–2018 (2018); Haegue Yang – VIP’s Union (2017); and Haegue Yang: Family of Equivocations (2013).
Montblanc Wrist Watch wall display case.
Chronograph - Nicholas Rieussec time piece.
Swiss made.
Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec Chronograph Automatic Watch Review
WRIST TIME REVIEWS
JANUARY 3, 2011 BY ARIEL ADAMS
This watch review is going to be a bit different than how I usually do them. Why? Because shortly before the review I was actually able to visit the manufacture making the movements of this watch. That experience offered me some special insight that allowed me to understand this timepiece more.
I know there is a lot of talk on the "manufacture" movement. In fact, a recent panel discussion I had with fellow watch expert journalists allowed me to realize that there is no strict definition of "watch manufacture" or "manufacture movement." This definitional ambiguity hurts my ability to explain things properly, but let it be said that Montblanc makes the movement in each of the Nicolas Rieussec watches themselves. Of course there is some help from suppliers, but this is about as "in-house" a job as most people want it to be. My understanding is that the components of the movements are made at the Valfleurier facility in Buttes Switzerland. The pieces are then sent to Montblanc Le Locle for assembly and testing.
What fascinated me most about the Montblanc manufacture in Le Locle Switzerland was just how modern it was. I mean it is true that many watch manufactures feel like you are in some combo of a hospital and science lab, but the machinery available to the watch makers at the Le Locle facility was impressive. I have a larger feature length article on this topic that will come out soon - but in short, when it comes to the Nicolas Rieussec line of timepieces, Montblanc relies on a clever environment that combines the human approach of watch makers with the precision assistance of machines.
A few example of this synergy between man (or woman) and machine? Here are two. One of the images here is of a machine that robotically applies lubricant to designated spots in a watch. Such lubricant must be precisely applied with an exact amount. The more consistently applied the better. While a human assembles the movement, a robot is used to apply the lubricant better and with more precision in terms of amount than any human can do consistently. Another example is a machine that allows a watch maker to adjust the screws on a balance wheel and test the accuracy of the rate in real time. Basically the machine combines a magnifier, computer controlled screw driver, and a watch movement rate tester in one. While it is operated by a person, the machine makes it easy to adjust a traditional weighted balance wheel to its most precise weight distribution in the escapement assembly.
One of my favorite images here that illustrates the culture of the manufacture is the image of the watch tools with the computer mouse. If you look closely you'll also notice the presence of a Montblanc pen. Each work station gives watchmakers a computer terminal as well as watch making tools. While I have seen this before, it certainly isn't common.
With their movements all made in Switzerland by Montblanc, the Nicolas Rieussec collection currently consists of a few watches. My main focus here is on the Automatic Chronograph that also has a GMT and date complication (that I tested). The movement is known as the R200. The two manually wound variants (with slightly different functions) are the R100, R110, and R120 (a limited edition that used a silicium escapement). I am not going to go overboard with technical details, but the movements represent an interesting medium between the ultra-high end, and mass manufactured pieces.
The R200 has a lot of impressive features on paper. Notable to the watch nerd is that it has a column wheel based chronograph that uses a vertical clutch. These features offer more durability and precision when using the chronograph. There are very few European chronographs that feature both of these features. I should also note that some of Seiko's higher-end chronograph movements also feature column wheels and vertical clutches, as do pieces by brands such as Patek Philippe and (the former) Daniel Roth. Why all the focus on the chronograph? Well that is the new signature complication of Montblanc. The brand latched on to the complication for good reason (as well as to Mr. Nicolas Rieussec). "Chronograph" literally means "time writer." What is Montblanc known for? Yes, making pens. Sound too good to be true to have a watch in your collection that is a "time writer?" So the emphasis on this complication make perfect sense. Nicolas Rieussec is guy credited with "inventing the chronograph." Montblanc adopted him.
A while ago Rieussec created a device that looks like an early seismograph. It was a clock with a stop and start function that pulled a disc of paper along a smaller writing tip. This device was the first known "chronograph." It was meant to measure time in horse races and actually "wrote." The look of the chronograph on the watch is taken from this early device. Montblanc keeps replicas of them around the manufacture for inspiration. Each Nicolas Rieussec watch uses two discs that move along stationary hands to show the chronograph time (up to 30 minutes). These are also monopusher chronographs that use a single pusher to cycle through "start, stop, and reset" functions for the chronograph. The pusher is large, easy to find, and placed at the 5 o'clock position on the watch. Don't miss the exposed synthetic palette rubies exposed on the top of the chronograph dials.
This chronograph style is the signature look of the Nicolas Rieussec collection. The time is displayed on an off-centered dial at the top of the face. While small, Montblanc really helped that dial standout and be legible. It uses that fancy looking font that you'll find on most Montblanc Star watches. I really do love that font.
On the manually-wound versions of the Nicolas Rieussec, the time dial has a third hand used for the date. On the automatic, the third had is GMT hand. Working just like you would assume, the main time hour hand can be independently adjusted to alter the time when moving through time zones when traveling. To the left of the dial is a day/night indicator linked to the GMT hand. This useful complication help you know if it is day or night on your second timezone given that it is displayed on the 12, versus 24 hour scale. Who'd a though this would turn out to be such a useful travel watch? Both time zones share the minute hand. I was generally impressed by the GMT functionality of the watch and feels that the R200 movement's use of the third hand is better than having it be a date indicator.
While the left of the dial has the day/night indicator, the right has a date wheel. For symmetry Montblanc uses a window of a similar shape, but I don't much care for "open" date windows. It also does not look spectacular with the upper and lower date being partially under the dial - though that does actually help with keeping your focus on the actual date. While the windows that flank the time dial look nice, I have a feeling Montblanc might work to revise or polish the design in future generations of the watch.
