OLD, PASSPORT IMPERIAL STATE OR IRAN.

PROVISIONAL REVOLUTIONARY AND ISLAMIC GOVERNMENT OF IRAN.

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Just a few thoughts on the curent situation here in Northern Ireland.

The top quote from Edward Carson has to my knowledge been up on a wall off the Castlereagh Rd for a couple of years now. It is beside a UVF Memorial. As quotes go it's a good one and says alot about how the current situation has been rumbling along for a couple of years. The problem that working class Protestant communities have is that they feel left behind in the peace process.

Ignoring the large orange and purple UVF mural for the moment the other 3 photographs have all appeared in the last week in and around East Belfast. In this area there is a leader of the UVF who is at odds with the overall leadership of the proscribed(illegal) organisation. I won't name the man but he is known to be stirring things up and giving tacit approval to street violence when he sees fit. It only takes a few nods and winks and trouble can flair. The growing discontent within the Protestant/Unionist/Loyalist (PUL) community is a concern for sure and from my experience limited as it is, boils down to wanting a financial dividend. The perception is that the Nationalist community who have good (elected) leadeship have run rings around the PUL community. I have in the past worked within the PUL community and to a man when asked about this all agree that this is the case. Leadership is lacking in the community. The elected MLA's do not have the confidence of the PUL community as they are seen to be lining their own pockets as they work up at Stormount.

I find it worrying that the forces of law and order are now being warned not by the Nationalist community as has been the case in the past but by the loyalist community. Trust me when i say this this sort of scrawl does not appear without some sort of sanction so must be seen as a message from the leadership in the area.

As for the large UVF mural i find it significant that the colours used are those of the Orange Order. There are thousands of marches every year which pass off peacefully but the few that pass through areas that are not wanted are the ones that bring about the violence that gets beamed across the world. There is a constant denial that the Orange Order and the UVF are working together and by and large i accept that. However there are undoubtably links between the 2 organisations and a crossover of membership.

How these difficulties will be resolved is beyond me.There are all party talks coming up to be chaired by Richard Haas an American Envoy but they are time limited and will, i fear, ultimatley end up as a talking shop with little or no resolution.

In the meantime i think that we will see an escalation of protests (with possible violence which is self defeating).

What a fecken country!

Discuss.......

LC-A+ / Lomo 200 / E6

Drawn with a Micron Pen on Crane's Cotton Envelope

Elwood, who has brought nurse Kelly flowers, tells Dr. Sanderson, that he should have given her flowers as an excuse for his behaviour.

 

Part of "res noscenda" / "Empty Padded ~ LeerGefüllt - Time at Work" - Left handed drawings and writings on the empty left pages of my prompter`s book: Soufflierbuch "Mein Freund Harvey" (Mary Chase "Harvey") Page 47

 

Drawing: 1.5., 23.5., 27.5.

DMC-G2 - P1620489 - 2013-05-28 #lilie #flower #blume #lily #blühen #blüte #blossom #verblühen

Beskrivning: Tillskrift av Bernhard Ludwig Wacker, den 23 september 1778

 

Anmärkning: Införd upp och ned i stamboken

 

Källa: Stifts- och landsbiblioteket i Skara: MS Biografi Stambok 4, s. 130

Photo taken at a friends wedding.

Cambridge, England

 

June 12, 2015

 

©Dale Haussner

 

From Dave O’Malley’s Lunch at the Eagle :

 

"An aproximation of a naked woman, drawn in lipstick on the ceiling speaks to the bawdy nights, the alcohol and puerile tendencies of young men in the throes of war. "

 

Dave O’Malley’s Lunch at the Eagle-

 

"There are places in this world that are imbued with a spiritual power beyond their utility. Most are grand. Westminster Abbey for instance contains the history, the power, the empire and even the bones of all England. The Hermitage in St Petersburg rises grandly from the banks of the Neva, containing within its baroque flourish the wealth and tragedy of the Romanoffs, the Blue Mosque in Istanbul resounds with the glory of Islam. These are the repositories of human emotion, religious belief, and political tectonics – nexus points in a shared remembrance. In them lives a soul - palpable, unavoidable, life changing. Not all these nexi are on the scale of Westminster Abbey. Some reveal their ghosts only to acolytes, and to those who search. Some are so ordinary, they are not even on maps.

 

In Cambridge, England, near the slow drift of the River Cam, on the north side of Bene’t Street, stands the Eagle Pub one of these rare holy places. A public house like thousands throughout the United Kingdom, The Eagle might never reveal itself to the ordinary thirsty tourist and student. But if they take the time, look up to the deep red and burnished lacquer of the ceiling scrawled with strange runes, they might see into the past, and if they cock their heads just right, they may hear the voices. Those young voices.

 

Imagine, if you will. It’s late in the evening on a cold and damp Suffolk winter night. 1943. The blackout curtains are drawn tight, though there is not much chance of German bombers overhead Cambridge lately. Outside, in the dark, lightless sky, the last remnants of a Lancaster raid thunder towards the Channel. Inside the air is blue with tobacco smoke, layered and swirling, the floors sticky with Green King Ale, and the walls glow orange from the dim electric lights and the flicker of the fireplace. Shoulder to shoulder at the bar and on the benches, are young men, boys by today’s measure. They wear the rough blue serge of the RAF and Commonwealth air forces. Small groups wear the browns and greens of the USAAF. They are loud and bawdy and many are drunk. All are on a reprieve for the next few hours - from the war, their duty, and death. They sing louder, shout rougher words and laugh more forcibly than they have ever done.

 

There are other pubs across Cambridge where the same thing is happening – for there are many men who have come into town tonight – from the surrounding fighter bases of Duxford, Debden or Fowlmere, the big bomber bases of Oakington, Alconbury, Mildenhall and Bassingbourn. They jostle and shove and shout as they enter the pubs – tonight they will get drunk. They have a few comrades to remember and a thousand things to forget.

 

Some time after ten in the back room of the Eagle Pub on Bene’t Street, one boisterous Royal Air Force Mosquito navigator, shoves the glasses of beer aside on his table and places his chair on top. Amid the shouts of his friends, he climbs the table and the chair and teetering there, pulls out his Zippo, clinks the top open and thumb-rolls it life. Carefully, with one hand steadying him on the ceiling he traces the number of his squadron using the black smudge of the soot that rises from the dancing flame. Slowly, the numbers form -139 – a pathfinder squadron. Its pilots and navigators like this 22 year-old from Moncton, New Brunswick are the best of the best –and they know it. And they love to proclaim it. As he traces the numbers, the other boys from other squadrons shout encouragement in the form of expletives. Laughter and hearty songs rise like flames from the crowd. Much of it you can tell is forced. As he finishes, the navigator, a Flight Sergeant, steps down from the chair but slips on a puddle of beer on the table. There is a clatter, the chair tumbles, glass breaks and he falls back to be caught by his comrades, cigarette still dangling from his lip like a warrior. The entire pub cheers.

 

Not to be outdone, an American lieutenant, a tall B-17 pilot from nearby Bassingbourn, stands on a table in the middle of the main room. He calls to a local girl sitting below him – asking for her lipstick. It’s hard to come by these days, but she is in the moment too, and surely taken by the free-spending, pomaded, young man from Hopkinsville, Tennessee. She tosses him a gold tube from her purse. With his buddies cheering and the girls watching, his head cocked way back, he draws a large, crude effigy of a naked woman wearing naught but a cigarette, drawn over dozens of smoky squadron numbers, aircraft nicknames and bomber group numbers. Perhaps it is a copy of his bomber’s nose art. The crowd howls with every stroke. He lingers on the details of the breasts. The women look slightly bemused, even a bit embarrassed. The young boys love it. The Tennessee Volunteer declares that the vixen be hereafter named after Ethel, the landlady of the pub, who has thrown him out on occasion.

 

The RAF fighter boys boo and shout, somewhat jealous of the free-spending Yanks, but they are all in it together. There are no bare-knuckle fistfights tonight, but there have been a few before. Tomorrow they will launch ramrods over the Channel. They save their anger for the Germans. Tomorrow night, next week, next month, some who were in the bar tonight would not return, their smoky writing on the ceiling the only witness that they had been this way.

 

By the end of the war, the ceiling of the Eagle Pub would be covered deep in this graffiti of nights and years of heartbreak and sodden release – sooted in place by candles, burnt corks or Zippos, written in the hazy smoke of memory. The tradition of writing on the ceiling of The Eagle’s was started in 1940 by an English airman by the name of P.E. Turner, who wrote his name there. Following his lead, flyers and infantrymen would inscribe their units, groups, aircraft nicknames and airfield names for nearly ten years.

 

Back in the early 1980s, the meaning of the writings on the ceiling had long since drifted away as did the airmen – back to their homes. The strange numerals and letters looked to most like meaningless graffiti from another time. A former RAF technician named James Chainey decided to research the numbers and names and record them for posterity. Today, a list of all the names and numbers and their meanings is written and hung on the wall, so that visitors can come to understand.

 

This past week with my beloved Susan, I drank a Green King Ale and bellied up to a hearty plate of Bangers and Mash, sitting at the window of the RAF Bar of the Eagle. Next to us a young Canadian student was trying to impress a blonde from Australia, and tourists chattered loudly. I could not take my eyes off that ceiling, nor could I stop myself from sensing the ghosts, hearing the voices. Here I was where they had been, where they had left their marks. I knew that they were written here as a form of piss-posting, marking territory, elbowing for identity. Little did they know, nor probably care, that these marks would remain for nearly 70 years and perhaps for centuries. In Canada, they would have been removed for a remodeling, and the Eagle Pub would have become a soulless club – with a name like “e” (lower case intended) or “Live”. But in England, where just 65 years before, the skies above had filled with the thunder of a thousand-plane raid, where thousands of young men were sacrificed at the altar of freedom, the memory of those boys would never have been consigned to the landfill.

 

Should you ever find yourself in Suffolk, or Norfolk or England for that matter, you must quaff an ale at The Eagle. Take the time to read the names and numbers, to hear the voices. For they are the voices of our fathers and our grandfathers.

 

As I left The Eagle, I looked down the lane to the RAF Bar, imagined pilots and navigators and gunners smoking outside, chatting up the "birds". Out on Bene't Street, I imagined I saw those boys in blue, backs to me, walking away, singing, arm in arm... fading into the darkness of a blacked-out night. The stone walls of the narrow streets resounding with their song. I could almost hear the echoing refrains of that wartime favourite of servicemen:

 

"Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me

Anyone else but me, anyone else but me, no, no, no

Don't sit under the apple tree with anyone else but me

'Til I come marchin' home

 

Sadly, many of them did not come marching home.

 

Dave O'Malley

 

The two scenarios of the airmen writing on the ceiling in this article are of course poetic licence only. There is no way that we will ever know the exact history of the day they were written and who specifically wrote them - this is only meant to set the scene for your imagination."

 

* www.vintagewings.ca/VintageNews/Stories/tabid/116/article...

Photographed in Red Wing Minnesota

October 6th 2016

Examples of Street Art in dublin

Description

John Sanderson notifies G H Lewes of the death of his son, Herbert A Lewes, describing Herberts last days, and accounting for his bills and belongings. Written from Durban. Signed John Sanderson

 

Transcript

D'urban, Natal;

2nd July 1875

 

George Henry Lewes, Esq.

The Priory

21 North Bank,

Regent's Park.

 

Sir,

 

I fear the latest accounts of his state of health which you may have had from your son Herbert will hardly have prepared you for the intelligence of his death which it is my sad duty to communicate. It took place on the 29th June, and to me was very unexpected, as he always represented himself as gaining in flesh and strength.

 

You may be aware that Thornton used to frequent my house, and naturally on Herbert's arrival brought him to us. From that time, however, excepting seeing him with Thornton at the house of the Bishop of Natal shortly after, I had seen nothing of him until quite lately. He arrived in Durban some weeks ago in the absence of Mrs. Sanderson and myself, but on our return, hearing accidently that he was in town, I sent a message to him, and from that time he paid us a long visit every two or three days, conversing, reading, getting Mrs. Sanderson to play for him on the piano, or taking an hour's nap on the couch. The last time he came to us was on Thursday, the 24th. He appeared weak and tired, and asked Mrs. Sanderson to give him a shake-down. We made him as comfortable as possible and he retired about nine o' clock. Mrs. Sanderson told him he must not get up to breakfast, but he did so, having he said slept well, - a thing he had not done for two or three nights previously. He left our house about 10 o'clock that day, Friday and we did not see him again until Monday, when we called at his quarters. He appeared much worse, very feeble, but insisted on coming out to the sitting room to see Mrs. Sanderson. He was apparently in good spirits,-but we were shocked at the change in his appearance. About seven o'clock on the following evening the people of the house sent to say it would be needful to get someone to sit with him all night, and we procured a nurse. I immediately went to him myself, a second messenger coming for me just as I was setting out. I found him breathing with great difficulty, and almost unable to articulate. He took my hand two or three times and said it was kind of me to come to see him, and after-ward addressed me by name, although I could not quite make out whether he was endeavoring to assure himself of my identity or not. In answer to my question he said he had no pain. While I was,there, Dr. Taylor who had been sent for, for the second time that day, when the attack came on in the afternoon, came in. He told me Herbert could not live many hours. On asking if he had made him aware of this, he said no; it was of no use; he was too far gone.

