© Lucie's Photography / www.luciedebelkova.com posted a photo:

Jebel Hafeet (Arabic: ??? ?????) (variously translated Jabal, Jabel and Jebal) is a mountain primarily in the United Arab Emirates on the outskirts of Al Ain. The mountain actually straddles part of the border with Oman. The mountain rises 1240 meters and offers an impressive view over the city. Jebel Hafeet was a well-known landmark throughout the area's history and is a contemporary tourist attraction. An extensive natural cave system winds through Jebel Hafeet.

The Jebel Hafeet Mountain Road extends for 7.3 mi (11.7 km) up the mountain, rising 4000 ft (1219 m). With 21 corners and three lanes (two climbing and one descending), the immaculate road was called the greatest driving road in the world by Edmunds.com. The road scales the mountain and ends at a parking lot with only a hotel and a palace belonging to the country's rulers. Jebel Hafeet Road is the challenge for cyclists who frequently come over to train. The Jebel Hafeet Mercure Challenge is a yearly road cycling competition taking place somewhere in January. National & international riders take part in climbing the 8% average ascent of the mighty mountain.

I was hoping for nice clear blue hour, but it is a wish which is not always granted in the Middle East. There was quite heavy dust storm over the region, including this part of UAE or nearly Oman. At the end it gave the shot kind of misty atmosphere which I quite like.

Model: Canon EOS 5D Mark II; Lens?s focal length: 24.00 - 105.00 mm; Focal length: 58.00 mm; Aperture: 16, Exposure time: 32.0 s, ISO: 100

All rights reserved - Copyright © Lucie Debelkova

All images are exclusive property and may not be copied, downloaded, reproduced, transmitted, manipulated or used in any way without expressed, written permission of the photographer.

Visit my profile page for links to my site, facebook, and camera equipment information.

Jim Shannon posted a photo:

Cairo Egypt, two men, street, street photography, tray, water, joking, laughing, working, Arabic, smoking, Islam, Muslim, Canon 5D, _MG_9868_1000px_cc_usm

Jim Shannon posted a photo:

Cairo Egypt, mosque, guardian, working, shoe, caretaker, portrait, Muslim, Islam, Islamic Cairo, low light, Canon 5D, _MG_9837_1000px_cc_usm

screen miracle posted a photo:

screen miracle posted a photo:

see and search harun yahya

In one verse of the Qur'an, the "fecundating" characteristic of the winds, and the resulting formation of rain are mentioned.

And We send the fecundating winds, then cause water to descend from the sky, therewith providing you with water in abundance. (Qur'an, 15:22)

This verse points out that the first stage in the formation of rain is wind. Until the beginning of the 20th century, the only relationship known between the wind and the rain was that it was the wind that drove the clouds. However, modern meteorological findings have demonstrated the "fecundating" role of the wind in the formation of rain.

As explained earlier, this fecundating function of the wind works in the following way:


The picture above shows the stages in the formation of a wave. Waves are formed by the wind blowing above the surface of the water. With the wind, water particles start to move in a circular motion. This movement soon forms waves, one after the other, and bubbles formed by the waves spread in the air. This is the first stage in the formation of rain. This process is declared in the verse as "We send the fecundating winds and then cause water to descend from the sky."



On the surface of oceans and seas, a large number of air bubbles form because of the water's foaming action. The moment these bubbles burst, thousands of tiny particles, with a diameter of just one hundredth of a millimetre, are thrown up into the air. These particles, known as "aerosols," mix with dust carried from the land by the wind, and are carried to the upper layers of the atmosphere. These particles carried to higher altitudes by winds come into contact with water vapour up there. Water vapour condenses around these particles and turns into water droplets. These water droplets first come together and form clouds, and then fall to the Earth in the form of rain. As mentioned, winds "fecundate" the water vapour floating in the air with the particles they carry from the sea, and eventually help the formation of rain clouds.


The diagram to the side shows the formation of air currents and winds on the Earth.
If winds did not possess this property, water droplets in the upper atmosphere would never form, and there would be no rain.

The most important point to be recognized here is that this critical role of the wind in the formation of rain was stated centuries ago in the Qur'an, at a time when very little was known about natural phenomena...

