I’m still a little foggy from jet lag but I am back from a wonderful vacation in France. The internet connection where I was was oversold as “intermittent” so I couldn’t post anything while I was gone, but I’ll be back in the swing of things as soon as the fog lifts.
In the meantime here’s my favorite photo from the trip. It reminded me of Rice except the trees are clearly thriving. I think they must be some type of yew:
Bonus: Just before I left town I was treated to a lovely tour of Autry House, about which I’ll have more to say later (So many Rice references in the building!) But I was puzzled by something on a wall that I cannot decipher with my rudimentary Arabic. Is anyone out there more fluent than I am?
Glad to see you back. I knew someth9ing was missing
The surroundings may be more historical and ‘grand’…… But I will put up Rice FE&P against any ‘French Trimmers’!!!! Susie
Sent from my iPad
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I’m surprised that there hasn’t been any answers by now for the translation of the Arabic wall hanging … so I asked my brother, who has spent time in Saudi Arabia & Qatar. He thought the calligraphy style was Persian (Farsi), so I then asked my neighbor, who said the words were, indeed, Arabic.
Here’s a merge of their translations of what is clearly an Islamic devotional item:
[Huwwa al-Sameeh w-al-‘Aleem] — “He {God} is the one who hears all and knows all”
“Huwwa {he}” is followed by two verbal nouns modified by the definite article, literally translated as “the Listener and the Knower.” I take it that these verbal nouns are among Islam’s 99+ names of God.
Indeed, those Arabic words are listed in the many references to the “99 names”:
For example, in Wikipedia ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_God_in_Islam ):
#20 — العليم / Al-ʿAlīm /The All-Knowing, Omniscient / (Quran references: 2:158, 3:92, 4:35, 24:41, 33:40)
#27 — السميع / As-Samīʿ / The All-Hearing / Quran references: 2:127, 2:256, 8:17, 49:1
Thanks, Mike!