 

Excepting for a few minutes I remained till all was over. The Dr. said he would choke if laid down, and so he sat in an arm-chair, with some of his fellow lodgers or me supporting him. A mustard plaster had been applied three times in succession without effect. A dose of medicine was given him every hour. About half past nine he asked for tea, which was at once made for him and he eagerly swallowed a mouthful or two. As I sat by him, holding his hands, and supporting his head with my left, he seemed to make several attempts to speak without being able to articulate, and my endeavors to help him were of no avail. About five minutes to ten I thought he said something about bread - more probably he meant breath, but his breathing became less violent and as nearly as possible at ten o'clock, with one or two slight gasps he died, so peacefully, and without effort or struggle that I continued with his forehead resting in my hand, not sure that he might not yet revive. We at once sent for Dr. Taylor, but he did not think it needful to come; and being assured that all was over, the landlord asked me to take charge of his watch and other property and arrange for the funeral, which I did on the following morning after consulting with Mr. Brickhill, the Manager of the Bank through whom he had lately drawn upon you. I also at once wrote to Mr.. Harrison, his father-in-law, to break the news to the poor young wife, who as you are probably aware had been confined of a fine boy since Herbert left home.

 

I have thought it might be some satisfaction that I should tell you all I could of his last days and I enclose a note briefly describing the course of his illness since he has been in Durban, which at my request Dr. Taylor has written.

 

I believe he was a comfortable as it was possible for him to be in a public hotel. The people of the house were kind to him, and one or two of his fellow lodgers he was friendly with, and sat up with him, or did little offices for him. Mrs. Sanderson and I were always glad to see him and he seemed to enjoy coming to us.

 

Of course he had not many friends or even acquaintances here, but about a dozen followed him to the grave, which is under the shadow of the trees in the beautiful Episcopal Cemetery, the service being read by Archdeacon Lloyd.

 

I must now trouble you with some business matters as you will doubtless be anxious to know how these stand. Pending instructions from Mrs. Lewes or her father, I have taken possession of all Herbert' s little belongings, including a gold watch (French) a breast pin with hair encircled by an enameled serpent, and a gold stud. Of cash I found 14.1.4. In his pocket-book I find a memorandum of having drawn upon you for 50 on the--- (blank) June, the discount on which 10/- leaves 49.10.- to be accounted for.

 

I copy the account verbatim:-

'On the June (sic) 1875

Drawn on pater for

50 Bank discount 10/-

49.10.0

10.-. -.

Paid Ingle Hotel8.-. -.

Eliza8.-. -.

  

I find no receipt for the 10 nor have I yet been able to ascertain what it refers to. Assuming it however to be a payment of some kind hereafter to be accounted

for, the above amount with 2. borrowed of a fellow lodger and repaid after drawing upon you, will within a few pence amount to the cash to be accounted for. Thus :-

(To be yet explained)10. -. -.

Hotel Bill8. 6. 6.

Mrs. H.A. Lewes8. -.-.

Loan from Mr. Pardy, repaid2. -.-.

Cash paid for a revolver on account

of Mr. C. I. Harrison7. -.-.

Cash in my hands14. 1. 4.

49. 7.10.

deficiency2. 2.

49.10. -.

  

I hope, through Mr. Harrison, or otherwise, to be able to explain the item of 10. There are certain bills to pay, the hotel bill 14.2.-. the doctor's bill and the funeral expenses, the statements for which have not yet been sent to me. For these, I fear, I shall be under the necessity of drawing upon you, as I know his poor wife is badly off, and was almost without a penny until he sent the little remittance noted above. Her father I presume will at once repay her the 7 advanced by Herbert for him as he arranged to do: but with two helpless babes she must be in great straits. Herbert seemed very proud of his daughter. The name fixed on for the boy was I believe George Henry Arthur.

 

On hearing from Mr. Harrison I shall probably write to you further. I enclose a little hair I cut for you. I do not know that I have anything further to say at present. Probably Herbert explained the origin of the chill illness, which the Doctor told me would in England have taken the form of consumption of the lungs, but here seems to have attacked other organs. He had been exerting himself violently driving his wagon up a long ascent and on reaching the top threw off his coat and took a chill. This was in January. He coughed a good deal, and told me his glands were much swollen. Latterly his feet swelled greatly. He was always hopeful and thought himself improving in health, but his breathing was so difficult that we rather discouraged talking. I cannot think that even up to almost the last he thought his end so near.

 

I trust that you will not think because I have said nothing about it that I do not feel the deepest sympathy for you in this second sad loss, and will only add that if I can be of any service to you in any way here I beg that you will command me.- Believe me, Sir, most faithfully yours,

 

John Sanderson

 

I have reason to hope he had had his likeness taken here, but have made enquiry without success.- the age stated herewith in the paper, 27, is that named by himself to a fellow lodger. I have this moment found an unfinished letter to you which I enclose.- I hope to be able to write with final settlement of everything next mail and tell you something of the poor young widow and her babes. She seems a fine brave girl, most unselfish and entirely devoted to her husband and children but I fear, delicate. I should dread the effects of this blow upon her.

  

All Right's Reserved. All images are subject to copyright restrictions. Contact Warwickshire Libraries for further details. Part of Warwickshire Libraries' George Eliot Collection.

 

Original held at Warwickshire County Record Office.

 

I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the outcast.

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful.

Allah’s peace be upon Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), the glorious Prophet of Islam, and on his Companions and his followers.

  

TASAWWUF

"There is no doubt that Tasawwuf is an important branch of Islam. The word itself may have been derived form the Arabic word "Soof" (Wool) or from "Safa" (cleanliness), but its foundation lies in one’s personal sincerity in seeking Allah’s nearness and trying to live a life pleasing to Him. Study of the Quran, the Hadith, and the practical life of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) and his faithful Companions provide unmistakable support to this reality." (Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A)

 

SUFISM, AN ESSENTIAL PART OF ISLAM

Doubts exist not only in the minds of the Muslim faithful but also among the Ulema, notably the exoteric about Tasawwuf and its votaries. Often they lead to misunderstanding, as if Shariah and Tariqah were two separate entries, or that Tasawwuf was some obscure discipline foreign to Islam, or that it was altogether above the established laws and injunctions of our Religion. To help remove these misgivings and to reassure seekers, as well as scholars, our Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), Sheikh Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia, wrote Al-Jamal Wal Kamal, Aqaid-O-Kamalaat Ulmai-e-Deoband, Binat-e-Rasool (S.A.W), Daamad-e-Ali (R.A), Dalael-us-Salook, Ejaad-e-Mazhab Shia, Hayat-un-Nabi (S.A.W), Hayat Barzakhia, Ilm-o-Irfan, Niffaz-e-Shariat Aur Fiqah-e-Jaferia, Saif-e-Owaisi, Shikast-e-Ahdai Hussain and Tahkeek Halal Haram books.

 

BIOGRAPHY

Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chakrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The very year, he met Shaykh Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Shaykh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was right away established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years. In 1962 he was directed to carry out the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular enthusiasm and devotion for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss as per his/her sincerity and capacity. Shaykh Allah Yar Khan's mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and distinction.

 

Although Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A) have lived a major portion of his life as a scholar, with the avowed mission of illuminating the truth of Islam and the negation of fallacious sects, and this would appear quite removed from Tasawwuf, yet the only practical difference between the two, namely the use of the former as a media to expound the truth, and the latter to imbue people with positive faith. Nevertheless, people are amazed that a man, who until the other day, was known as a dialectician and a preacher of Islam, is not only talking of Mystic Path, but is also claiming spiritual bonds with the veteran Sufi Masters of the Past. This amazement is obviously out of place in the view of Quranic injunction: This is the bounty of Allah which He gives to whom He wills. (62:4)

 

THE PURIFICATION OF THE SOUL

The purification of the soul always formed part of the main mission of the Prophets; that is, the dissemination and propagation of the Devine Message. This responsibility later fell directly on the shoulders of the true Ulema in the Ummah of the last Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), who, as his genuine successors, have continued to shed brave light in every Dark Age of materialism and sacrilege. In the present age of ruinous confusion, the importance of this responsibility has increased manifold; of the utter neglect of Islam by Muslims has not only driven them to misery, but also grievously weakened their bonds of faith in Allah and His Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). The decay in their belief and consequent perversion in their conduct has reached a stage that any attempt to pull them out of the depth of ignominy and the heedless chaos of faithlessness, attracts grave uncertainties and apprehensions rather than a encouraging will to follow the Shariah, to purify the soul and to reform within. The Quranic Verse: Layers upon layers of darkness… (24:40) provides the nearest expression of their present state.

 

SHARIAH & SUFISM

Any action against the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) cannot be called Sufism. Singing and dancing, and the prostration on tombs are not part of Sufism. Nor is predicting the future and predicting the outcome of cases in the courts of law, a part of Sufism. Sufis are not required to abandon their worldly possessions or live in the wilderness far from the practical world. In fact these absurdities are just its opposites. It is an established fact that Tazkiyah (soul purification) stands for that inner purity which inspires a person’s spirit to obey the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If a false claimant of Sufism teaches tricks and jugglery, ignoring religious obligations, he is an impostor. A true Sheikh will lead a believer to the august spiritual audience of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). If you are fortunate enough to be blessed with the company of an accomplished spiritual guide and Sheikh of Sufism, and if you follow his instructions, you will observe a positive change in yourself, transferring you from vice to virtue.

 

ISLAM, AS A COMPLETE CODE OF LIFE

Islam, as a complete code of life or Deen, was perfected during the life of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W). He was the sole teacher and his mosque was the core institution for the community. Although Islam in its entirety was practiced during that blessed era, the classification and compilation of its knowledge into distinct branches like ‘Tafsir’ (interpretation of the Quran), Hadith (traditions or sayings of the holy Prophet- SAWS), Fiqh (Islamic law), and Sufism (the soul purification) were undertaken subsequently. This Deen of Allah passed from the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) to his illustrious Companions in two ways: the outward and the inward. The former comprised the knowledge defined by speech and conduct, i.e., the Quran and Sunnah. The latter comprised the invisible blessings or the Prophetic lights transmitted by his blessed self. These blessings purified the hearts and instilled in them a passionate desire to follow Islam with utmost love, honesty and loyalty.

 

WHAT’S SUFISM

Sufism is the attempt to attain these Barakah (Blessings). The Companions handed down Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) teachings as well as blessings to the Taba’een. Their strong hearts were capable of infusing these blessings into the hearts of their followers. Both aspects of Islam were similarly passed on by the Taba’een to the Taba Taba’een. The compilation of knowledge and its interpretation led to the establishment of many schools of religious thought; famous four being the Hanafi, the Hanbali, the Maliki, and the Shafa'i, all named after their founders. Similarly, in order to acquire, safeguard and distribute his blessings, an organized effort was initiated by four schools of Sufism: The Naqshbandia, the Qadria, the Chishtia, and the Suharwardia. These schools were also named after their organizers and came to be known as Sufi Orders. All these Orders intend to purify the hearts of sincere Muslims with Prophetic lights. These Sufi Orders also grew into many branches with the passage of time and are known by other names as well. The holy Quran has linked success in this life and the Hereafter with Tazkiyah (soul purification). He, who purified, is successful. (87: 14) Sufi Orders of Islam are the institutions where the basics of Tazkiyah (soul purification) and its practical application are taught. They have graded programs in which every new seeker is instructed in Zikr-e Lisani (oral Zikr) and is finally taught the Zikr-e Qalbi (Remembrance in heart).

 

ZIKR-E QALBI

However, in the Naqshbandia Order, Zikr-e Qalbi is practiced from the very beginning. Adherence to the Sunnah (Prophet’s way of life) is greatly emphasized in this Order, because the seeker achieves greater and quicker progress through its blessings. The essence of Zikr is that the Qalb should sincerely accept Islamic beliefs and gain the strength to follow the Sunnah with even greater devotion. ‘If the heart is acquainted with Allah and is engaged in His Zikr; then it is filled with Barakaat-e Nabuwwat (Prophetic blessings) which infuse their purity in the mind and body. This not only helps in controlling sensual drives but also removes traces of abhorrence, voracity, envy and insecurity from human soul. The person therefore becomes an embodiment of love, both for the Divine and the corporeal. This is the meaning of a Hadith, “There is a lump of flesh in the human body; if it goes astray the entire body is misguided, and if it is reformed the entire body is reformed. Know that this lump is the Qalb”.’

 

PAS ANFAS

Recent History Khawajah Naqshband (d. 1389 CE) organized the Naqshbandia Order at Bukhara (Central Asia). This Order has two main branches – the Mujaddidia and the Owaisiah. The former is identified with Sheikh Ahmed Sirhindi, known as Mujaddid Alif Sani (literally: reviver of the second Muslim millennium), a successor to Khawajah Baqi Billah, who introduced the Order to the Indo- Pakistan sub-continent. The Owaisiah Order employs a similar method of Zikr but acquires the Prophetic blessings in the manner of Khawajah Owais Qarni, who received this beneficence from the Holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) without a formal physical meeting. The Zikr employed by the Naqshbandia is ‘Zikr-e Khafi Qalbi’ (remembrance of Allah’s Name within the heart) and the method is termed ‘Pas Anfas’, which (in Persian) means guarding every breath. The Chain of Transmission of these Barakah, of course, emanates from the holy Prophet- SAWS.

 

SPIRITUAL BAI’AT (OATH OF ALLEGIANCE

It is necessary in all Sufi Orders that the Sheikh and the seekers must be contemporaries and must physically meet each other for the transfer of these blessings. However, the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order goes beyond this requirement and Sufis of this Order receive these Barakah regardless of physical meeting with their Sheikh or even when the Sheikh is not their contemporary. Yet, it must be underscored that physical meeting with the Sheikh of this Order still holds great importance in dissemination of these Barakah. Sheikh Sirhindi writes about the Owaisiah Order in his book ‘Tazkirah’: ‘It is the most sublime, the most exalted, and the most effective…and the highest station of all others is only its stepping stone.’ By far the greatest singular distinction of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order is the honor of Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance) directly at the blessed hands of the holy Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W).

