Giotto, Madonna and Child, c. 1320 or 1330 (detail) *

Excerpt from Ali Shariati and the Mystical Tradition of Islam by Abdollah Vakily, which can be read here. Vakily is referring to Shariati’s book Goftegoohaye Tanhayi, which he translates as Chats in Solitude. 

Johannes Vermeer, Woman Holding a Balance, c. 1664 (detail)

Freya Mowat, Mouse Retina, from the Wellcome Image Awards 2011. Mowat imaged this eye for an experiment that examined the stress in the retina that results from oxygen deprivation. 

“This fluorescent image shows the detailed structure of the mouse retina. It comprises layers of neuronal cells that capture and transmit light information, converting it to electrical signals that the brain can interpret. Fluorescent markers have been used to highlight different classes of these cells within the retina. Green staining highlights glial cells, which act as neuronal supporting cells and produce the protective conductive layer myelin. Red fluorescence marks astrocytes, star-shaped glial cells that provide nutrients to developing neurons and regulate neuronal activity. The blue fluorescence marks cell nuclei.”

(via)

Antoin Sevruguin, Pilgrims at the Shrine of Najaf in Iraq, (top) and Religious Dignitaries in Front of Shrine (bottom),  c. 1900.

Books with interesting covers: Understanding Tolkien and The Lord of the Rings by William Ready

Circirli Ali Efendi (Mehmed Ali Efendi), Levha, c. 1880, Istanbul, Turkey.

The text of this levha is an Ottoman Turkish poem:

  ”I held fast to the skirt of purity

and God’s pleasure forever.

  I embraced the dust of the

Prophet’s feet forever.

  Perplexed and powerless was my

response to the unexpected.

  I found shelter in the court of

  God’s grace forever.”

(Image from Letters in Gold: Ottoman Calligraphy from the Sakip Sabanci Collection, Istanbul by M. Ugur Derman)

Tanagers and Honeycreepers, 2008 (top) and Eurasian Nutcracker, European Starling, Red-Shafted Flicker, Black-Necked Woodpecker, and Little Wattlebird, 2005 (bottom), from the series Amaranthine by Mark Laita. The series is described as “a study of the rare concurrence of beauty and death found in ornithological specimens.” (via)