Coming in a few tones, the dial of the Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec is an interesting creature. It took me a while to warm up to it, but I am enjoying the design. While totally different than other collection Montblanc offers, the Nicolas Rieussec does share the brand's DNA nicely. Of course the crown has that lovely white Montblanc star, and the case is very much inspired by the Star collection. To create visual depth, the power part of the dial is partially "eclipsed" by a plate of Geneva stripe polished metal - plus, the dial looks to be made up of a few layers. The chronograph dials are covered with a sort of wish-bone like bridge that uses blued steel screws (blued steel is also used for some of the hands). This is a nice element, but I had one suggestion for Montblanc. While this might increase the cost a bit, I think it would be really welcome. The bridge is made from stamped steel. What if it could be made from milled and hand-polished steel? It would provide a wonderful visual cue and reminder that this is a hand-assembled watch. Perhaps in the future.
Let's visit the R200 movement again. It is an automatic version of the R100 with a few addition complications (as mentioned above). You can see the rotor placed over the movement, with the small Montblanc star shaped hole that is designed to pass right over the column wheel opening window. The movement has two mainspring barrels for a power reserve of 72 hours. The movement operates at 28,800bmp and can be adjusted to be very accurate. I saw a movement at the manufacture that was adjusted to operate within less than one second of deviation a day. I love that the movement combines modern technology and traditionalism. Like I said, it uses a free-weighted balance spring and column wheel, enjoys helps from highly sophisticated machinery in its assembly and manufacture.
The Nicolas Rieussec watch case is 43mm wide and 14.8mm tall. It isn't a small watch, but it does wear like a medium one. Its height is visually reduced by the highly curved lugs. Front and rear crystal are sapphire (with the front crystal having double AR coating), while it is water resistant to 30 meters.
Montblanc has assured me that their dedication to the Nicolas Rieussec collection is intense. The collection will receive more attention in the future, which is aided by the fact that the watch is a marketing success. One of the reasons for this is the pricing. While the watches aren't cheap they are more reasonable that you'd expect. The pieces come in gold, platinum, and steel. The gold models are in the $30,000 range. Not cheap, but Montblanc isn't asking for $50,000. Actually, their platinum version is about $50,000 - which in the luxury market isn't that much for a platinum watch. In steel the watch retails for about $9,200. It comes in a steel bracelet or an alligator strap (black or brown). I am told that soon Montblanc will develop a brand new metal bracelet for the Nicolas Rieussec collection.
Overall these are enjoyable watches. The Montblanc identity is a major positive, and I enjoy the visual design and functionality of the R200 movement. While unique in its looks, this is an easy watch to wear daily. Montblanc isn't making a mere collector's piece here. Designed to prevent boredom but maintain utility the Nicolas Rieussec watch collection is intended for all types of watch lovers to worn daily.
SIHH 2013 will see the release of a brand new version of the now well-known Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watch. I find it rather interesting to see how Montblanc continues to explore and expand this collection that started the in-house made Montblanc movement watch collection. Made in Le Locle, timepieces like the Nicolas Rieussec collection represent the in-house made mid-range of watches in the Montblanc collection. Above them are the Minerva Villeret produced Montblanc watches.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours evolves the design of the dial to play around with the complications once again. Gone is the second time zone, but added in is a day of the week indicator opposite the date. The off-centered time display is where the real difference can be found. Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watches typically have day/night (AM/PM) indicators, but this model offers this function in a much more beautiful way. The time dial has a normal minutes hand, but now comes with a wandering disc to indicate the hours. This is opposed to a jumping hours disc, or just an hour hand. The numerals on the hours disc are hollow, showing another disc underneath. This second disc is half dark gray and half blue. It moves under the hour indicators to indicate day or night. It is a very clever and interesting addition to the Nicolas Rieussec line.
SIHH 2013 will see the release of a brand new version of the now well-known Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watch. I find it rather interesting to see how Montblanc continues to explore and expand this collection that started the in-house made Montblanc movement watch collection. Made in Le Locle, timepieces like the Nicolas Rieussec collection represent the in-house made mid-range of watches in the Montblanc collection. Above them are the Minerva Villeret produced Montblanc watches.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours evolves the design of the dial to play around with the complications once again. Gone is the second time zone, but added in is a day of the week indicator opposite the date. The off-centered time display is where the real difference can be found. Montblanc Nicolas Rieussec watches typically have day/night (AM/PM) indicators, but this model offers this function in a much more beautiful way. The time dial has a normal minutes hand, but now comes with a wandering disc to indicate the hours. This is opposed to a jumping hours disc, or just an hour hand. The numerals on the hours disc are hollow, showing another disc underneath. This second disc is half dark gray and half blue. It moves under the hour indicators to indicate day or night. It is a very clever and interesting addition to the Nicolas Rieussec line.
Like last year's version of the Nicolas Rieussec, the dial of the watch is classically decorated and very attractive. This style really does help the core design look its best. Inside the Rising Hours model is a Montblanc MB R220 automatic movement that is visible through the sapphire case back. The movement has about three days of power reserve as well as other features including the date and a monopusher 30 minute chronograph. It continues to be one of the most interesting Montblanc watches around for those looking for something non-standard.
The Nicolas Rieussec Rising Hours watch case is about 43mm wide on a strap or metal bracelet.Montblanc will offer the Rising Hours in steel, rose gold, as well as a limited edition of 28 pieces in platinum. A great looking piece, I think it is a winner, though I will have to see it in person. The skeletonized minute hand does concern me a bit as I fear it may be hard to spot on the live watches. We will be sure to check this watch out more when we get some hands-on time with it.