 

SHEIKH HAZRAT MOULANA ALLAH YAR KHAN (R.A)

The Reviver Sheikh Allah Yar Khan was born in Chikrala, a remote village of Mianwali District of Pakistan, in 1904. He completed his religious education in 1934. The same year, he met Sheikh ‘Abdul Rahim, who took him to the shrine of Sheikh Allah Deen Madni. By Divine Will his spiritual connection was immediately established with the saint of the 10th century Hijra (sixteenth century CE) and he started receiving spiritual beneficence. His sublime education in Sufism, signifying progressive spiritual growth and advancement, continued for about twenty-five years, after which he was directed to undertake the propagation of Prophetic blessings - a noble mission that he accomplished with singular zeal and dedication for a period spanning half a century. Anybody who visited him was duly rewarded with a share of spiritual bliss commensurate with his/her sincerity and capacity. Sheikh Allah Yar Khan’s mission produced men and women of deep spiritual vision and eminence. He authored eighteen books, the most distinguished being Dalael us-Sulook (Sufism - An Objective Appraisal), Hayat-e Barzakhiah (Life Beyond Life) and Israr ul- Haramain (Secrets of the two holy Mosques). He was undoubtedly one of the most distinguished Sufi saints of the Muslim Ummah and a reviver of the Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order. He passed away on 18 February 1984 in Islamabad at the age of eighty.

 

THE CHAIN OF TRANSMISSION OF NAQSHBANDIA OWAISIAH

1. Hazrat Muhammad ur-Rasool Allah (Sall Allah-o Alaihi wa Sallam), 2. Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (Radhi Allah-o Unho), 3. Hazrat Imam Hassan Basri (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 4. Hazrat Daud Tai (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 5. Hazrat Junaid Baghdadi (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 6. Hazrat Ubaid Ullah Ahrar (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 7. Hazrat Abdur Rahman Jami (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 8. Hazrat Abu Ayub Muhammad Salih (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 9. Hazrat Allah Deen Madni (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi), 10. Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (Rahmat Ullah Alaihi).

 

THE SPIRIT OR RUH

The spirit or Ruh of every person is a created reflection of the Divine Attributes and it originates in Alam-e Amar (Realm of Command). Its food is the Light of Allah or the Divine Refulgence, which it acquires from the Realm of Command through the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him), whose status in the spiritual world is like that of the sun in the solar system. The Quran refers to him as the ‘bright lamp’. Indeed, he is the divinely selected channel of all Barakah. All Exalted Messengers themselves receive these Barakah from him.

 

LATAIF

The human Ruh also possesses vital organs like the physical body; through which it acquires its knowledge, food and energy. These are called Lataif (singular Latifah: subtlety). Scholars of various Sufi Orders have associated them with specific areas of the human body. The Naqshbandia Owaisiah Order identifies these Lataif as follows. First - Qalb: This spiritual faculty is located within the physical heart. Its function is Zikr. Its strength increases one’s capacity for Allah’s Zikr. Second – Ruh: The site of this Latifah, which is a distinct faculty of the human Ruh, is on the right side of the chest at the level of Qalb. Its primary function is concentration towards Allah. Third – Sirri: This is located above the Qalb and functions to make possible Kashf. Forth – Khaffi: This is located above the Ruh and functions to perceive the omnipresence of Allah. Fifth – Akhfa: This is located in the middle of chest, at the centre of the first four Lataif and makes it possible for the Ruh to perceive the closeness of Allah, Who is closer to us than our own selves. Sixth – Nafs: This Latifah is located at the forehead and functions to purify the human soul. Seventh – Sultan al-Azkar: This Latifah is located at the top centre of the head and serves to absorb the Barakah of Allah into the entire body, so that every cell resonates with Zikr.

 

FIVE EXALTED MESSENGERS OF GOD

There are Five Exalted Messengers among the many known and unknown Messengers of Allah. They are Hazrat Muhammad, Hazrat Nuh (Noah), Hazrat Ibrahim (Abraham), Hazrat Musa (Moses), and Hazrat Esa (Jesus), peace be upon them all. Hazrat Adam is the first Prophet of Allah and the father of mankind. Each Latifah is associated with a particular Prophet. The Barakah and lights from Hazrat Adam (peace be upon him), descend on the first Latifah Qalb; its lights are reflected from the first heaven and are yellowish. The second Latifah is associated with Hazrat Nuh and Hazrat Ibrahim (peace be upon them). Its lights descend from the second heaven and appear as golden red. The lights descending upon the third Latifah are from Hazrat Musa (peace be upon him) and are white. One the fourth Latifah, the lights of Hazrat Esa (peace be upon him) descend from the fourth heaven and are deep blue. The fifth Latifah receives its Barakah directly from the holy Prophet Muhammad (may Allah’s choicest favors and peace be upon him). The lights associated with this Latifah are green, descend from the fifth heaven, and overwhelm all the first four Lataif. The Lights descending upon the sixth and seventh Lataif are the Divine Lights, whose color and condition cannot be determined. These are like flashes of lightening that defy comprehension. If Allah blesses a seeker with Kashf, he can observe all of this. The vision is slightly diffused in the beginning, but gradually the clarity improves.

 

SULOOK

Stages of the Path After all seven Lataif of a seeker have been illuminated with Divine Lights through Tawajjuh of the Sheikh and his Ruh has acquired the ability to fly, the Sheikh initiates its journey on the sublime Path of Divine nearness. The Path is known as Sulook, and its stages are not hypothetical imaginations but real and actually existing stations on the spiritual Path. These are also referred to as Meditations, because a seeker mentally meditates about a station while his/her Ruh actually ascends towards it. The first three stations that form the base of whole Sulook are described as; Ahadiyyat, a station of Absolute Unity of Divinity. It is above and beyond the seven heavens. It is so vast a station that the seven heavens and all that they encompass are lost within Ahadiyyat as a ring is lost in a vast desert. Its lights are white in color. Maiyyat station denotes Divine Company, ‘He is with you, wherever you might be.’ This station is so vast that Ahadiyyat along with the seven heavens beneath are lost within it as a ring is lost in a desert. Its lights are green in color. Aqrabiyyat station denotes Divine Nearness, ‘He is nearer to you than your life- vein.’ Again, Aqrabiyyat is vast as compared to Maiyyat in the same proportion. Its lights are golden red and are reflected from the Divine Throne. It is indeed the greatest favor of Almighty Allah that He blesses a seeker with an accomplished Sheikh, who takes him to these sublime stations. The final station that a seeker attains to during his/her lifetime becomes his/her Iliyyeen (blessed abode) in Barzakh and his/her Ruh stays at this station after death.

  

ZIKR

Why is Zikr Necessary for Everyone? Allah ordains every soul in the Quran to Perform Zikr. This not only means reciting the Quran and Tasbeeh but also Zikr-e Qalb. It is only through Zikr-e Qalbi that Prophetic Lights reach the depths of human soul and purify it from all vice and evil. Zikr infuses a realization of constant Divine Presence and a seeker feels great improvement in the level of sincerity and love towards Allah and the holy Prophet- SAWS. Such levels of sincerity, love and feelings of Divine Presence can never be obtained without Zikr. It would be a mistake to believe that Zikr may be a requirement only for the very pious and virtuous people. Zikr provides the Prophetic blessings which are in effect the life line of every human soul. It transforms even the most corrupted humans into virtuous souls by bringing out the best in them. The fact is that Zikr is the only way to achieve true contentment and satisfaction in life. The holy Quran has pointed to this eternal fact that it is only through Zikr Allah that hearts can find satisfaction. Such satisfaction and peace are the ultimate requirements of every person, regardless of religion, race and ethnicity. Practicing Zikr regularly removes all traces of anxiety and restlessness, and guides the human soul to eternal bliss and peace.

 

KHALIFA MAJAZEEN

Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), during his life time in 1974, presented a nomination list to Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), during Maraqba, of expected Khalifa Majazeen for Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia. Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W) approved some names, deleted some of the names, and added down the name of Major Ghulam Muhammad as also Khalifa Majaaz of Silsila Naqshbandia Awaisia (which was not previously included in the list)

 

The approved names at that time included:

1. Mr. Muhammad Akram Awan Sahib,

2. Mr. Sayed Bunyad Hussain Shah Sahib,

3. Mr. Major Ahsan Baig Sahib,

4. Mr. Col. Matloob Hussain Sahib,

5. Mr. Major Ghulam Muhammad Sahib of Wan Bhachran Mianwali,

6. Mr. Molvi Abdul Haq Sahib,

7. Mr. Hafiz Abdul Razzaq Sahib,

8. Mr. Hafiz Ghulam Qadri Sahib,

9. Mr. Khan Muhammad Irani Sahib,

10. Mr. Maolana Abdul Ghafoor Sahib,

11. Mr. Syed Muhammad Hassan Sahib of Zohb.

 

These Majazeen were authorized to; held Majalis of Zikar (Pas Anfas) in their respective areas, arrange Majalis of Zikar in neighboring areas, train them on the way of Sulook, prepare them for Spiritual Bai’at (Oath of Allegiance), and present them to Sheikh Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan for Spiritual Bai’at at the Hand of Prophet Muhammad (S.A.W), in the life of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A), and were all equal in status as Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).

 

Presently we are following Hazrat Major ® Ghulam Muhammad Sahib, Khalifa Majaaz of Hazrat Moulana Allah Yar Khan (R.A).

 

I thought that putting an apostrophe in front of every 'S', especially when the word is a plural, was a recent phenomenon. But apparently its not, assuming this plaque is genuine!

  

London, 32 Sheffield Terrace, W8 postcode

 

Taken from www.catholicauthors.com/chesterton.html

 

The paternal great-grandfather, grandfather and father of G. K. Chesterton were engaged in the business of selling houses (estate agents as they are called in England). His father, Edward, married Marie Grosjean, whose family had long been English, but had originally come from French Switzerland. They had three children, Gilbert, born on May 29, 1874, Cecil, five years his junior, and Beatrice, who died in childhood.

 

Gilbert's father distinguished between living and making a living: a successful businessman, he had a dozen hobbies, not the least of them the making of a toy-theatre, and he was widely read, especially in English literature.

 

A happy childhood in a happy home laid the foundation for Gilbert's sane and sensible outlook on life. As a little boy he read fairy tales; as a big boy he wrote and illustrated them, some of which are preserved in his book The Coloured Lands. Gilbert first attended Colet Court School, entering St. Paul's as a day student when he was twelve. The reports on him for his six years there (1887-92) were that he was a good boy but an indifferent student, a dreamer, interested chiefly in drawing and English literature. In his "dramatic journal,"kept irregularly from his sixteenth year, he dramatized scenes from Scott and burlesqued portions of Shakespeare. He later acknowledged the strong influence on his youthful formation made by the Junior Debating Club, of which he was chairman. It met weekly at the home of one of its dozen teenage members and, following tea, one of them read a paper which was then debated. In the issues of its organ, The Debater, his first prose and verse were printed; his essays on Milton, Pope, Gray, Cowper, Burns, and Wordsworth being noteworthy. In his last year at St. Paul's (1892), he entered a competition for a prize poem (on St. Francis Xavier), and won it. From 1892 to 1895 he studied art at the Slade School and during part of the time he attended lectures on English literature at University College. A fellow-student whose family controlled the publishing firm of Hodder & Stoughton gave him some art books to review in the firm's monthly, The Boohman. And upon leaving Slade, he entered the office of a publisher of spiritualistic literature and later the office of the general publisher, Fisher Unwin. There he began to write Greybeards at Play as well as to revise, edit and counsel the works of others.

 

At St. Paul's Gilbert formed lifelong friendships with the future writer Edmund C. Bentley and with Lucian Oldershaw. In 1896 Lucian was courting Ethel Blogg (anglicized from Blogue) and took Gilbert with him to call. At first sight he fell in love with her sister Frances and, after a courtship extended by his then meager earnings, they were married in 1901. It was Lucian who, in 1900, also introduced the twenty-six-year old Gilbert to the thirty-year-old Belloc. Their reciprocal influence was lifelong as was their friendship.

 

In 1899 Gilbert began writing for The Speaker, a Liberal weekly. His first book, a volume of comic verse which he also illustrated, Greybeards at Play, was successfully published in 1900; later that year, his father financed publication of his second book, The Wild Knight and Other Poems. But it was his brilliant though unpopular pro-Boer stand on the Boer War which first brought him to public attention, and by 1901 he also was writing regularly for The Daily News. His third book, The Defendant (1901), comprised some of his essays from The Speaker, and is suffused with paradoxes, a literary form which has since been associated with his name. ("I did not acquit Chesterton of paradox," wrote his great admirer Msgr. Knox, "but, after all, what was a paradox but a statement of the obvious so as to make it sound untrue?")

 

He prided himself on being a journalist, and much of his work was first published in the popular journals of the day, many of his books being collected and edited from these essays, and much more of it has never been collected at all.

 

He was a tall man-six-foot two, and a stout one- nearly three hundred pounds; he dressed unconventionally in a wide-brimmed slouch hat and a flowing cloak; and carried a walking stick; he had a leonine head and a rather straggly blonde mustache. By the time he was only thirty-two he had become famous, instantly recognized in public and in caricature. True, some of his most popular works had been published by then: G. F Watts (1902), Twelve Types (1902), Robert Browning (in the English Men of Letters series, 1903), The Napoleon of Notting Nill, which he called his first important book (1904), The Club of Queer Trades (1905), Heretics (1905), and Charles Dickens (1906). And in social intercourse he was already one with such personalities of the day as Joseph Conrad, Henry James, Laurence Binyon, James M. Barrie, Max Beerbohm, Swinburne, George Meredith, Yeats, and Granville Barker.

 

In 1904, Sir Oliver Lodge invited him to become a candidate for the Chair of Literature at Birmingham University, but he declined. The invitation was doubtless extended on the strength of his books on Browning and on Dickens. The success of the latter was such that he was requested to write a series of prefaces to all of Dickens' novels.

 

At the time of his marriage he believed in the basic Christian religious truths but in no particular religion. His wife was a convinced Anglo-Catholic, and she was particularly pleased when in 1905 he accepted an invitation to be the first of a series of lay preachers in St. Paul's Church, Covent Garden.

 

From this time on there was an almost constant stream of lecture engagements far and wide and to almost every type of organization,-religious, literary, social, and even political. He was famous, he was wanted, and he couldn't say no. His wife became his secretary recording times, places, subjects, and arranging itineraries. He became so pressed for time that he had to write at odd moments and to do his newspaper essays at deadline. This constant pressure extended from 1904 to 1908. He was notoriously absent-minded. Typical was the telegram he sent his wife when he was en route to give a lecture: "Am in Market Harborough. Where ought I to be?~' He hated physical exertion as much as he reveled in mental activity.

 

Another phantasy, The Man Who Was Thursday (1907) was followed by Orthodoxy (1908). When Gilbert had attacked the philosophy of G. S. Street, he retorted that he would worry about it when G.K. would clarify his own. The tesult was Orthodoxy, a series of positive arguments for Christianity. Etienne Gilson considered it ''The best piece of apologetic the century has produced." Incidentally, Gilbert sold the manuscript outright for about $400.00. The meager returns on his numerous and popular writings moved him at this time to employ a literary agent; with gratifying results.

 

He began a weekly column, "Our Notebook,'' in The Illustrated London News in 1905 and continued it until his death thirty-one years later.

 

In 1909 he and his wife moved from Battersea, London, to the suburban town of Beaconsfield, which was to be their home for the rest of their lives. Their desire for children was never to be fulfilled; later they adopted Dorothy Collins who had become Gilbert's secretary in 1926. At Overroads, their Beaconsfield home, he was removed from the bustle and bars of Fleet Street and had more leisure for his friends: Max Beerbohm, Jack Phillmore, Msgr. O'Connor, Maurice Baring, Belloc, George Wyndham, Msgr. Knox, and a host of others. But his social life did not deter the stream of his books, as witness The Ball and the Cross, What's Wrong With the World (changed by his publishers from What's Wrong? and in which he formulated his sociology), Alarms and Discursions, and Blake (all published in 1910), Criticisms and Appreciations of Dickens, The Innocence of Father Brown, and, what many deem his greatest writing, The Ballad of the White Horse (all published in 1911). Too, his interest in politics, which he had had from boyhood, became more active: he began by fighting the sale of peerages as a means of secretly raising party funds, and continued blasting every other form of political corruption. Of necessity this interest included social reform, public education, a free press, etc. He resigned from the Liberal owned Daily News (a property of Cadbury of Cadbury's Cocoa) to write for the Daily Herald. He doubtless resigned just before being asked to, for his recent statements regarding the Liberal party leaders included: "Some of them are very nice oldgentlemen, some of them are very nasty old gentlemen, and some of them are old without being gentlemen at all." And again, "The best of His Majesty's Ministers are agnostics, and the worst are devil worshippers." This hit hard because at least nominally Church of England men (some ecclesiastics) were the predominant rulers of the realm.

 

Reacting against what they believed wrong with the English social-economic condition, Gilbert, his brother Cecil, and Belloc formulated their own program: Distributism. One of their principal points of controversy was over private ownership, chiefly ownership of the land which was tragically curtailed by the law of enclosure by which some five million acres ceased in effect to be the common property of the poor and became the private property of the rich. In books and articles they carried on their fight for the liberty of Englishmen against increasing enslavement to a plutocracy, and to expose and combat corruption in public life. As their audience increased and took form, they decided upon publishing their own paper. It was called The Eye Witness, from 1911-12, The New Witness, from 1912-23, G.K.'s Weekly, from 1925-36, and The Weekly Review, since 1936. It was edited at various times by each of the three. In the Marconi case, they contended that Godfrey Isaacs had used Rulus Isaacs to purchase ministerial favor. The court verdict in this complicated litigation was a gentle rebuke to the Isaacs and a small fine for editor Cecil. So small in view of the serious charges made that the Chesterbelloc considered it a moral victory. But the government then showed its contempt for integrity by appointing Godfrey Isaacs as the Viceroy of India and giving Rufus the title of Lord Reading.

 

Gilbert's books in this period included Manalive (1911), A Miscellany of Men, essays (1912), The Victorian Age in Literature (1913), The Wisdom of Father Brown (1914), and The Flying Inn (1914). His poetic play, Magic, was produced in England in October 1913, and in Germany soon afterward. And following a conversation with Msgr. O'Connor on the subject, he wrote his best known single poem, "The Ballad of Lepanto" (19 12).

 

In September 1916, Cecil enlisted as a private in the army and died in France on December 6, 1918. Upon his enlistment, Gilbert succeeded him as editor of The New Witness.

 

Gilbert went on a lecture tour to Palestine (which became a determining factor in his conversion) in 1919, to Italy in 1920, and to the United States in 1921-22 and again in 1930-31. From these travels came The New Jerusalem (1920), What I Saw in America (1922) and Sidelights on New London and Newer York (1932). His American tour included a series of thirty-six lectures on Victorian literature and history at the University of Notre Dame (his poem "The Arena" commemorates his visit), as well as talks delivered at San Francisco, Omaha, Oklahoma City, Nashville, New York, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia, Boston, and other cities.

 

The same period witnessed the publication of his Irish Impressions (1919), The Uses of Diversity (1920), The Superstition of Divorce (1920), Eugenics and Other Evils (1922), The Man Who Knew Too Much (1922), and Fancies Versus Fads (1923). Some idea of his intellectual fertility is indicated by the fact that at one time he had thirty books contracted for with various publishers.

 

Gilbert's brother Cecil had become a Catholic shortly before going to war and Gilbert himself had been forming a Catholic mind slowly but steadily from about the same time. But he was not one to be hurried and fortunately even his closest friends, Maurice Baring and Ronald Knox (themselves converts), though he acknowledged their influence upon him, did not try to hurry him. Eventually it was Father O'Connor who received him into the Church in 1922. On the same day he wrote his celebrated poem "The Convert." By her own conscience his wife followed him into the fold four years later.

 

The time between the death of The New Witness in 1923 and the birth of G.K.'s Weekly in 1925 gave him sufficient leisure to write two of his most important books: St. Francis of Assisi (1923) and The Everlasting Man (1925) . But to the paper which enshrined his brother's memory though it now bore his own initials, Gilbert devoted much of his time as editor from 1925 to 1930. Most of those who knew him regarded it as a sacrifice. Besides Belloc and himself, a steady contributor was Eric Gill; out of friendship for Gilbert, Shaw and Wells contributed occasionally.

 

In 1926 the social and economic program of the paper feathered the Distributist League, of which Gilbert was elected president. He stated that ''Their simple idea was to restore possession." To restore property and prosperity to the people from whom it had been taken by big government and big business. Distributism was to be a practical alternative to Capitalism and Socialism. Branches were soon established throughout England and the circulation of its organ, G.K.'s Weekly, rose from 4,650 to 8,000 copies. The influence of the movement far exceeded its numbers; men like Father McNabb, O.P., in England (whom some hold fathered rather than was a disciple of the movement), Msgr. Ligutti in the United States, Dr. Coady and Dr. Tompkins in Canada, as well as others in Australia and New Zealand, acknowledged its influence upon their labors.

 

Despite the yearly loss by the paper and his constant charity to the needy, from panhandlers to causes, Gilbert helped to build the Church at Beaconsfield, until then a mission of High Wycomb parish. It became his memorial.

 

In 1926 were published The Outline of Sanity, The Catholic Church and Conversion, The Incredulity of Father Brown (as Gilbert said to Father Rice, "My publishers have demanded a fresh batch of corpses"), and The Queen of the Seven Swords; in 1926, his Collected Poems, The Return of Don Quixote (which first appeared serially in G.K.'s Weekly), Robert Louis Stevenson, The Secret of Father Brown, and a play, The Judgment of Dr. Johnson. Like his Magic, it was successful as literature, not as theatre. The Father Brown detective stories brought him charter membership in the Detection Club (1929) and soon afterwards its presidency.

 

He spent a month of 1927 in Poland, a nation whose true place in Europe he held high. Two years later his visit to Rome resulted in The Resurrection of Rome (1930). His more successful books of this period were his Catholic essays, The Thing (1929), and the two volumes of general essays, Come to Think of It (1930) and All Is Grist (1931), and his reflections flowing from the Eucharistic Congress which he and his wife attended in 1932, Christendom in Dublin, his studies of Chaucer and of St. Thomas Aquinas. Of this last, Etienne Gilson, a foremost Thomistic scholar, said: "I consider it as being without possible comparison the best book ever written on St. Thomas. And P'ere Gillet, O.P., MasterGeneral of the Dominican Order, lectured on and from it to large meetings of Dominicans.

 

From 1932 until his death he engaged increasingly in radio lectures, delivering as many as forty a year over the B.B.C. The B.B.C. is a state monopoly (as such, Gilbert attacked it: "It is wicked to nationalize mines and railroads; but we lose no time in nationalizing tongues and talk''), and he had to submit a manuscript for each lecture; but, for the sake of spontaneity, he was not held to the letter of it. These talks were so well received that a B.B.C. official remarked after his death that "G.K.C. in another year or so would have become the dominating voice from Broadcasting House." Too, they reached untold thousands who had never read his writings.

 

While in Rome, Gilbert interviewed Mussolini and had an audience with the Holy Father. In 1934 he was elected, honoris causa, to the Athenaeum Club. Both he and Belloc were invested as Papal Knight Commanders of the Order of St. Gregory with Star. At his death in 1936 the Holy See cabled Cardinal Hinsley: "Holy Father deeply grieved death Mr. Gilbert Keith Chesterton devoted son of Holy Church gifted Defender of the Catholic Faith. His Holiness offers paternal sympathy people of England, assures prayers dear departed, bestows Apostolic Benediction."

 

The panegyric was delivered in Westminster Cathedral by Msgr. Ronald Knox. His monument was designed by Eric Gill and burial was at Beaconsfield. His wife survived him by a little more than two years.

 

He had employed his great God-given gifts with humility and charity; indeed these two virtues characterized his life.

 

Books on him are numerous: first in time and also very important is G. K. Chesterton: a Criticism (1908), published anonymously but later learned to be by his brother Cecil; Belloc's brief but brilliant The Place of Chesterton in English Letters (1940); Father Brown on Chesterton (1937) by Msgr. John O'Connor; The Laughing Prophet (1937) by Emile Cammaerts is concerned more with the man than with the writer; Chesterton As Seen by His Contemporaries (1939), includes material by Gilbert himself, edited by Cyril Clemens; Gilbert's Autobiography (published posthumously in 1936), in which, with characteristic humility, he seems bent upon writing about everyone but himself; and the definitive biography, G. K. Chesterton (1943) by his long-time friend, Maisie Ward (Mrs. Frank J. Sheed).

The old municipal operations of Manchester Corporation Transport in the pre-war years when it operated tram and bus services. R Stuart Pilcher, the general manager, had arrived from Edinburgh transport and whereas he had appeared to be pro-tram in that city he quickly set in chain the pre-WW2 abandonment of most of Manchester's tram system, a conversion completed in 1949.

At Nairobi's Mathare slum.

Antique B. F. Avery tractor, as seen at the Coconino County Fair last weekend.

 

For anyone not familiar with BF Avery tractors--I wasn't--here's a history:

 

www.ytmag.com/articles/artint252.htm

23 january 2o11, 7:3o PM

Ottawa City Hall Art Gallery

11o Laurier Avenue West

 

sound poetry contrasts

extended works & miniatures

curated, arranged & struggled with by jwcurry

& featuring the vocal agilities of

jwcurry

Alastair Larwill

Lesley Marshall

Christine McNair

Grant Wilkins

 

MESSAGIO GALORE is an organically thetic examination of the possibilities inherent in the wide range of activities that occur between literature & music (with interpenetrations of each) commonly called "sound poetry". it approaches the genre as inclusive (encompassing, for instance, chant, optophonetic texts, multilinear narrative, choral works, group improvisation, organized sound effects, concrete & visual poetry, letterpuzzles...) & investigates issues of writing/composing, scoring, transcription, reading, rehearsal, group dynamics, audiencing & &.

 

sound poetry seems to've received its most decisive kick into actualization at the Cabaret Voltaire in Zurich during World War 1. part of both the difficulty & intrigue of any study of sound poetry is the relative paucity of available source material of any kind, from scores through readings/recordings to theory. there are no How To books displaying The Rudiments Of Sound Poetry, no Thesaurus Of Scales & Patterns, no K-Tel Collection Of Sound Poetry's Greatest Hits through which to approach even a most basic apprehension of what sound poetry might be & how it might function. the vocal & theoretical texts of Hugo Ball & Raoul Hausmann remain among some of the most notably-still relevant reachings toward an accurate delineation of this then-new æsthesis.

