TEHRAN – A pictorial record of the religious ritual of Arbaeen, which is the end of the 40-day mourning period following the martyrdom of Imam Hussein (AS) and his loyal companions on Ashura, has recently been published in a book in Tehran.

“The Fortieth” containing photos of the pilgrims flocking to the Iraqi city of Karbala during Arbaeen to visit the shrines of the Imam (AS) and his brother Hazrat Abbas (AS) was unveiled during a ceremony at the Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum on Friday.

The book published by the Shia Art and Culture Institute contains photos by 14 Iranian photographers who have covered the annual ritual from 2009 to 2016. The photos have been captioned by Mohammad-Taqi Ekhtiari.

Ekhtiairi, who was attending the unveiling ceremony, said that he has tried to provide information about each photo to make them more attractive.

Jasem Ghazbanpur, Saeid Mahmudi, Mehdi Tirani, Ali Bayat and Masud Zendehruh Kermani are among the photographers whose works are published in the book.

Majid Majidi, the director of the acclaimed movie “Muhammad (S), the Messenger of God”, who was also present at the ceremony, expressed his happiness over the publication of the book. 

An exhibition of a selection of the photos is underway at the museum.

Photo: Shia Art and Culture Institute director Seyyed Abbas Sohofi (1st L), master of Persian miniature Mahmud Farshchian (3rd R) and Ettelaat daily director Mahmud Doai (1st R) unveil “The Fortieth” at the Imam Ali (AS) Religious Arts Museum on September 22, 2017. (Mehr/Asghar Khamseh) 

RM/MMS/YAW