"Young Man in Prayer"
Interior photographs of and in the Qubbat al-Sakhra (Dome of the Rock), Masjid al-Aqsa, Haram al-Sharif, Jerusalem.
Tired of the ubiquitous photographs of Muslims praying but made from behind and therefore featuring the derriere, I suddenly saw this image in my mind's eye. It seemed to communicate the rhythmic luminous, contemplative and spiritual nature of Muslim prayer better than any I'd yet seen. Long after it was published, a Naqshabandi Sufi member astounded me with his observation that the figure in this time-exposure spells out the name "Adam" in Arabic writing: aleph-dal-mim. There is something wonderfully poetic about prayer connecting people with their forebearers and Creator as well.
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