 

MESSAGIO GALORE got its kickstart in 2oo4 as a lecture with sound examples, serving (unintendedly) as a good example of how not to go about doing this & suggesting the advisability of a constantly-revised series of takes. given that sound poetry is a physical presence occurring in realtime often using more than a single voice, it has proven instructive to engage a shifting complement of readers to play with in varying degrees of immersion in rehearsal. the transmission of sound to page to sound again is a tricky biznis at best & it can almost be said that there are as many methods of scoring & reading sound texts as there are texts.

 

take VII takes an audio look at several extended works bridged with miniatures, mostly using different methods of scoring & articulation.

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

part 1

 

1. MESCAL RITE 1, Tomahawk (Duane Denison, Mike Patton, John Stanier; USA, 2oo7; transcribed & arranged for vocal quintet by jwcurry, Canada, 2o1o); source: Tomahawk, Anonymous (Orinda, Ipecac Recordings, 2oo7). "all tunes are original arrangements inspired by native american material from the late 19th century" (CD note). chant (assumedly) devised to accellerate te body rhythms to facilitate the onset of the drug. Tomahawk's electric power trio has here been reärranged back to an acoustic a capella version to overoxygenate the performers & propel them into the linguistically hallucinogenic mindstate to follow. readers: full quintet

 

2. EAST WIND, bpNichol (Canada, 1979?); source: Four Horsemen (Rafael Barreto-Rivera, Paul Dutton, Steve McCaffery, bpNichol), The Prose Tattoo (Milwaukee, Membrane Press, 1983). a gridtext deployed through overlaid entended breathlines, rescore by jwcurry (2oo7) from Nichol's holograph draft. our version continues to toy with a more literl approach to the score than did the Horsemen's more freewheeling phonetic romp. readers: curry, Larwill, McNair, Wilkins

 

3. SIX-FOUR, Alastair Larwill (Canada, 2o1o); source: unpublished manuscript. accumulative disintegrational polysyllabicism formulated as part of a discussion on articulational deliberations with its dedicatee Rob Read. readers: curry, Larwill, McNair, Wilkins

 

4. TOTEM ÉTRANGLÉ, Antonin Artaud (France, 1964?), arranged by jwcurry (Canada, 2oo9/1o); sources: Antonin Artaud/translated by Helen Weaver, Selected Writings (New York, Farrar Straus And Groux, 1976) & KROKLOK #2 (edited by Dom Sylvester Houédard, London, Writers Forum, 1971). "For years I have had an idea of the consumption, the internal consummation of language by the unearthing of all manner of torpid and filthy necessities." (Artaud in a letter to Henri Parisot, 22 september 1945). 18 of these sound cycle excised (by Artaud) from elsewhere in his writings (Here Lies, Insanity and BlackMagic, The Return of Artaud, Le Momo, To Have Done with the Judgement of God, Van Gogh, The Man Suicided by Society, sundry correspondences) & formally linked as a suite. Artaud spent many hours chanting these structures during his residencies in the wig factories. our arrangement enaudios a stroll down a hallful of Artaud-occupied cells. readers: full quintet

 

5. GOING CRITICAL, jwcurry/Michèle Provost (Canada, 2oo9); source: ABSTrACTS/RéSUmÉS, edited by Michèle Provost (Gatineau, privately published, 2o1o). a critical appreciation of Marcel Dzama (by Joseph R.Wolin in CANADIAN ART 25:3) is subjected to sibilant excision & extreme subsyllabic hocketing. a quartet version exists in short film form (read by curry & Provost) but "the lineation of the sounds into separated abruptions in the quartet doesn't allow for the hocketing & clusters that occur during the quintet, which is some 18 seconds shorter & chronically more complex." (curry, ORIOUS ISTIFICATION, Ottawa, CSCA, 2o1o). readers: full quintet

 

6. TWO: Less Time, bpNichol (Canada, 1982?); source: THE CAPILANO REVIEW #31 (edited by Steven Smith & Richard Truhlar, North Vancouver, 1984). vowelless gridtext with, ordinarily, varying degrees of reading path choice left to the readers. tonight's version is a straightforward quartet with a free radical for doublings. readers: full quintet

 

7. anacyclic poem with two shouts DHARMATHOUGHTS STUPAWARDS, dom sylvester houédard (England, 1966); source: KROKLOK #1 (edited by dom sylvester houédard, London, Writers Forum, 1971). "for the artists protest committee for their call from losangeles for a tower against the war" (houédard in KROKLOK #1), an anagrammatical poem in 3 vowels & 4 consonants. duo arrangement by jwcurry (2o1o) fusing a par of arrangements by Nicholas Power/Rob Read & Carmel Purkis/Sandra Ridley (both 2oo8). readers: curry, McNair

 

8. GLASS ON THE BEACH, Richard Truhlar (Canada, 1978?); source: Owen Sound (Michael Dean, David Penhale, Steven Smith, Richard Truhlar), Beyond The Range (Toronto, Underwhich Editions, 198o). transcribed by jwcurry from a trio recording (Dean/Smith/Truhlar) at the Music Gallery in Toronto, 18 august 1979, with additional parts adapted from 2 manuscript scores courtesy of Truhlar. extended vocal waveforms with buried shards. readers: full quintet

 

part 2

 

9. The Dangerous Kitchen, Frank Zappa (USA, 198-?); source: monogaph (North Hollywood, Munchkin Music, 1984), with reference to recordings on Frank Zappa, DEMO'S (UK, Cornhole Productions, 1986), Does Humor Belong in Music? (Los Angeles, Honker Home Video, 1985) & The Man From Utopia (Los Angeles, Barking Pumpkin Records, 1983). while Zappa's sprechgesang approach is ordinarily accompanied by improvised electric jazzband meltdown boop-bop atonalities, we thought it might be worth the lampshade to simulate some a capella doo-wop discontinuities for an alternate avenue toward antisepsis. readers: full quintet

 

1o. Artikulationen, Franz Mon (Germany, 198-?); source: riverrun voicings soundscapes, edited by Klaus Schöning (Mainz, Wergo, 1999), transcribed, arranged & scored by jwcurry (Canada, 2oo8) from a quartet recording made at the Studio Akustische Kunst in 199o. Mon's "environment of syllables and sounds searching for words" (Schöning/translated by Steven Lindberg, CD note) began in the 196os & includes a series of homages to sound artists, this one for Velemir Khlebnikov. readers: curry, Larwill, Marshall, McNair

 

11. WORM, bob cobbing (England, 1954); source: CEOLFRITH #26 (edited by Peter Mayer, Sunderland, Ceolfrith Press, 1974). one of cobbing's earliest semantic derivations into sound burrowing in concrete. readers: full quintet

 

12. Pieces Of Stop, bpNichol (Canada, 1978); source: as 2 above. dedicated to Greta Monach. again, a more literal approach to the gridtext that casts the reversed expectations of its sound envelopes into starker relief. readers: curry, Larwill, McNair, Wilkins

 

13. Riryphur's rurrusur, jwcurry/Rob Read (Canada, 2oo8); source: monograph (Ottawa, Curvd H&z, 2oo8). rolling an R uphill is one thing but what about 25 orso others? an articulational primer in lock'n'hocket disjunction. readers: curry, Larwill, Marshall, Wilkins

 

14. Alice in Wonderland, Sam Loyd (USA, 189-?); source: Pattern Poetry: Guide to an Unknown Literature, edited by Dick Higgins (Albany, SUNY Press, 1987). not intended as a sound score, this concrete lozenge letterpuzzle invited arrangement as aurality, "soft & chewy on the outside with crunchy bits in the middle". readers: full quintet

 

15. auf dem land, ernst jandl (Austria, 1968?); source: konkrete poesie deutschsprachige autoren, edited by Eugen Gomringer (Stuttgart, Philipp Reclam, reprint?, 198o). an "utter zoo" octupletted & here arranged as simultaneous identifications & emissions. readers: curry, Wilkins

 

16. WHITE TEXT SURE version ten, bpNichol (Canada, 1981); source: INUSTRIAL SABOTAGE #63 (edited by jwcurry, Ottawa, Curvd H&z, 2oo8). dedicated to The Horsemen. gridscore for massed vocal textures based on Nichol's earlier (1966) collaboration with David Aylward, WHITE SOUND. this version of this version reïncorporates randomly the colour panels of Nichol's earlier revision, WHITE SOUND :a variant (1976). readers: curry, Larwill, Marshall, Wilkins

 

17. SHE WAS A VISITOR, Robert Ashley (USA, 1967); source: Robert Ashley, Automatic Writing (New York, Lovely Music Limited, 1996). elegy of extended phonemic breathlengths played out from the source statement. readers: full quintet plus guests Sheena Mordasiewicz, Roland Prévost, Carmel Purkis, Sandra Ridley

 

___________________________________________________________________________

 

cover: Sam Loyd (14 above)

 

illimitable thanks to Meaghan Haughian (City Hall Art Gallery), Ontario Arts Council (funding), Ottawa (funding), Brian & Pearl Pirie (for holding the door), Gio Sampogna (camera), Ben Walker (another camera), Lester Jolliffe (recordist) & Rachel Zavitz (Artaud variants & stability)

___________________________________________________________________________

 

filmed by Ben Walker (with sound by Lester Jolliffe), Gio Sampogna & 2 others i know not the names of (plus a camera on the audience, 5 in all)

___________________________________________________________________________

 

see also:

 

announcements:

www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/7454268734/

cartywheel.wordpress.com/2010/12/30/messagio-galore/

pagehalffull.com/pesbo/2011/01/05/messagio-galore-take-vii/

www.facebook.com/events/134225383305600/

 

interview:

cartywheel.files.wordpress.com/2010/12/literary-landscape...

 

photos:

weblog.johnwmacdonald.com/2011/01/messagio-galore-take-vi...

www.flickr.com/photos/pearlpirie/5413512041/

www.flickr.com/photos/pearlpirie/5414123080/

 

reports:

cartywheel.wordpress.com/2011/02/07/post-messagio-mukluk/

www.flickr.com/photos/48593922@N04/7479761780/

 

reviews:

robmclennan.blogspot.ca/2011/01/jwcurrys-messagio-galore-...

pagehalffull.com/pesbo/2011/02/03/the-messagio-is-the-mes...

 

& furthermore:

www.flickr.com/photos/pearlpirie/5385420790/

 

Academic High School (Vienna)

(Pictures you can see by clicking on the link at the end of page!)

Beethovenplatz

school form - general secondary school (high school humanistic)

Founded in 1553

♁ coordinates 48 ° 12 '5 " N, 16 ° 22 ' 34" OKoordinaten : 48 ° 12 '5 " N, 16 ° 22' 34" E | |

Support public

About 610 students (4 April 2010)

About 60 teachers (4 April 2010)

Website www.akg -wien.at

The Academic Gymnasium in Vienna was founded in 1553 and is the oldest high school in Vienna. The school orientation is humanistic and compared with other traditional high schools of the city rather liberal. The current number of students is about 610 students, divided on 24 classes.

History

16th and 17th Century

At the time of the foundation of the high school, the University of Vienna had the privilege to decide about the estabilishment of educational institutions. In March of 1553, the Jesuits received permission from the university to the founding of the Academic Gymnasium.

The primary objectives of the exclusively Jesuit teaching corps was the provision of religious instruction, the practice of the Catholic faith and the strengthening of the religious attitude of the students. The Academic Gymnasium was located at the time of its inception in the Dominican monastery opposite the then university. The former language was Latin.

18th and 19 Century

The dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773 by Pope Clement XIV led to a conversion of the teaching staff and educational goals. The new focus was on history, mathematics, German, literature and geography. The management of the school was transferred to the Piarist. Subsequently the school was somewhat cosmopolitan conducted and the spirit of the Enlightenment prevailed both among teachers and among the students. Likewise, new didactic and educational measures, and later the school fees were introduced.

As a result of high school reform in 1849, the eight-year school with the final matriculation examination was developed. The humanistic aspects crystallized out more and more, the focus of the lesson were mainly linguistic-historical, mathematical and scientific aspects not being neglected. The first high school graduates made ​​their final exams at the end of the school year 1850 /51.

Academic High School before the vaulting of the Vienna River (Wienfluß - as small as possible)

Since 1866 the building of the Academic Gymnasium is located on Beethoven place in the first district of Vienna. It was built by Friedrich von Schmidt, who also designed the City Hall, in his typical neo-Gothic style.

The first students (female ones) gratuated in 1886 and 1887 (every year an external student), since the school year 1896/97 there were almost every year high school graduates, a general admission of girls there since 1949 /50.

20th Century

The years following the First World War were extremely distressing for the high school, because there was a very narrow escape for not being closed, the cause was a sharp decline in students. The educational institution was menaced from losing its good reputation and attractiveness.

GuentherZ 2007-02-22 2707 Wr Akad Gym plaque Jewish students and Lehrer.jpg

After the "Anschluss" of Austria in 1938, the Jewish students had to leave the school, they were 28 April 1938 transfered, some of the students but had logged off before this date. The total loss amounted to nearly 50 percent of the students because the school from all Viennese schools was attended most of all of children of Jewish families. Today, several plaques remember on the outer facade of the high school the transfer and the horrors of Nazism. A known victim of that action was the future Nobel laureate Walter Kohn, he had to leave school in the 5th class.

Wolfgang Wolfring (1925-2001) popularized ​​the high school from 1960 as the site of classical Greek drama performances in ancient Greek original language. Annually took place performances of the classical Greek dramatic literature, among them, King Oedipus, Oedipus at Colonus and Philoctetes of Sophocles, the Oresteia of Aeschylus and The Trojan Women and Alcestis of Euripides. Protagonists of these performances were later Lawyers Josef and Eduard Wegrostek, Liliana Nelska, Doris Dornetshuber, Gerhard Tötschinger, but also in smaller roles Gabriel Barylli, Paulus Manker, Konstantin Schenk and others.

Over the years the school acquired the old reputation back and enjoyed high access rates. More and more emphasis has been placed on humanistic education, which has been demonstrated mainly by the wide range of languages​​, school theater performances at a high level and numerous musical events of the school choir the public in general as well.

21th Century

The focus are still on a broad linguistic foundation, which also includes training in languages ​​such as Latin or Greek. The school offers both French and English from the first grade. The other of the two languages ​​begins as early as the 2nd class.

In addition to this a wide range of projects are organized and voluntary activities offered. The goal of the Academic Gymnasium is the general education, which in turn should prepare for a subsequent university study.

One problem is the shortage of space of the school. Since there's a large demand for school places, the school house for financial reasons and such the monument preservation not expandable, not for all admission solicitors school places are available.

Known students and graduates

The Academic High School has produced a large number of public figures in its history:

Birth year before 1800

Ignaz Franz Castelli (1781-1862), writer

Wilhelm Ritter von Haidinger (1795-1871), geologist

Stanislaus Kostka (1550-1568), Catholic saint

Leopold Kupelwieser (1796-1862), painter

Joseph Othmar Rauscher (1797-1875), Archbishop of Vienna

Franz Schubert (1797-1828), Composer

Johann Carl Smirsch (1793-1869), painter

Birth year 1800-1849

Alexander Freiherr von Bach (1813-1893), lawyer and politician

Moritz Benedikt (1835-1920), a neurologist

Nikolaus Dumba (1830-1900), industrialist and art patron

Franz Serafin Exner (1802-1853), philosopher

Cajetan Felder (1814-1894), Mayor of Vienna

Adolf Ficker (1816-1880), statistician

Anton Josef Gruscha (1820-1911), Archbishop of Vienna

Christoph Hartung von Hartungen (1849-1917), physician

Carl Haslinger (1816-1868), music publisher

Gustav Heider (1819-1897), Art History

Joseph Hellmesberger (1828-1893), Kapellmeister (chapel master)

Hyrtl Joseph (1810-1894), anatomist

Friedrich Kaiser (1814-1874), actor

Theodor von Karajan (1810-1873), German scholar

Alfred von Kremer (1828-1889), orientalist and politician

Kürnberger Ferdinand (1821-1879), writer

Henry of Levitschnigg (1810-1862), writer and journalist

Robert von Lieben (1848-1913), physicist and inventor

Karl Ludwig von Littrow (1811-1877), Astronomer

Titu Maiorescu (1840-1917), Romanian Prime Minister

Johann Nestroy (1801-1862), actor, poet

Ignaz von Plener (1810-1908), Prime Minister of Austria

Johann Nepomuk Prix (1836-1894), Mayor of Vienna

Benedict Randhartinger (1802-1893), Kapellmeister (conductor)

Friedrich Rochleder (1819-1874), chemist

Wilhelm Scherer (1841-1886), German scholar

Anton Schmerling (1805-1893), lawyer and politician

Leopold Schrötter, Ritter von Kristelli (1837-1908) , doctor (laryngologist) and social medicine

Johann Gabriel Seidl (1804-1875), lyricist of the Austrian imperial anthem "God save, God defend our Emperor, our country!" ("may God save and protect our good Emperor Francis")

Daniel Spitzer (1835-1893), author

Eduard Strauss (1835-1916), composer and conductor

Franz von Thun und Hohenstein (1847-1916), Prime Minister of Cisleithania

Joseph Unger (1828-1913), lawyer and politician

Otto Wagner (1841-1918), architect

Birth year 1850-1899

Othenio Abel (1875-1946), biologist

Ludwig Adamovich, senior (1890-1955), President of the Constitutional Court

Guido Adler (1855-1941), musicologist

Plaque for Altenberg, Beer-Hofmann, Hofmannsthal and Schnitzler

Peter Altenberg (1859-1919), "literary cafe"

Max Wladimir von Beck (1854-1943), Austrian Prime Minister

Richard Beer-Hofmann (1866-1945), writer

Julius Bittner (1874-1939), composer

Robert Dannenberg (1885-1942), lawyer and politician

Konstantin Dumba (1856-1947), diplomat

August Fournier (1850-1920), historian and politician

Erich Frauwallner (1898-1974), Indologist

Dagobert Frey (1883-1962), art historian

Albert Gessmann (1852-1920), librarian and politician

Raimund Gruebl (1847-1898), Mayor of Vienna

Michael Hainisch (1858-1940), President of the Republic of Austria

Edmund Hauler (1859-1941), classical scholar

Hugo von Hofmannsthal (1874-1929), playwright

Karl Kautsky (1854-1938), philosopher and politician

Hans Kelsen (1881-1973), lawyer, co-designer of the Austrian Federal Constitution

Franz Klein (1854-1926), lawyer and politician

Arthur Krupp (1856-1938), industrialist

Wilhelm Kubitschek (1858-1936), archaeologist and numismatist

Edward Leisching (1858-1938), director of the Museum of Applied Arts in Vienna

Felix from Luschan (1854-1924), doctor, anthropologist, explorer, archaeologist and ethnographer

Eugene Margaretha (1885-1963), lawyer and politician

Tomáš Garrigue Masaryk (1850-1937), founder and president of Czechoslovakia

Alexius Meinong (1853-1920), philosopher

Lise Meitner (1878-1968), nuclear physicist

Ludwig von Mises (1881-1973), economist

Paul Morgan (1886-1938), actor

Max von Oberleithner (1868-1935), composer and conductor

Paul Pisk Amadeus (1893-1990), Composer

Gabriele Possanner (1860-1940), physician

Przibram Hans Leo (1874-1944), zoologist

Przibram Karl (1878-1973), physicist

Josef Redlich (1869-1936), lawyer and politician

Elise Richter (1865-1943), Romance languages

Joseph Baron Schey of Koromla (1853-1938), legal scholar

Arthur Schnitzler (1862-1931), writer, playwright

Julius Schnitzler (1865-1939), physician

Erwin Schrödinger (1887-1961), physicist, 1933 Nobel Prize for Physics

Birth year 1900-1949

Ludwig Adamovich, Jr. ( born 1932 ), President of the Austrian Constitutional Court

Christian Broda (1916-1987), lawyer and politician

Engelbert Broda (1910-1983), physicist, chemist

Thomas Chorherr (*1932), journalist and newspaper editor

Magic Christian ( born 1945 ), magic artist and designer

Felix Czeike (1926-2006), historian

Albert Drach (1902-1995), writer

Paul Edwards (1923-2004), philosopher

Caspar Einem (born 1948), Austrian Minister of Interior, Minister of Transport

Ernst Federn (1914-2007), psychoanalyst

Friedrich Heer (1916-1983), writer, historian

Georg Knepler (1906-2003), musicologist

Walter Kohn (b. 1923), physicist, 1998 Nobel Prize for Chemistry

Paul Felix Lazarsfeld (1901-1976), sociologist

Lucian O. Meysels (1925-2012), journalist and nonfiction author

Liliana Nelska (born 1946 ), actress

Erwin Ringel (1921-1994), physician, advocate of Individual Psychology

Ernst Topitsch (1919-2003), philosopher and sociologist

Milan Turković (*1939), Austrian-Croatian wind blower and conductor

Hans Weigel (1908-1991), writer

Erich Wilhelm (1912-2005), Protestant superintendent in Vienna

Year of birth from 1950

Gabriel Barylli (*1957 ), writer and actor

Christiane Druml (b. 1955), lawyer and bioethicist

Paul Chaim Eisenberg (born 1950), Chief Rabbi of the Jewish Community Vienna

Paul Gulda (b. 1961), pianist

Martin Haselboeck (born 1954), organist

Peter Stephan Jungk (*1952), writer

Markus Kupferblum (b. 1964), director

Niki List (1956 - 2009) , film director

Miki Malör (born 1957), theater maker and performer

Paulus Manker (born 1958), actor and director

Andreas Mailath-Pokorny (* 1959), Vienna Councillor for Culture and Science

Doron Rabinovici (*1961), writer

Clemens Unterreiner (born 1977), opera singer, soloist and ensemble member of the Vienna State Opera

de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akademisches_Gymnasium_(Wien)

 

One line throwup...

38 old maps of England folded and bound in a leather book.

Most seem to have been printed from copper plates made by

Richard Blome in the 1660s and 1670s. The plates were modified

and Bloom's name was removed from many of the plates before

this set of maps was printed at a later date. Most of the plates

measured 9 x 7-1/2 inches. Book was found in New Jersey, USA.

Please note that I know nothing about old maps. The backs of the

maps was used as a notebook/ledger in 1726. I have posted some

images of the ledger. Some of the names and dates found on these maps are:

Richard Blome

W. Hollar secit

R. P. sculp

Richard Palmer

1667

1670

1671

1672

Right click on the image and select "original" to see a

high resolution image.

 

Update: This appears to be "England Exactly Described"

published by Thomas Taylor in 1715.

From: www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=thomastayloratlas5210

"Taylor was also responsible for the publication of several

maps including England exactly described [...] in 1715

containing maps of the English counties which had been

issued previously in Speed's Maps Epitomiz'd in

1681 and in other works. "

Nameplate of Class 47/4 No.47572 on the wall at Ely station Cambridgeshire 14th August 2004.

38 old maps of England folded and bound in a leather book.

Most seem to have been printed from copper plates made by

Richard Blome in the 1660s and 1670s. The plates were modified

and Bloom's name was removed from many of the plates before

this set of maps was printed at a later date. Most of the plates

measured 9 x 7-1/2 inches. Book was found in New Jersey, USA.

Please note that I know nothing about old maps. The backs of the

maps was used as a notebook/ledger in 1726. I have posted some

images of the ledger. Some of the names and dates found on these maps are:

Richard Blome

W. Hollar secit

R. P. sculp

Richard Palmer

1667

1670

1671

1672

Right click on the image and select "original" to see a

high resolution image.

 

Update: This appears to be "England Exactly Described"

published by Thomas Taylor in 1715.

From: www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=thomastayloratlas5210

"Taylor was also responsible for the publication of several

maps including England exactly described [...] in 1715

containing maps of the English counties which had been

issued previously in Speed's Maps Epitomiz'd in

1681 and in other works. "

The photo is taken at the Monument to Marshall Soult which is shown in the next few photos.

 

PS Marshall Soult lost every battle against Wellington -- wonder what you get for winning one?

 

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_San_Marcial

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Nivelle

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Bidassoa_(1813)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Nive

www.worcestershireregiment.com/wr.php?main=inc/h_nive (Battle of St Pierre)

This autograph album belonged to Ollie Hubbard. I uploaded 50 of the 100 autographs that I liked the best. I am not sure if Ollie was a boy or a girl. (Ollie short for Oliver or Ollie short for Olivia, Olive, Olwen). The dates range from 1879 to 1889. Most of the names are from Trenton or Princeton, New Jersey. This may be Princeton University. There are references to the following names:

Model School

State Normal School

Trenton College

Princeton College

C. C. C. C.

A complete list of all the names is in the "set" description here.

with my great grandfather's and grandfather's handwriting, from mother's heirloom.

Mum was 16 at the end of WW2, when she (literally) dug some of the family documents (and the old family photos) out of the rubble of our home.

Our family lived at Castle Hill close to the Royal Palace and War Department, so that building was bombed the longest, and got liberated at the very latest in Budapest.

These papers are the result of great-grandfather's and grandfather's research of our ancestors, a kind of family tree. Mum tried to set them together.

Ezeket az elsárgult papírokat Anyu holmijai közt találtam. Mesélte, hogy az ostrom után ezeket a régi családi fotókkal együtt szó szerint a romok alól kaparta ki, sajnos csak egy részüket sikerült megmenteni. Szerencsére ennyi megmaradt, nagyapám és dédapám kézírása. Anyu próbálta meg összerakni anno.

on Instagram bit.ly/1QPrLUY

faure/macassar, western cape- kramat of sheikh yussuf

 

A Kramat is a shrine or mausoleum that has been built over the burial place of a Muslim who's particular piety and practice of the teachings of Islam is recognised by the community. I have been engaged in documenting these sites around Cape Town over several visits at different times over the last few years. They range widely from graves marked by an edge of stones to more elaborate tombs sheltered by buildings of various styles. They are cultural markers that speak of a culture was shaped by life at the Cape and that infuses Cape Town at large.

 

In my searches used the guide put out by the Cape Masaar Society as a basic guide to locate some recognised sites. Even so some were not that easy to find.

