This double-exposure photograph of the Monument Gardens was composed in-camera (that is, not combined later in post-processing) on the last day of the Bahá’í Fast. It captures two things that I really like about the Bahá’í gardens in Haifa and Akka—symmetry and vivid colour. Both of these, along with the exquisite attention to detail in the maintenance of the gardens, contribute to the glory and majesty of these sanctified precincts.
“Hear Me, ye mortal birds! In the Rose Garden of changeless splendour a Flower hath begun to bloom, compared to which every other flower is but a thorn, and before the brightness of Whose glory the very essence of beauty must pale and wither. Arise, therefore, and, with the whole enthusiasm of your hearts, with all the eagerness of your souls, the full fervor of your will, and the concentrated efforts of your entire being, strive to attain the paradise of His presence, and endeavour to inhale the fragrance of the incorruptible Flower, to breathe the sweet savors of holiness, and to obtain a portion of this perfume of celestial glory.”
– Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 320