By Easy Nash
Quote of His Highness Aga Khan IV:
“Quran Symposium:….a reflection of how Islam’s revelation, with its CHALLENGE TO MAN’S INNATE GIFT OF QUEST AND REASON, became a powerful impetus for a new flowering of human civilisation.This programme is also an opportunity for achieving insights into how the discourse of the Qur’an-e-Sharif, RICH IN PARABLE AND ALLEGORY, METAPHOR AND SYMBOL, HAS BEEN AN INEXHAUSTIBLE WELLSPRING OF INSPIRATION, lending itself to a wide spectrum of interpretations. In this context, would it not also be relevant to consider how, above all, IT HAS BEEN THE QURANIC NOTION OF THE UNIVERSE AS AN EXPRESSION OF ALLAH’S WILL AND CREATION that has inspired, in diverse Muslim communities, generations of artists, scientists and philosophers? Scientific pursuits, philosophic inquiry and artistic endeavour are all seen as the response of the faithful to the recurring call of the Qur’an to ponder the creation as a way to understand Allah’s benevolent majesty. As Sura al-Baqara proclaims: ‘WHEREVER YOU TURN, THERE IS THE FACE OF ALLAH’. The famous verse of ‘light’ in the Qur’an, the Ayat al-Nur, whose first line is rendered here in the mural behind me, INSPIRES AMONG MUSLIMS A REFLECTION ON THE SACRED, THE TRANSCENDENT. It hints at a COSMOS full of SIGNS AND SYMBOLS that evoke the perfection of Allah’s creation and mercy”(Aga Khan IV,Speech, Institute of Ismaili Studies, October 2003, London, U.K.)
About the picture: Nasir Al-Mulk Mosque (also named Pink Mosque), it was built in Qajar Dynasty. This panorama is taken Using 4 Fisheye Lens shots, you can see Beautiful Stained Glasses and Artworks in this Mosque.
http://gonashgo.blogspot.com/2008/09/400blogpost-four-hundred-knowledge.html?m=1
Ismailimail 