Jasper Johal
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Tearing the veil
🕑 Added 2022-01-24 10:30:12 +0000 UTCIn the clear dawn, before the east was red,
Before the rose had torn her veil in two,
A nightingale through Hafiz’ garden flew,
Stayed but to fill its song with tears, and fled.
– words from a sweet Hafiz poem, translated by the remarkable adventurer, Gertrude Bell in 1897
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Many of us have heard of Lawrence of Arabia. But Gertrude Bell (1868–1926), a Victorian woman, did even more to try and create an Independent Arabian state. Remarkably for a woman in the late 1800s, she never married or had children, but spent most of her life traveling abroad and having wild adventures.
She was one of the first to describe the mesmerizing beauty of desert landscapes to western readers. Bell learned Arabic and Persian, and wrote some of the best translations of Hafiz’s work, a mystical poet from the 1300s.
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PHOTO: Saren and I met when I first started posting to Instagram. She commented on one of my images and ended up coming over for a shoot.
Her tall, big-muscled boyfriend, Mat, came with her, convinced a photographer known for shooting nudes must be lecherous and needed watching.
For my part when I saw this musclebound giant come lumbering through the door I assumed he must be all brawn, no brain.
We soon discover we both couldn’t have been more wrong, and became very good friends. I have fond memories of many evenings spent with Mat and Saren, sharing far ranging conversations about history and philosophy, over delicious Indian food.
