Glory (Jalal) 2014

Oak Creek, USA

“…A lover is he who is chill in hell fire,
A knower is he who is dry in the sea.
Love accepteth no existence and wisheth no life.
He seeth life in death, and in shame seeketh glory…”
-Baha’u’llah, Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys
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Haifa, Israel

“ALL glory be to this Day, the Day in which the fragrances of mercy have been wafted over all created things, a Day so blest that past ages and centuries can never hope to rival it, a Day in which the countenance of the Ancient of Days hath turned towards His holy seat. Thereupon the voices of all created things, and beyond them those of the Concourse on High, were heard calling aloud: ‘Haste thee, O Carmel, for lo, the light of the countenance of God, the Ruler of the Kingdom of Names and Fashioner of the heavens, hath been lifted upon thee.”
-Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Carmel

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Oxford, UK

I absolutely love Spring and am so utterly grateful for this city, this season, and all things related to it! “If we are not happy and joyous at this season, for what other season shall we wait and for what other time shall we look?” -Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i World Faith

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Sydney, Australia

There are days when I find ourselves gravitating to the same spot at the same time, day in, day out. It’s a place where we feel profound connection and resonance, where the hours leading to that point fade away and all that matters in the proceeding moments is the burning buzz of love that kindles in our hearts. The sky takes us on journey’s that only our souls adventure in. We stare into that space until black spots dance beneath the lids of our eyes and then for a moment, there is silence and light.

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Vancouver, Canada

“O Son Of Being! Walk in My statutes for love of Me and deny thyself that which thou desirest if thou seekest My pleasure.”
-Baha’u’llah

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Namibia

“Were the friends to realize what a glorious sovereignty the Lord hath destined for them in His Kingdom, surely they would be filled with ecstasy, would behold themselves crowned with immortal glory and carried away with transports of delight. Erelong it shall be made manifest how brilliantly the light of His bountiful care and mercy hath shone upon His loved ones, and what a turbulent ocean hath been stirred in their hearts! Then will they clamour and exclaim: Happy are we; let all the world rejoice!”
-Abdul-Baha, Selections From the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha

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Adelaide, Australia

A path through the scrub at Para Wirra Recreation Park, located approximately 40 km from Adelaide CBD.

Be ye guided by wisdom in all your doings, and cleave ye tenaciously unto it. Please God ye may all be strengthened to carry out that which is the Will of God, and may be graciously assisted to appreciate the rank conferred upon such of His loved ones as have arisen to serve Him and magnify His name. Upon them be the glory of God, the glory of all that is in the heavens and all that is on the earth, and the glory of the inmates of the most exalted Paradise, the heaven of heavens.
—Baha’u’llah, Gleanings From the Writings of Baha’u’llah

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Wilmette, USA

“When the Sun of Truth shone forth with His infinite bounties from the dawning-place of hopes, and the horizon of existence was illuminated through the radiance of sanctity—then He cast forth such splendor whereby the gloomy darkness disappeared! Therefore, the earth became the envy of the celestial world, and the realm of dust was made a scene of the exalted kingdom. Then the fragrances of holiness exhaled, and the sweet odors were diffused. The breeze of the divine spring blew, and the fruitful winds of infinite generosity passed by from the point of favor. The brilliant morning dawned and the glad-tidings of the greatest gift were announced. The divine spring appeared throughout the contingent world.”
-Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas