A new video – Intimation

At this time when Bahá’ís and their friends the world over are preparing for celebrations for the Bicentenary of the Birth of Bahá’u’lláh, I am excited to share a new video titled, ‘Intimation’, from my album, ‘The Ancient Beauty’. A couple of weeks ago, I shared another video of His Titles.
The words of Bahá’u’lláh that are used in this song are taken from His own sublime description of His first experience of the descent of Divine revelation at a time when He was imprisoned in the Black Pit (Siyah-Chal) in Tihran. He describes this moment in the following words:
“During the days I lay in the prison of Tihrán, though the galling weight of the chains and the stench-filled air allowed Me but little sleep, still in those infrequent moments of slumber I felt as if something flowed from the crown of My head over My breast, even as a mighty torrent that precipitateth itself upon the earth from the summit of a lofty mountain. Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear.”
The song (Intimation) was first composed when I was studying Ruhi book 4 about the life and history of Bahá’u’lláh. We were asked to memorize this quotation and I thought to myself that the only way I could do so would be by setting it to music. It was a difficult endeavor as the passage contains long sentences and challenging words (such as “precipitateth”). A beautiful gift came as I was composing the last sentence, “Every limb of My body would, as a result, be set afire. At such moments My tongue recited what no man could bear to hear.” The composition suddenly flowed and blended with the words perfectly. It was one of those moments I knew I was being used as a channel for inspiration to pass through. The piece was initially recorded on my ‘Fire and Gold’ CD.  For ‘The Ancient Beauty’ album the song has been edited and harmonies have been added.
Click here to watch the video (or watch it below).
Click here to view the video on youku.
Special thanks to several individuals who enabled ‘Intimation’ to come to life: Martin Kerr for his beautiful vocals, Navid Goldrick for playing the santur for skillfully, Farshid Samandari for his help in arrangement, Jarome Matthew in editing and producing the song and Adeeb Afshar for the beautiful photograph of the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.