Further information provided in the verse about the fertilising quality of the wind is its role in the pollination of flowers. Many plants on Earth disperse their pollen by means of the wind in order to ensure the survival of their species. Several open-seeded plants, pine trees, palm and similar trees, seeded plants that produce flowers, and grass-like plants are entirely pollinated by the wind. The wind carries the pollen from the plants to others of the species, thus fertilising them.

Until recently, the way that the wind was able to fertilise plants was unknown. When it was realised, however, that plants are divided into males and females, the fertilising role of the wind was also discovered. This truth was already indicated in the Qur'an: "... [He] sent down water from the sky by which We have brought forth various different types of plants in pairs." (Qur'an, 20:53)

THE STAGES OF WIND FORMATION

... and [in His] directing of the winds, there are signs for people who use their intellect. (Qur'an, 45:5)

Wind is a movement of air which forms between two different temperature centres. Due to the different pressures caused by different temperatures in the atmosphere, air constantly flows from areas of high pressure to areas of low pressure. If differences between pressure centres, in other words, temperatures in the atmosphere, are large, the flow of air, in other words, the wind, is very strong, so strong in fact that tornadoes which can inflict terrible damage can be formed.

What is astonishing here is that, despite there being belts of very different temperatures and pressures, such as the equator and the poles, thanks to the order in Allah's creation, our Earth is not exposed to disastrously fierce winds. Were the force of the winds that would otherwise blow between the poles and the equator not tempered, the Earth would become a dead planet constantly buffeted by tornadoes.

In the Arabic expression "tasreefi al-riyaah," in the above verse, the word "tasreef" means "turning over many times, directing, shaping something, managing, distributing." The choice of this word for the wind fully describes the way it blows in an ordered manner. It is also a clear expression of the fact that the wind does not blow by chance, of its own accord. It is Allah Who directs the winds in such a way as to make human life possible.

screen miracle posted a photo:

RAIN IN MEASURED AMOUNTS

see and search harun yahya

Another item of information provided in the Qur'an about rain is that it is sent down to Earth in "measured amounts" This is mentioned in Surat az-Zukhruf as follows:

It is He Who sends down water in measured amounts from the sky by which We bring a dead land back to life. That is how you too will be raised [from the dead]. (Qur'an, 43:11)

This measured quantity in rain has again been discovered by modern research. It is estimated that in one second, approximately 16 million tons of water evaporates from the Earth. This figure amounts to 505 trillion tons of water in one year. This number is equal to the amount of rain that falls on the Earth in a year. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water_cycle)Therefore, water continuously circulates in a balanced cycle, according to a "measure." Life on Earth depends on this water cycle. Even if all the available technology in the world were to be employed for this purpose, this cycle could not be reproduced artificially.

Even a minor deviation in this equilibrium would soon give rise to a major ecological imbalance that would bring about the end of life on Earth. Yet, it never happens, and rain continues to fall every year in exactly the same measure, just as revealed in the Qur'an.

The proportion of rain does not merely apply to its quantity, but also to the speed of the falling raindrops. The speed of raindrops, regardless of their size, does not exceed a certain limit.




Philipp Lenard, a German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in physics in 1905, found that the fall speed increased with drop diameter until a size of 4.5 mm (0.18 inch). For larger drops, however, the fall speed did not increase beyond 8 metres per second (26 ft/sec).57 He attributed this to the changes in drop shape caused by the air flow as the drop size increased. The change in shape thus increased the air resistance of the drop and slowed its fall rate.

As can be seen, the Qur'an may also be drawing our attention to the subtle adjustment in rain which could not have been known 1,400 years ago.

HOW RAIN FORMS


The above illustration shows the water droplets being released into the air. This is the first stage in the formation of rain. After that, the water droplets in the newly formed clouds will be suspended in the air and then condense to form rain. All of these stages are related in the Qur'an.
How rain was formed remained a great mystery for quite some time. Only after the weather radar was invented was it possible to discover the stages by which rain is formed.

According to this discovery, the formation of rain takes place in three stages. First, the "raw material" of rain rises up into the air with the wind. Later, clouds are formed, and finally raindrops appear.

