Naw-Rúz and devotional

on friday we had the celebration of Naw-Ruz, the new year, and this year it was a bit extra special to me. as mentioned before, I had the great joy of having two of my very closest friends from sweden here, and got to spend quite some time with them:


their period of time here was also almost exactly the same 3-day visit as I made exactly 3 years ago, and celebrated Naw-Ruz. they even flew with same airline! you can see those pictures here. and here you can see my pictures from this year.


and yesterday evening was a really amazing experience. a friend had arranged a musical devotional, with just a lot of singing and chanting of prayers. we were sitting outside, in the vicinity of the Shrine and terraces:


being there was absolutely amazing. we kept on singing and playing for almost two hours, and everyone joined in at one point or the other. it was such an amazing experience which I wish everyone would've had the chance to participate in. hopefully there'll be more of those in the future :)

here are some quotations that came to my mind during the devotional:

"Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men.
Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb.
Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul.
Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom."

"By My Life and My Cause! Round about whatever dwelling the friends of God may enter, and from which their cry shall rise as they praise and glorify the Lord, shall circle the souls of true believers and all the favored angels."

"Every meeting which is organized for the purpose of unity and concord will be conducive to changing strangers into friends, enemies into associates, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá will be present in His heart and soul with that meeting."

"... where some among them will engage in glorifying the All-Glorious Lord... Know that shouldst thou bring this about, that house of earth will become a house of heaven, and that fabric of stone a congress of the spirit."

"It behooveth the friends in whatever land they be, to gather together in meetings, and therein to speak wisely and with eloquence, and to read the verses of God; for it is God's Words that kindle love's fire and set it ablaze."

"Hold meetings and read and chant the heavenly teachings, so that city may be illumined with the light of reality and that country become a veritable paradise by the strength of the Holy Spirit, for this cycle is the cycle of the Glorious Lord and the melody of oneness and solidarity of the world of mankind must reach the ears of the East and West."

the rest of the pictures from last evening are here. I will also have two videos up soon.