 

In the context of the Muslims at the Cape, historically the kramats represented places of focus for the faithful and were/are often places of local pilgrimage. When the Dutch and the VOC (United East India Company aka Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie) set up a refuelling station and a settlement at the Cape, Muslims from their territories in the East Indies and Batavia were with them from the start as soldiers, slaves and 'Vryswarten'; (freemen). As the settlement established itself as a colony the Cape became a useful place to banish political opponents from the heart of their eastern empire. Some exiles were of royal lineage and there were also scholars amongst them. One of the most well known of these exiles was Sheik Yusuf who was cordially received by Govenor van der Stel as befitted his rank (he and his entourage where eventually housed on an estate away from the main settlement so that he was less likely to have an influence over the local population), others were imprisoned for a time both in Cape Town and on Robben island. It is said that the first Koran in the Cape was first written out from memory by Sheik Yusuf after his arrival. There were several Islamic scholars in his retinue and these men encouraged something of an Islamic revival amoung the isolated community. Their influence over the enslaved “Malay” population who were already nominally Muslim was considerable and through the ministrations of other teachers to the underclasses the influence of Islam became quite marked. As political opponents to the governing powers the teachers became focus points for escaped slaves in the outlying areas.

 

Under the VOC it was forbidden to practice any other faith other than Christianity in public which meant that there was no provision for mosques or madrasas. The faith was maintained informally until the end of the C18th when plans were made for the first mosque and promises of land to be granted for a specific burial ground in the Bo Kaap were given in negotiations for support against an imminent British invasion. These promises were honoured by the British after their victory.

 

There is talk of a prophecy of a protective circle of Islam that would surround Cape Town. I cannot find the specifics of this prophecy but the 27 kramats of the “Auliyah” or friends of Allah, as these honoured individuals are known, do form a loose circle of saints. Some of the Auliyah are credited with miraculous powers in legends that speak of their life and works. Within the folk tradition some are believed to be able to intercede on behalf of supplicants (even though this more part of a mystical philosophy (keramat) and is not strictly accepted in mainstream contemporary Islamic teaching) and even today some visitors may offer special prayers at their grave sites in much the same way as Christians might direct prayer at the shrine of a particular saint.

  

photographer's note-

 

sheikh yussuf was the brother of the king of Goa (Gowa) with it's capital of Makassar. yussuf fought in battles against the Dutch and was eventually captured. he was transferred to the cape of good hope in 1693. he died in 1699. he had 2 wives, 2 concubines, 12 children and 14 male and female slaves.

 

*********************************************

 

Die Kramat van Sjeg Yusuf, Faure

 

Die Kramat1 van Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep)2 op 'n klein heuwel naby die mond van die Eersterivier in Makassar, Faure, is 'n terrein waarheen Kaapse Moslems oor die laaste drie eeue pelgrimstogte onderneem. Yusuf is op 23 April 1699 oorlede en op die heuwel begrawe. Volgens predikant en skrywer, Francois Valentyn (1666-1727), wat sy graf in 1705 besoek het, was dit "een cierlyke Mohammedaansch tombe, wat van zeer hoog opgezette steenen, verheerlykt was".3 Dit is nie heeltemal duidelik of hy van 'n hoog opgeboude graf of 'n struktuur daaroor praat nie.

 

Dié tombe moes mettertyd veranderings en verbouings het en volgens Biskop Patrick Griffith (1798-1862) wat dit meer as 'n eeu later op 25 Januarie 1839 besoek het, het dit heel anders daar uitgesien...

 

and proceeded to a Mr Cloete's where we took horses and road (sic) to a Malay Mosque [i.e. the kramat] situated on the summit of a hill, to which we ascended by a rude Stone Stair Case, rather Circular and partly cut out of Limestone rock, by an hundred steps. We left our horses below tied to the door of a Caravansery where the Pilgrims who come every year from Cape Town and all around, lodge while they go thro' their devotions. Both Lodging House and Mosque are at present deserted and we cd. only see the Exterior of both. The Mosque has a small Mineret (sic) in the centre and contains the Tomb of some Prince and Priest of the Sect. The Building is square and low with a portico: the windows are screened within and all that could be seen through some chinks in the walls was some drapery. A curious sight, however, exists outside: graves covered with white Clothes, five or six of which graves are enclosed together with a low wall round them; two or three more are apart; each has a round black stone at the head round which a Malay handkerchief is tied, with another black stone at foot, represents the feet, so that with the white sheet over the body, one wd. imagine at first view that it was a corpse was directly before him, the representation of it is so like reality. These White cloths (of calico) are renewed every year and we found some sixty or more rotten ones under each of the last white Coverings."1

 

Die terrein is in 1862 deur die imam van die Jamia-moskee in Chiappinistraat, Abdol Wahab, aangekoop,5 maar die gebou het tot vroeg in die 20ste eeu bewaar gebly, hoewel dit by verskeie geleenthede klein veranderings en herstelwerk moes ondergaan het.

 

Die Oostenrykse wetenskaplike, diplomaat en ontdekkingsreisiger, Karl Ritter von Scherzer (1821-1903) het die Kaap in Oktober 1857 aan boord die Novara, op 'n omseilingstog van die wêreld, aangedoen. Hy het die volgende waardevolle beskrywing, deurdrenk met sy eie voor- en afkeure, nagelaat:

 

"The following morning we drove to a hill, ahout a mile and a half distant from Zandvliet, known as Macassar Downs, on which is the spot of interment, (Krammat or Brammat), of a Malay prophet.

 

This individual, so honoured in death, was, if we are to believe the Malays, a direct descendant of Mahomet, named Sheikh Joseph, who, expelled from Batavia by the Dutch Government for political reasons, settled in the colony about a century and a half ago, and died and was buried in the neighbourhood of Zandvliet. An especial deputation came over from Malacca to Cape Colony to fetch away the corpse of the defunct prophet, for conveyance to the land of his birth; but at the disinterment it happened that the little finger of the prophet, in spite of the most persevering research, could nowhere be found. This circumstance appeared to those simple believers sufficient reason for erecting a monument over the spot in which the finger of a Malay prophet lay hid from view. Even to this day the Malays from time to time perform a pilgrimage to the Colony and celebrate their religious ceremonies at the Mausoleum. Four followers of the prophet are buried with him, two of them Mahometan priests, who are regarded with much veneration by the Malays.

 

An extensive flight of stone steps leads to the tomb, the exterior of which is very insignificant, and, but for a small pointed turret, hardly differs from an ordinary dwelling-house. On entering, a low-roofed vault is visible, a sort of front outhouse, which rather disfigures the facade, and much more resembles a cellar than the portal of a Mausoleum. Above the arch of this vault an Arabic inscription has been engraved with a stylus but this is so painted over in brick colour that it has already become almost illegible. Judging by the few words that have been deciphered, it seems to consist of the first propositions of the Koran.

 

The inner room, provided on two sides with modern glazed windows at irregular intervals, is about the size of an ordinary room of 12 feet long, 9 wide, and 7 high (3.66m long, 2.74 wide, and 2.13 high). In the middle rises the monument, to which access is had by some more brick steps. Immense quantities of unwashed white linen cloth are heaped upon it, which seem occasionally sprinkled with a brown odoriferous liquid (dupa). As at the head of Sheikh Joseph, so at his feet several figures, resembling those in enamel used to ornament tarts, are drawn upon the linen cloth with the overflowings of the unguent. These have undoubtedly been formed accidentally, and it appears wrong and unfair to attribute to them any more recondite significance. The monument rests upon four wooden pillars, with pyramidal pinnacles or ornaments, and is richly decorated with fine white muslin, which gives to the whole very much the appearance of an old-fashioned English "fourposter," with its costly drapery and curtains. While the curtains are spread out all around, several small green and white bannerets stand at the upper and lower end of the sarcophagus. The whole interior is, as it were, impregnated with the incense which devout Malay pilgrims from time to time burn here, especially after the forty days' fast (Ramadan), or leave behind upon the steps of the tomb in flasks or in paper-boxes. On such occasions, they always bring wax-candles and linen cloth as an offering, with the latter of which they deck the tomb afresh, so that a perfect mountain of white linen rises above the stone floor. During their devotions they unceasingly kiss this white mass of stuff, and as they are continually chewing tobacco, this filthy habit produces disgustingly loathsome stains.

 

On the same hill which boasts the tomb of Sheikh Joseph, there are also, in ground that is common property, nine other graves of eminent Malays, enclosed with carefully-selected stones, and likewise covered over with large broad strips of bleached linen cloth, protected by stones from any injury by weather or violence. At the head and foot of each individual interred, is a single stone of larger size. Formerly the black inhabitants of the neighbourhood made use of this store of linen cloth to make shirts for themselves, without further thought upon the propriety of the matter. Latterly, however, a shrewd Malay priest spread a report that one of these ebony linen stealers had lost all the fingers off one hand, since which the graves of those departed worthies remain inviolate and unprofaned.

 

At the foot of the hill are some small half-fallen-in buildings, near a large hall, painted white, red, and yellow, consisting of a small apartment and a kitchen, the whole in a most dirty, neglected, and desolate condition. At this point the Moslems must have accomplished certain prayers, before they can climb the hill and proceed to visit the tomb. Over the door of this singular house of prayer some words are likewise engraved in the Arabic character, which, however, are now entirely illegible.

 

On quitting the Malay Krammat, we next undertook a tolerably difficult walk to the Downs or sand-dunes, which at this point extend along the entire coast line, on which the wax-berry shrub, as already mentioned, grows wild in vast quantities, and visibly prevents the further encroachments of the moving sand. The Eerst Rivier (First River) may be regarded as the limit of demarcation between the sand-dunes and the soil adapted for vegetation."6

 

'n Britse joernalis en historikus, Ian Duncan Colvin (1877-1938), beskryf sy besoek aan die Kramat vyftig jaar later in die begin van die 20ste eeu:

 

"It was in springtime that we made the pilgrimage, in October, the springtime of the south... We passed through cow-scented pasture and the cornlands of Zandvliet, and so towards the sea, guided by the white star of the tomb.

 

It stands upon a sandstone rock which the Eerste River bends round on its way to the sea, and you can hear the breakers roaring, though unseen behind the sand-dunes. A little wooden bridge crosses the river beside the drift... On the farther side the little hill rises steeply, and under it nestles a row of very ancient and dilapidated cottages. One of them is used as a stable by the pilgrims and another as a mosque, and upon its porch you will see a little notice in English that 'women are not allowed inside the church', a warning signed with all the weight and authority of the late Haji Abdul Kalil... Inside, this little chapel is touchingly primitive and simple, with blue sky showing through the thatched roof, and a martin's nest plastered on the ceiling of the little alcove. Between these cottages and the stream is a field of sweet marjoram, no doubt grown for the service of the shrine, and the way up the hill is made easy by a flight of steps build perhaps centuries ago, and ruinous with age. With their white balustrades, and overgrown as they are with grass and wild-flowers, they are very beautiful, and in pilgrimage-time we may suppose them bright with Malays ascending and descending. We mounted them to the top, where they open on a little courtyard roughly paved and encinctured by a low white wall. On the farther side, opposite the top of the stairs, is the tomb itself, a little white building with an archway leading into a porch. Beyond is a door, of the sort common in Cape farm-houses, divided into two across the middle. Of course, we did not dare to open it and peep inside; but I am told by a Mahomedan friend that the inner tomb is of white stucco with four pillars of a pleasant design. It is upholstered in bright-coloured plush, and copies of the Koran lie open upon it. The inside of the room is papered in the best Malay fashion, and over the window is a veil of tinselled green gauze. From the roof several ostrich eggs hang on strings, and altogether it is the gayest and brightest little shrine. The ostrich eggs hanging on their strings made me think of a much more splendid tomb which Akbar, the first greatest of the Moguls, build for his friend Selim Chisti, a humble ascetic, in the centre of the mosque at Fatehpur Sikri.7 If any of my readers have made a pilgrimage to that wonderful deserted city, they will remember the tomb build of fretted marble, white and delicate as lace, in the centre of the great silent mosque of red sandstone – surely the finest testimonial to disinterested and spiritual friendship that exists in the world. And, if they look inside, they will recollect that around the inner shrine of mother o’pearl hang ostrich eggs just as they hang in Sheik Joseph’s tomb on the Cape Flats. But this digression is only to show that the Malay of Cape Town knows what is proper to the ornamentation of kramats. The shrine is tended with pious care, kept clean and white by the good Malays – a people of whom it may be said truly that they hold cleanliness as a virtue next to godliness."8

 

Hierdie beskrywing kom ooreen met dié van Scherzer en 'n foto in die Elliot-versameling in die Kaapse argief. Die minaret wat deur Biskop Griffith genoem en deur Scherzer geïllustreer is, en moontlik van hout gemaak was, het intussen verdwyn.

 

In 1925 het die Indiese filantroop, Hadji Sulaiman Sjah Mohamed Ali, opdrag vir 'n nuwe tombe gegee en is die huidige vierkantige en gekoepelde Moghul- of Delhi-inspireerde struktuur opgerig. Die argitek was F.K. KENDALL wat van 1896 tot 1918 in vennootskap met Herbert BAKER praktiseer het.

 

Die kramat vorm deel van die sogenaamde beskermende "Heilige Sirkel van Islam" wat strek van die kramatte teen die hange van Seinheuwel bo die klipgroef waar die eerste openbare Moslemgebede aan die Kaap gehou is, deur die kramatte op die rug van die heuwel en die kramat van Sjeg Noorul Mubeen by Oudekraal, en om die berg na die kramatte van Constantia, Faure, Robbeneiland, terug na Seinheuwel.

 

Sjeg Yusuf van Makassar (1626-1699)

 

Sjeg Yusuf (Abadin Tadia Tjoesoep) is in 1626 te Gowa by Makassar (Mangkasara), op die suidwestelike punt van die Sulawesi-eiland (voorheen Celebes) langs die Straat van Makassar, gebore. Toe die Portugese dit vroeg in die sestiende eeu bereik het, was dit 'n besige handelshawe waar Arabiese, Indiese, Javaanse, Maleise Siamese en Chinese skepe aangedoen en hulle produkte geruil en verkoop het. Met die koms van die Nederlanders, wat die speseryhandel wou monopoliseer en Britse deelname daaraan wou stuit, is die tradisie van vrye handel aan die begin van die 17de eeu omvergewerp. Nadat hulle die fort van Makassar ingeneem het, is dit herbou en as Fort Rotterdam herdoop. Van hier het hulle die vestings van die Sultan van Gowa geteiken.

