Note: A downloadable PDF file is now available containing all the 31 narratives in this series. Please click Download Complete I Wish I’d Been There Series – PDF
Please click images below for individual articles
Hussein Rashid - "The Mind of Yazid, The Faith of Hussein"
IMAGE: A DESERT SCENE
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Zahir Dharsee: "Avatar Discourses, Aga Khan III Installation and Aga Khan III in New York"
IMAGE: HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN III INSTALLATION
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Ameer Janmohamed - "The Faith of My Forefathers"
IMAGE: A FOLIO FROM A GINAN MANUSCRIPT AND A SCENE ON THE FRONT COVER OF TAZIM KASSAM’S BOOK “SONGS OF WISDOM AND CIRCLES OF DANCE”
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Ali M. Rajput - "A Unique Moment in the Life of the Punjab Jamat"
IMAGE: TWO BOATS TO REFLECT IMAM SULTAN MUHAMMAD SHAH’S GUIDANCE TO THE PUNJAB JAMAT (IN QUOTES)
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Shamas Nanji - "Another Shalimar"
IMAGE: SHALIMAR GARDENS, LAHORE, PAKISTAN
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Farzana Meru - "Beginnings"
IMAGE: A DESERT SCENE
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Aleem Karmali - "The Unveiling of Imam al-Mahdi at Sijilmasa"
IMAGE: MAP OF CURRENT DAY MOROCCO SHOWING THE RELATIVE LOCATION OF SIJILMASA WHERE IMAM AL-MAHDI REVEALED HIMSELF
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Aziz Kurwa - "Volunteering at the Dawning of the Age of Imamat"
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Barnaby Rogerson - "A Christian Envoy at the Ghadir Khumm Campsite"
IMAGE: A REPRESENTATION OF THE KAABA SHOWN ON THE COVER OF A EUROPEAN EDITION OF ONE OF BARNABY ROGERSON’S BOOK
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Navyn Naran - "Weaving a Web of Silence, Only to Know"
IMAGE: A ‘SPIDER’ WEB AND A PHOTO TO REFLECT THE NARRATIVE OF THE PROPHET’S MIGRATION TO MEDINA AND THE AGA KHAN’S VISIT TO BADAKSHAN
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Alice Hunsberger - "Riding Forth to Open the Canal" with Nasir Khusraw
IMAGE: A VINTAGE PRINT ILLUSTRATING THE NILOMETER IN CAIRO
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PMohib Ebrahim - "The Three Kings Without Crowns"
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Maleksultan J. Merchant: "Varas Ismail Gangji: The Turning Point"
IMAGE: A PORTRAIT OF VARAS GANGJI ALONGSIDE HIS MOTHER’S QUOTE ON TRUTH
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Pervis Rawji: "Hazrat Ali's Example: What We Can Do Today"
IMAGE: AN ISMAILI CROWD IN BADAKHSHAN AS THEY LISTEN TO THEIR 49TH IMAM, HIS HIGHNESS THE AGA KHAN
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Khalil Andani: "August 8 1164: The Great Resurrection"
IMAGE: A MODERN DAY PAINTING DEPICTING THE ALAMUT VALLEY
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Shellyza Moledina - "A Young Murid Aspires to Understand Commonalities"
IMAGE: A SIGN REFLECTING THE WRITER’S TOPIC
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Heena Jiwani: "Fatimid Power and Learning Spirit"
IMAGE: A VINTAGE PRINT OF THE AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY
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Shariffa Keshavjee: "Inferno of Alamut"
IMAGE: A MODERN DAY CASTLE ON FIRE
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Mansoor Ladha: "His Name is Jawhar"
IMAGE: FATIMID ARMY AND ARMORY BASED ON AVAILABLE DESCRIPTIONS, WITH A PORTRAIT OF JAWHAR
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Nourmamadcho Nourmamadchoev: "Light the Candle of Wisdom in the Heart"
IMAGE: A STATUE OF NASIR KHUSRAW IN BADAKHSHAN
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Shazia'Ayn and Aliya-Nur Babul: A Fida'i Mission - Into Saladin's Tent
IMAGE: A MEDIEVAL SCENE – ARMY AND TENTS SET IN A VALLEY IN THE MIDST OF MOUNTAINS
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Aliza Moledina: "Ibn Ridwan: Supernova 1006"
IMAGE: JUST OVER A THOUSAND YEARS AGO, THE STELLAR EXPLOSION KNOWN AS SUPERNONVA SN 1006 WAS OBSERVED AND RECORDED BY FATIMID ASTRONOMER IBN RIDWAN. THIS COMPOSITE VIEW INCLUDES X-RAY DATA IN BLUE FROM CHANDRA OBSERVATORY, OPTICAL DATA IN YELLOWISH HUES AND RADIO IMAGE DATA IN RED.