The Qur'an's account of the formation of rain refers exactly to this process. In one verse, this formation is described in this way:

It is Allah Who sends the winds which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps and you see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them. When He makes it fall on those of His servants He wills, they rejoice. (Qur'an, 30:48)

Now, let us examine these three stages outlined in the verse in more detail.

FIRST STAGE: "It is Allah Who sends the winds..."

Countless air bubbles formed by the foaming of the oceans continuously burst and cause water particles to be ejected towards the sky. These particles, which are rich in salt, are then carried away by winds and rise upward in the atmosphere. These particles, which are called aerosols, function as water traps, and form cloud drops by collecting around the water vapour themselves, which rises from the seas as tiny droplets.


(A) Isolated small pieces of clouds (cumulonimbus clouds)
(B) When the small clouds join together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase. As a result, the cloud is stacked up.


SECOND STAGE: ".... which stir up clouds which He spreads about the sky however He wills. He forms them into dark clumps..."

The clouds are formed from water vapour that condenses around the salt crystals or dust particles in the air. Because the water droplets in these clouds are very small (with a diameter between 0.01 and 0.02 mm [0,0004 and 0,0008 inch]), the clouds are suspended in the air, and spread across the sky. Thus, the sky is covered in clouds.

THIRD STAGE: "...and you see the rain come pouring out from the middle of them"

The water particles that surround salt crystals and dust particles thicken and form raindrops, so, drops that become heavier than the air leave the clouds and start to fall to the ground as rain.

As already discussed, every stage in the formation of rain is related in the verses of the Qur'an. Furthermore, these stages are explained in exactly the right sequence. Just as with many other natural phenomena on the Earth, Allah gave the most correct explanation of this phenomenon, and made it known in the Qur'an centuries before it was discovered.

In another verse, the following information is given about the formation of rain:

Haven't you seen how Allah drives along the clouds, then joins them together, then makes them into a stack, and then you see the rain come out of it? And He sends down from the sky mountain masses [of clouds] with cold hail in them, striking with it anyone He wills and averting it from anyone He wills. The brightness of His lightning almost blinds the sight. (Qur'an, 24:43)

Scientists studying cloud types came across surprising results with regards to the formation of rain clouds. Rain clouds are formed and shaped according to definite systems and stages. The stages of formation of one kind of rain cloud, cumulonimbus, are these:

1. STAGE, Being driven along: Clouds are carried along, that is, they are driven along, by the wind.

2. STAGE, Joining: Then, small clouds (cumulonimbus clouds) driven along by the wind join together, forming a larger cloud.58

3. STAGE, Stacking: When the small clouds join together, updrafts within the larger cloud increase. The updrafts near the centre of the cloud are stronger than those near the edges. These updrafts cause the cloud body to grow vertically, so the cloud is stacked up. This vertical growth causes the cloud body to stretch into cooler regions of the atmosphere, where drops of water and hail formulate and begin to grow larger and larger. When these drops of water and hail become too heavy for the updrafts to support them, they begin to fall from the cloud as rain, hail, etc.59

We must remember that meteorologists have only recently come to know these details about cloud formation, structure and function, by using advanced equipment like planes, satellites, computers etc. It is evident that Allah has provided us information that could not have been known 1,400 years ago.

screen miracle posted a photo:

see and search harun yahya

THE WEIGHT OF CLOUDS

The weight of clouds can reach quite astonishing proportions. For example, a cumulonimbus cloud, commonly known as the thunder cloud, can contain up to 300,000 tons of water.

The fact that a mass of 300,000 tons of water can remain aloft is truly amazing. Attention is drawn to the weight of clouds in other verses of the Qur'an:

It is He Who sends out the winds, bringing advance news of His mercy, so that when they have lifted up the heavy clouds, We dispatch them to a dead land and send down water to it, by means of which We bring forth all kinds of fruit... (Qur'an, 7:57)

It is He Who shows you the lightning, striking fear and bringing hope; it is He Who heaps up the heavy clouds. (Qur'an, 13:12)

At the time when the Qur'an was revealed, of course, it was quite impossible to have any information about the weight of clouds. This information, revealed in the Qur'an, but discovered only recently, is yet another proof that the Qur'an is the word of Allah.

