“I am Cyrus. King of the world. When I entered Babylon… I did not allow anyone to terrorize the land… I kept in view the needs of people and all its sanctuaries to promote their well-being… I put an end to their misfortune. The Great God has delivered all the lands into my hand; the lands that I have made to dwell in a peaceful habitation…. . .When my soldiers in great numbers peacefully entered Babylon… I did not allow anyone to terrorize the people… I kept in view the needs of people and all its sanctuaries to promote their well-being… Freed all the slaves… I put an end to their misfortune and slavery (referring to religious minorities). The Great God has delivered all the lands into my hand; the lands that I have made to dwell in a peaceful habitation… “
"I have no religion, but if I were to choose one, it would be that of Shariati's."
Jean-Paul Sartre
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My Lord, grant me success in struggling during failure, in having patience in disappointment, in going alone, in Jihad without weapons, in working without pay, in making sacrifice in silence, in having religious belief in the world, in having ideology without popular traditions, in having faith (Iman) without pretensions, non-conformity without immaturity, beauty without physical appearance, loneliness in the crowd, and loving without the beloved knowing about it.
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photos: Farshad Palideh & Ehsan Mohammadi 
By all accounts, what is happening in Gaza today is a new chapter in history. Not so much because Israeli atrocities against Palestinians are unprecedented in historical proportions, but because the world conscience got a rude awakening when we all asked ourselves: “What if this happened to me and my family?”
For the first time, we could not help but to look at the Palestinian question from a moral and human perspective instead of political. We all saw the question in stark contrast with our political perceptions and personal convictions.
Certainly, the question of Palestine or Israel has been one that is essentially moral first and foremost, a fundamental question many thought we could forever evade.
Is human life equally sacred? Or do we place discriminatory scale on people’s lives according to our own inclinations?
Persia 