2021-10-20 09:19:45 wrote:

What tremendously sad news... Laleh was a most special kind of person. Knowing Laleh, what she would have wanted to be remembered by may be a universal message which transcends all borders and divisions... The word ‘beauty’ comes to my mind when I think of Laleh – each year, roundabout the time of the New Year (Gregorian or Norouz), she would send multi-coloured messages with pictures of lush forested landscapes, animals and traditions speaking of the beauty of creation, lamenting that few peoples in the rest of the world would perhaps ever believe these came from Iran… using lightness and brevity of words, she sought to change the image of her country to something to be celebrated. Looking through my archives, I came across the first ever communication I received from Laleh on the subject of the terrible of earthquake which took place in the city of Bam in Dec 2003, where she quotes the Persian poet Rumi – see poem below. I hold to no religion or creed, am neither Eastern nor Western, Muslim or infidel, Zoroastrian, Christian, Jew or Gentile. I come from neither the land nor sea, am not related to those above or below, was not born nearby or far away, do not live either in Paradise or on this Earth, claim descent not from Adam and Eve or the Angels above. I transcend body and soul. My home is beyond place and name. It is with the beloved, in a space beyond space. I embrace all and am part of all. (Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi 1207 - 1273 AD)