 

Toe hy agtien jaar oud was, het Yusuf op 'n pelgrims- en studietog na Mekka vertrek waar hy verskeie jare deurgebring het. Met sy terugkeer het hy die Nederlanders in Makassar vermy en hom in Bantam in Wes-Java aan die hof van Sultan Ageng (Abulfatah Agung, 1631-1695) as onderwyser en geestelike rigter gevestig. Hy het die sultan se seuns onderrig en met een van sy dogters getrou. Hy was deeglik in die Shari'ah (Moslem kode en godsdienstige wet) onderlê en diep betrokke by die mistieke aspekte van sy geloof met die gevolg dat sy reputasie as 'n vrome persoon en heilige kenner en geleerde vinnig versprei het.

 

Hoewel die Nederlanders die handel op Java beheer het, het Bantam 'n sterk mate van onafhanklikheid behou. Yusuf was 'n vurige teenstander van die VOC en het en ook 'n rebellie teen die Europeërs gelei toe 'n ouer vredesooreenkoms tussen hulle in 1656 gebreek is. 'n Nuwe ooreenkoms is in 1659 bereik, maar 'n interne tweestryd in die Sultanaat het in die VOC se kraam gepas. Die sultan se seun, later as Sultan Hadji bekend, het met die hulle saamgespan teen sy vader en jonger broer wat voorkeur aan die Britse en Deense handelaars gegee het. Die breuk het in 1680 gekom toe Ageng oorlog teen Batavia (Jakarta) verklaar het. Hadji het 'n opstand teen sy vader gelei wat Ageng tot sy woning beperk het. Hoewel sy volgelinge teruggeveg het, het die Nederlanders Hadji te hulp gesnel en is Ageng na die hooglande verdryf waar hy in Maart 1683 oorgegee het. Hierna is hy na Batavia geneem waar hy oorlede is.

 

Yusuf het die verset voortgesit en is eers teen die einde van 1683 gevange geneem waarna hy ook na Batavia geneem is. Sy invloed in die Moslemgemeenskap van die VOC se hoofkwartier in die Ooste, waar hy as heilige vereer is, asook die aandrang op sy vrystelling deur die vorste van Gowa (Makassar) – wat toe bondgenote van die VOC was – het daartoe gelei dat Yusuf en sy gevolg eers na Ceylon (Sri Lanka) en daarna na die Kaap verban is. Sjeg Yusuf en sy "aanhang", soos in die notules van die Politieke Raad aangedui is, het op 31 Maart 1694 aan boord die Voetboog in Tafelbaai aangekom. Hier is hulle gul deur goewerneur Simon van der Stel ontvang, maar in die Kasteel gehou totdat daar in Junie besluit is om hulle na die mond van die Eersterivier, wat oor die plaas Zandvliet van ds P. Kalden uitgekyk het, te stuur.9

 

Hier in die duine, wat later as Makassar en Makassarstrand bekend sou word, het Yusuf en sy gevolg hulle gevestig. Volgens oorlewering was dit die eerste sentrum van Islam en Islamitiese onderrig in Suid-Afrika en het die terrein 'n sakrosante ereplek gebly na Yusuf se afsterwe op 23 April 1699 en sy begrafnis op die heuwel. Hoewel sommige skrywers nie oortuig is dat ook Yusuf se oorskot na die Ooste terug is nie, argumenteer André van Rensburg dat dit wel gebeur het.

 

"Hoewel 'n aanvanklike versoek van 31 Desember 1701 dat Yusuf se oorskot opgegrawe en na Indonesië gestuur word, geweier is, is in 'n verslag van 26 Februarie 1703 deur die Here XVII gelas dat die sjeg se naasbestaandes en sy oorskot na Indonesië weggebring moes word.

 

Op 26 Februarie 1704 het die amptelike geskrewe instruksies van die VOC in die Kaap aangekom. Die weduwee van Yusuf, hul jong kinders en ander lede van sy gevolg moes toegelaat word om na Indonesië terug te keer.

 

Daar is ook bepaal dat die oorskot van Yusuf onopsigtelik opgegrawe moes word sodat die naasbestaandes dit kon saamneem. Voorsorg moes egter getref word dat ander Oosterse bannelinge nie ontsnap deur voor te gee dat hulle naasbestaandes van sjeg Yusuf is nie."10

 

Die gevolg van Sjeg Yusuf het op 5 Oktober 1704 aan boord van De Spiegel uit Tafelbaai met sy oorskot vertrek en op 10 Desember in Batavia anker gegooi. Hierna is sy hulle na Makassar waar sy oorskot op 6 April 1705 op Lakiung in Ujung Pandang herbegrawe is. Bo-oor Yusuf se nuwe graf is 'n kramat of ko'bang deur die Chinese bouer Dju Kian Kiu opgerig. Ook hierdie Kramat word druk deur pelgrims besoek.

 

________________________________

 

Kramat is die algemeen Kaapse term vir die tombe van 'n [Moslem] heilige of Wali van Allah; in Urdu verwys karamat of keramat na die wonderwerking van 'n heilige, soms word dit ook as sinoniem vir heilige gebruik.

Die meer algemeen gebruikte spelling word hier in plaas van die erkende Afrikaanse "Joesoef" gebruik.

Raidt, E.H. 1971. François Valentyn Beshryvinge van de Kaap der Goede Hoop met de zaaken daar toe behoorende. Kaapstad: Van Riebeeck Vereniging, Vol. 1, p. 198.

Brain, J.S. (ed.). 1988. The Cape diary of bishop Patrick Raymond Griffith for the years 1837-1839. Cape Town: Southern African Catholic Bishops' Conference, pp. 189-90.

Aktekantoor, Kaapstad, Akte 6/3/1862, no. 121.

Scherzer, K. 1861. Narrative of the circumnavigation of the globe by the Austrian frigate Novara, (commodore b. Von Wullerstorf-Urbair,): undertaken by order of the imperial government, in the years l857,1858, & 1859. London: Saunders, Otley & Co, pp. 244-248.

Seremoniële hoofstad [Fatehpur = stad van oorwinning] van 1569 tot 1574 deur die Mughale Keiser Akbar (1542-1605) by Sikri, die hermitage van sy spirituele gids, Sjeg Salim Chisti, opgerig. Die tombe wat deur Colvin beskryf word, is deur Shah Jahan (1592-1666) herbou.

Colvin, I.D. 1909. Romance of Empire, South Africa. London: TC & EL Jack, pp. 16168.

Böeseken, A.J. 1961. Resolusies van die Politieke Raad III 1681-1707. Kaapstad: Argiefkomitee, p. 283 (14.06.1694).

Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, pp. 12-13

Van Rensburg, A. & Van Bart, M. 2004. Waar rus Sjeg Yusuf: van die Kaap tot in Makassar. Kultuurkroniek, Bylae by Die Burger, 10 Julie, p.13.

________________________________

 

Schalk W le Roux, Gordonsbaai, Februarie 2013

 

See also Van Bart, M. & Van Rensburg A.

 

________________________________

 

Wording on Minaret:

 

IN MEMORY OF

SHEIKH YUSUF

MARTYR & HERO

OF BANTAM

1629 - 1699

THIS MINARET

WAS ERECTED BY

HAJEE SULLAIMAN

SHAHMAHOMED

IN THE REIGN OF

KING GEORGE V

MAY 1925

 

_____________________

 

THIS MEMORIAL WAS UNVEILED

19TH DECEMBER 1925 BY

SIR FREDERIC DE WAAL

KCMG:LLD:FIRST ADMINISTRATOR

OF THE CAPE PROVINCE

IN THE YEAR WHEN THIS

DISTRICT WAS VISITED BY

HIS ROYAL HIGNESS

THE PRINCE OF WALES

4TH MAY 1925

 

_____________________

 

THE "DARGAN" OF ASHBAT

[COMPANIONS] OF SAINT SHEIKH YUSSUF

[GALERAN TUANSE] OF MACASSAR.

_____

 

HERE LIE THE REMAINS OF FOUR OF FORTY-NINE

FAITHFUL FOLLOWERS WHO AFTER SERVING

IN THE BANTAM WAR OF 1682-83, ARRIVED WITH

SHEIKH YUSSUF AT THE CAPE FROM CEYLON,

IN THE SHIP "VOETBOOG" IN THE YEAR 1694.

_____

 

THIS COMMEMORATION TABLET WAS ERECTED

DURING THE GREAT WAR ON 8 JANUARY 1918.

BY HAJEE SULLAIMAN SHAHMAHOMED.

SENIOR TRUSTEE.

 

Wording on plaque:

 

PRESIDENT SOEHARTO

OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA

VISITED THIS SHRINE ON 21 NOVEMBER 1997

TO PAY RESPECT TO THE LATE SHEIKH YUSSUF OF

MACASSAR UPON WHOM THE TITLE OF NATIONAL

HERO WAS CONFERRED BY THE INDONESIAN GOVERNMENT

ON 7 AUGUST 1995

 

Writings about this Kramat of Sheikh Yusuf

 

Davids, Achmat. 1980. The Mosques of Bo-Kaap - A social history of Islam at the Cape. Athlone, Cape: The South African Institute of Arabic and Islamic Research. pp 37-40.

_______________________________________________

De Bosdari, C. 1971. Cape Dutch Houses and Farms. Cape Town: AA Balkema. pp 73.

_______________________________________________

De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1. Kaapstad: RGN/Tafelberg. pp 429-430.

_______________________________________________

Du Plessis, Izak David. 1944. The Cape Malays. Cape Town: Maskew Miller. pp 4-7.

_______________________________________________

Jaffer, M. 2001. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar (Kramat) Society. pp 17-19.

_______________________________________________

Jaffer, Mansoor. 1996. Guide to the Kramats of the Western Cape. Cape Town: Cape Mazaar Kramat Society. pp 17.

_______________________________________________

Le Roux, SW. 1992. Vormgewende invloede op die ontwikkeling van moskee-argitektuur binne die Heilige Sirkel aan die Kaap tot 1950 . Pretoria: PhD-verhandeling: Universiteit van Pretoria. pp 201-202.

_______________________________________________

Oxley, John. 1992. Places of Worship in South Africa. Halfway House: Southern Book Publishers. pp 63-64.

_______________________________________________

Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1975. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 11 Tur-Zwe. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 567.

_______________________________________________

Potgieter, DJ (Editor-in-chief). 1972. Standard Encyclopaedia of South Africa [SESA] Volume 6 Hun-Lit. Cape Town: Nasou. pp 454-455.

_______________________________________________

Rhoda, E. 2010. Hajee Sullaiman Shahmahomed and the shrine of Shayk Yusuf of Macassar at Faure. : Unpublished manuscript.

_______________________________________________

Van Selms, A. Joesoef, Sjeik: in De Kock, WJ. 1976. Suid-Afrikaanse biografiese woordeboek : Deel 1: pp 429-430

________________________________________

 

Shaykh Yusuf was born at Macassar in 1626. He was also known as Abadin Tadia Tjoessoep. He was of noble birth, a maternal nephew of King Biset of Goa. He studied in Arabia under the tutelage of several pious teachers.

 

When Shaykh Yusuf arrives at the Cape, on the Voetboeg, he was royally welcomed by Governor Simon van de Stel. His Indonesian background necessitated that he and his 49 followers be settled well away from Cape Town. They were housed on the farm Zandvliet, near the mouth of the Eeste River, in the general area now called Macassar. He received an allowance of 12rix dollars from the Cape authorities for support of himself and his party. At Zandvliet Shaykh Yusuf’s settlement soon became a sanctuary for fugitive slaves. It was here that the first cohesive Muslim community in S.A. was established. The first settlement of Muslims in South Africa was a vibrant one, despite its isolation. It was from here that the message of Islam was disseminated to the slave community living in Cape Town. When Shaykh Yusuf died on 23 May 1699, he was buried on the hill overlooking Macassar at Faure. A shrine was constructed over his grave. Over the years this shrine has been rebuilt and renewed. Today it remains a place of pilgrimage.

 

38 old maps of England folded and bound in a leather book.

Most seem to have been printed from copper plates made by

Richard Blome in the 1660s and 1670s. The plates were modified

and Bloom's name was removed from many of the plates before

this set of maps was printed at a later date. Most of the plates

measured 9 x 7-1/2 inches. Book was found in New Jersey, USA.

Please note that I know nothing about old maps. The backs of the

maps was used as a notebook/ledger in 1726. I have posted some

images of the ledger. Some of the names and dates found on these maps are:

Richard Blome

W. Hollar secit

R. P. sculp

Richard Palmer

1667

1670

1671

1672

Right click on the image and select "original" to see a

high resolution image.

 

Update: This appears to be "England Exactly Described"

published by Thomas Taylor in 1715.

From: www.llgc.org.uk/index.php?id=thomastayloratlas5210

"Taylor was also responsible for the publication of several

maps including England exactly described [...] in 1715

containing maps of the English counties which had been

issued previously in Speed's Maps Epitomiz'd in

1681 and in other works. "

 

Hans Loubier, Neue Deutsche Buch, 1922.

Corso con Barbara Calzolari

© Associazione Calligrafica Italiana