screen miracle posted a photo:

see and search harun yahya

THE MIRACLE OF FIRE AND WOOD, THAT CANNOT BE OBTAINED ARTIFICIALLY

Have you thought about the fire that you light? Is it you who make the trees that fuel it grow or are We the Grower? We have made it to be a reminder and a comfort for travellers in the wild. So glorify the name of your Lord, the Magnificent! (Surat al-Waqi ?a, 71-74)


One of the chemical substances mainly responsible for the structure of wood is ?lignocellulose.? This substance is a compound of the materials known as ?lignin? and ?cellulose? that give wood its hardness. In terms of chemicalstructure, wood is made up of 50% cellulose, 25% hemicelluloses and 25% lignin. (http://www.forestpathology.org/wood.html; Wood Chemistry and Anatomy, 2005.) An analysis of these substances? chemical formulae reveals three vital elements: hydrogen, oxygen and carbon.

Hydrogen, oxygen and carbon are the building blocks of millions of substances in nature. But as a miracle from Allah, these three also combine to give rise to the substance ?lignocellulose? found in plants. Although scientists know that they contain these substances they are unable to reproduce this special material in plants. Although these elements found in large amounts in nature can easily be obtained, scientists have been unable to obtain a single piece of wood by artificial means, despite having countless examples before them. Yet all the trees we see around us have been ceaselessly producing this compound for millions of years by combining oxygen, carbon, water and sunlight.

One of the compounds in lignocellulose is water, expressed by the formula H2O. The fact that wood is one of the most flammable materials despite containing a large amount of water is a most special state of affairs. The above verse is very wise in noting that wood cannot be made by human beings, by fire. Thanks to these compounds and the water it contains, wood is one of the most important fuels of fire.

Trees are an important sphere of scientific research, and inspire scientists, who are still struggling to grasp all the details in their creation, in a number of areas. The complex structures of the cells that constitute trees have still not been fully unraveled, despite advances in technology and intensive research. The Forestry Commission of Great Britain, one of the world?s leading forestry research institutions, says the following under the heading "Lack of Information on the Chemistry and Structure of Wood Fibres":

Despite the knowledge resulting from earlier and ongoing research, there still exists a lack of information on the chemistry and structure of wood fibres. Large variations can be found within a single tree, from the pith to the bark and from the base to the top of a tree. Often the chemistry and structure of a wood cell are extremely heterogeneous and difficult to investigate with conventional techniques. (http://www.forestresearch.gov.uk/fr/INFD-6FMCUS; The Research Agency of the Forestry Commission, 2007.)

A paper in the scientific journal Plant Physiology titled "Our Understanding of How Wood Develops is not Complete" describes the limited knowledge of the subject that scientists possess:

Considering the important role that wood is foreseen to play in the near future, it is surprising to see that our understanding of how wood develops is far from complete. With a few exceptions, very little is known about the cellular, molecular, and developmental processes that underlie wood formation. Xylogenesis represents an example of cell differentiation in an exceptionally complex form. This process is controlled by a wide variety of factors both exogenous (photoperiod and temperature) and endogenous (phytohormones) and by interaction between them. It is driven by the coordinated expression of numerous structural genes (some of known function) involved in cell origination, differentiation, programmed cell death, and heartwood (HW) formation and by virtually unknown regulatory genes orches trating this ordered developmental sequence. The presence of gene families and the extreme plasticity of the metabolism involved (as exemplified by the unusual behavior of plants with transformed cell walls; for review, see Fagard et al., 2000) add a further complexity to our understanding of the process of wood formation. (Christophe Plomion, Gregoire Leprovost, Alexia Stokes, "Wood Formation in Trees", Plant Physiology, December 2001, Vol. 127, pp. 1513?1523.)

