Persians adapted the Arabic alphabet

After initiation of Islam in the 7 th century, Persians adapted the Arabic alphabet to Persian and developed the contemporary Persian alphabet. Arabic alphabet has 28 characters and Iranians added another four letters in it to arrive at existing 32 Persian letter. Around one thousand years ago, Ibn Muqlah and his brother created six genres of Iranian calligraphy, namely "Tahqiq", "Reyhan", "Sols

It's Hard to Lose a Precious Animal

©Mary Montague Sikes

One of our daughters lost her precious cat this week. This beautiful kitty had been part of her life for almost 20 years. It's been very difficult for Amy. She had nursed this pet which has been suffering from renal failure for four years.

Animals are extremely important in the lives of many people. Something about cats is especially endearing. I remember a pretty gray kitty named Smokey that enriched my life as I was growing up. She would greet me by rising up on her hind legs to stroke her head against my hand. She met me like that everyday on the sidewalk in front of our house when I arrived from school. Then one day she wasn't there. A car had struck and killed her. I was devastated.

That's when I learned there is no easy way to lose a beloved pet. We can only be grateful they have spent time with us to enrich our lives. We can only hope their spirits will remain with us always...

--Mary Montague Sikes