A “Period-Based” Approach to Interpreting the Term “Order in Affairs” in the Quote “I Advise You to Fear Allah and Keep Order in Affairs”

In Letter 47 of Nahjolbalaghe, Imam Ali (PBUH) introduces three important issues including the fear of God, order in affairs and peace among people. The term “order in affairs” has become synonymous in recent centuries with individual order – that is, the placement of every object in its position. But based on the evidence available in the context of the letter including sensitive situations in the period, addressees of the letter, literal and applied meanings of order at the time and other expressions used by Imam (PBUH), it seems that another meaning was originally meant by “order in affairs”. In a lexical study, it can be figured out that the word order had some social sense of “consistency” in earlier periods while some recent dictionaries consider an individual meaning for it in addition to the social meaning. The synthesis of different views by interpreters and some translators of Nahj al-Balagha concerning the term “order in affairs” points to the social sense of “unity and consistency”. Applications of the words “order” and “affairs” in Nahj al-Balagha and other texts highlight the sense of “consistency” for the word order as its original meaning and the senses of “work”, “diversity” and “management” for the word affairs. The views of some contemporaries about the term “order in affairs” suggest that the meaning of unity for order is the common ground. However, some have pointed to the sense of keeping up the government/ regime as the accurate meaning of affairs. Finally, it can be concluded that the term “order in affairs” in this quote from Imam Ali (PBUH) suggests his emphasis on the concept of unity

Strategies to Deal with the Moral Dimensions of Ignorance in Modern Societies (Relying on the Quran and the Makarem Al-Akhlaq Prayer)

Quran, on different occasions, has condemned the popular culture of the era of ignorance. Notions of vanity, the status of ignorant rules, and prejudice are the constituent components of this culture. Analysis of customs and laws that govern the life of modern man reveal the components of ignorance in the present age of modern societies such as fear of Islam, humanism, Europeanism, usury, human trafficking, consumption of psychotropic drugs, and promotion of unsuitable clothing. Considering the moral teachings of Islam, ways to remove components of moral ignorance are identified in Islamic moral and ethical resources. Accordingly, this study also uses content analysis to identify components of ignorance in modern societies and by reflecting on the Quran and the Makarem Al-Akhlaq Prayer, it has mentioned some of the ways to deal with the culture of ignorance such as virtue vocation, self-construction and practice of humility, following the mind and the narrative rationales, moderation etc

Effect of some chemical fertilizer and biofertilizer on quantitative and qualitative characteristics of Saffron

In this research, effects of chemical and biological fertilizers on qualitative and quantitative traits of saffron, were evaluated in a field experiment as randomized complete block design with three replications at Saffron Research Farm of Shahed University during growing season of 2012-2013. Experimental factors were chemical nitrogen fertilizer (0, 25 and 50 kg.ha-1) and plant growth promoting rhizobacteria including Pseudomonas and Bacillus as biofertilizer (inoculation and uninoculation). The results indicated that complete application of chemical fertilizer with biofertilizer enhanced yield of saffron, up to 217%, compared to control. The highest yield obtained in application of biofertilizer and 50 kg.ha-1 chemical fertilizer. It is worth noting that control (no inoculation) resulted in highest percentage of ingredients of stigma. Application of 50 kg.ha-1 of fertilizer was caused severe loss of quality traits in stigma, as safranal and crocin contents decreased by 5.13% and 10.9%, respectively. Integrated application of 25 kg.ha-1 nitrogen fertilizer and bio-fertilizer increased the picrocrocin up to 11.9% compared to control. Application of 50 kg.ha-1 nitrogen fertilizer along with biofertilizer was the efficient treatment in increment of stigma yield and qualitative characteristics of saffron leaves. The concentration of phosphorus, zinc and copper increased up to 83.05, 69.36 and 86.6%, respectively compared to control. Totally, Pseudomonas and Bacillus inoculation increased most of the qualitative and quantitative traits of saffron through nutrients uptake

Impact of Ginger Root Powder Dietary Supplement on Productive Performance, Egg Quality, Antioxidant Status and Blood Parameters in Laying Japanese Quails

Medicinal plants with antibacterial effects have been used by humans for centuries. In the recent decade, due to the development of antibiotic resistant strains, many studies have focused on the use of natural compounds as feed additives in livestock. Ginger, among all, have repetitively shown numerous biological activities, antibacterial, and antibiotic properties. This study was conducted to evaluate the effects of ginger root powder (GP) on the performance, egg quality, and blood parameters of Japanese quail. A total of 240 10-weeks old female quails were used in a completely randomized design with 4 treatments, 4 replicates, and 15 birds per replicate. Dietary treatment were basal diet (control) and basal diet containing 0.5, 1, and 1.5 g/kg of ginger root powder. Growth performance and exterior and interior quality of egg were measured biweekly over eight-week period. At the end of experiment blood parameters were evaluated. The results showed that diet supplementation with different levels of GP had no significant effect on egg production, egg mass weight, and egg weight (p > 0.05). However, feed intake and feed conversion ratio were significantly lower in the treatment group than the control in the whole period (p < 0.05). Egg Quality traits (shape index, albumen index, the percentage of albumen, yolk and shell, yolk pH, and shell thickness and strength) were not affected by the supplements in the whole trial period. Addition of GP significantly increased the albumen height, Haugh unit, and albumen pH in comparison with the control treatment (p < 0.05). GP reduced blood triglyceride level yet was ineffective on blood total antioxidant capacity and malondialdehyde. In conclusion, dietary supplementation with GP, could improve productive performance and the egg quality of Japanese quails. Nonetheless a comprehensive study needs to be performed in order to evaluate the impact of quail dietary ginger supplementation on productive performance and egg quality and their stability during storage time for commercial use

Effect of jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation on anxiety and happiness of older adults in the nursing home

Background: Older adults encounter serious psychological challenges in addition to physical problems. Reducing stress and anxiety, along with promoting happiness, is critical to maintaining the mental health of the elderly. Jacobson's Progressive Muscle Relaxation (JPMR) will lead to peace of mind by relieving physical stress. The present study aimed to investigate the effect of JPMR on the anxiety and happiness of older adults. Materials and Methods: A single-group pretest-posttest design as a type of quasi-experimental study was conducted on 34 older adults living in a nursing home in Rasht, the north of Iran, in 2021. The intervention was performed one session per week, for 8 weeks. The research instruments included the Geriatric Anxiety Inventory (GAI) and the Oxford Happiness Inventory (OHI). Descriptive statistics and the Wilcoxon test were used for data analysis. Results: After the intervention, the Mean (Standard Deviation [SD](of anxiety was 4.91 (1.96), and the Mean (SD) (of happiness was 37.18 (7.92). The mean score of anxiety among older adults after the intervention was significantly lower compared to the before intervention (Z = −4.73, p < 0.001). In addition, the mean score of happiness of the samples after the intervention was significantly higher compared to the before intervention (Z = −5.09, p < 0.001). Conclusions: JPMR has a positive effect on reducing anxiety and promoting happiness in the elderly. Developing training programs and allocating time to non-pharmacological treatments such as JPMR for the elderly living in nursing homes will help make them happier and healthier