The extraordinary creation in wood is emphasized thus in another scientific journal, Annals of Botany:

Wood formation is a highly complicated process involving an unbelievable variety of metabolic steps in the roots, stem and crown of shrubs and trees. At the centre of these processes is cambial activity which results in the release of young woody cells that undergo maturation until autolysis of the protoplast, indicating the final developmental stage. Later on, in various tree species, woody cells become further modified by an additional process called heartwood formation. The properties of wood that make it an appropriate raw material for many purposes are largely determined by the specific architecture of the cell walls. Difficulties in investigating these many developmental stages appear when routine techniques, which work well for soft plant tissues, are applied. Therefore, in most cases, these techniques need modification or the use of completely revised protocols to yield good results for woody tissues. (Uwe Schmitt, "Chaffey, N.J. ed. Wood formation in trees?cell and molecular biology techniques", Annals of Botany, 2002, Vol. 90, no. 4, pp. 545-546.)

These details in the creation of wood remind us, as set out in Surat al-Waqi ?a, that wood cannot be made by human beings. Just a few of the inimitable features of wood, which cannot be produced artificially, are as follows:

Wood, a Resistant Material

The hard and resistant nature of wood is the result of the cellulose fibers it contains. Because cellulose is hard and insoluble in water. It is this property of cellulose that makes the use of wood in construction so advantageous. Cellulose, described as a ?contractible and incomparable substance,? has for centuries been used a great deal more than other materials in keeping wooden buildings standing, other buildings, bridges and many other structures.

Wood consists of parallel columns made up of convex cells laid end to end. These are surrounded by cellulose fibers in spiral form. In addition, these cells are contained in ?lignin,? a substance made from a complex, polymer structure resin. These spirally enclosed layers make up 80% of the thickness of the cell wall and are the part bearing the main load. When a wood cell collapses internally it absorbs the shock of a blow by detatching itself from the surrounding cells. Even when such collapses causes a crack along the length of the fiber, the wood remains unharmed. That is why wood is strong enough to bear specific loads even if it is broken.

In terms of absorbing the energy of low-speed blows and reducing the damage therefrom, wood is a most important material. The Second World War plane known as the ?Mosquito? was made by compressing wood between strips of fiber board, making it the most damage-resistant plane of its time. The hardness and resistant nature of wood make it a very reliable material. Because wood breaks or cracks slowly enough to be visible from the outside, and that gives people enough time to take the necessary precautions. (Julian Vincent, "Tricks of Nature", New Scientist, 17 August 1996, Vol. 151, no. 2043, p. 39.)

A material based on the structure of wood can be up to 50 times more resistant than other synthetic materials in use today. (Julian Vincent, "Tricks of Nature", New Scientist, 17 August 1996, Vol. 151, no. 2043, p. 40.) This unique structure of wood is today used in materials developed to protect against the impact of high speed and destructive fragments such as bombs and bullets. But scientists have never been able to replicate a piece of wood with all its many attributes. Every detail in the creation of wood, - the thickness of the internal layers, their level of compression, the number of vessels, their layout and the materials inside it, have been specialy created to result in that resistance.

screen miracle posted a photo:

Kupih posted a photo:

Pulau Sekati, Kuala Terengganu, Terengganu, Malaysia.

View On Black

RYANISLAND posted a photo:

Woodside Queens NY Decorations for Milad un Nabi the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad Friday March 12th 2010

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

roniweiss posted a photo:

fidanovska posted a photo:

In the 17th century, Sultan Ahmet I wished to build an Islamic place of worship that would be even better than the Hagia Sophia, and the mosque named for him is the result.
Construction work began in 1609 and took seven years.
The mosque was designed by architect Mehmet Aga, whose unfortunate predecessor was found wanting and executed. Sultan Ahmet was so anxious for his magnificent creation to be completed that he often assisted in the work. Sadly, he died just a year after the completion of his masterpiece, at the age of 27. He is buried outside the mosque with his wife and three sons.

fidanovska posted a photo:

In the 17th century, Sultan Ahmet I wished to build an Islamic place of worship that would be even better than the Hagia Sophia, and the mosque named for him is the result.
Construction work began in 1609 and took seven years.
The mosque was designed by architect Mehmet Aga, whose unfortunate predecessor was found wanting and executed. Sultan Ahmet was so anxious for his magnificent creation to be completed that he often assisted in the work. Sadly, he died just a year after the completion of his masterpiece, at the age of 27. He is buried outside the mosque with his wife and three sons.