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Tajdin Dhala: "Discourses of Hazrat Ali"
IMAGE: A Folio from Hazrat Ali’s Nahj al-Balagha (Peaks of Eloquence). Photo: Wikipedia
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Zul Khoja: "Ismaili Penmanship in 1906"
IMAGE: AN ANTIQUE PEN, A THUMBNAIL PHOTO OF ALI VELJI AND A LINE FROM HIS GUJARATI NOTEBOOK
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Karim Maherali: Pir Satgur Nur - Miracles in Ginan 'Putla'
IMAGE: The Mausoleum of Pir Satgur Nur in Navsari, Gujarat, India, and a thumbnail depicting a putla (idol).
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Arif Babul: "Khawja Nasir Tusi's Tales"
IMAGE: TOP LEFT IS IMAGE CROPPED FROM AZERBAIZAN STAMP COMMEMORATING TUSI’S 800TH ANIVERSARY, THEN CLOCKWISE: TUSI WITH STUDENTS, MARAGHA OBSERVATORY, MONGOL SIEGE AT ALAMUT, CONTEMPORARY ART WORK OF THE ALAMUT CASTLE AND ADJOINING VALLEY
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Zarina Moosa: "Al-Qahira - Then and Now"
IMAGE: AL-AZHAR UNIVERSITY, A PLATE OF EGYPTIAN PASTRY KAHK, PLANET MARS, IMAM MUI’ZZ FATIMID GOLD DINAR, A VIEW OF CAIRO FROM AL-AZHAR PARK
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Jalaledin Ebrahim: "Eid-i Qiyama!"
IMAGE: HASAN-I SABBAH ACQUIRED THE FORTRESS OF ALAMUT FROM A CERTAIN INDIVIDUAL NAMED MAHDI, AND GAVE A DRAFT OF 3,000 GOLD DINARS AS THE PRICE OF THE CASTLE. THE VELLUM DOCUMENT IN THE CENTRE OF THE IMAGE IS DEEMED TO BE A LATER COPY OF THIS DRAFT. PHOTO: THE INSTITUTE OF ISMAILI STUDIES.
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Altaf Hajiyani: "Love for Ali"
IMAGE: A MODERN COMPUTER-AIDED SHI`ITE CALLIGRAPHIC DESIGN, WITH THE NAME OF `ALI IN THE CENTER. CALLIGRAPHY HAS THE PROPHET’S WORDS “DHIKR ALI IBADA” (REMEMBRANCE OF ALI IS AN ACT OF WORSHIP).” SOURCE: AL-ISLAM.ORG
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Raheel Lakhani: "Ikhwan al-Safa"
IMAGE: THE EARLIEST MANUSCRIPT (LEFT) OF THE RASA’IL IN THE INSTITUTE OF ISMAILI STUDIES COLLECTION PROBABLY ORIGINATES FROM SYRIA AND WAS COPIED IN THE MID-THIRTEENTH CENTURY; OTHER MANUSCRIPTS IN THE COLLECTION WERE COPIED BETWEEN THE SIXTEENTH AND NINETEENTH CENTURIES IN PERSIA AND INDIA. CREDIT: THE INSTITUTE OF ISMAILI STUDIES.
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Jehangir A. Merchant: "Ghadir-Khumm and the Two Weighty Matters"
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Design and Art Work by Nurin Merchant, Grade 12, Colonel By Secondary School Ottawa. Copyright: Simerg.com
Thumbnail images in outer border depict scenes from Ismaili history.
