There are but a few people to have ever walked the face of this earth, to hold the station of Imam Ali (as), both with Allah swt and the prophet Muhammad (PBUHAHF).

It was the Prophet Muhammad PBUHAHF himself who narrated

Nobody knows Allah except I and 'Ali.
Nobody knows me except Allah and 'ALi.
Nobody knows 'Ali except Allah and I.

It therefore stands to reason that there could exist no true believer that does not mirror the great Ali Ibna Abi Taleb in their hearts.

Imam Ali (as) lived a life that exemplified the truest manifestations of Islamic theology, Jurisprudence, aesthetics, morals, humility and above all justice and patience.

Walking through the courtyard of the Shrine of Imam Ali (as), 5 days after the Arbaeen, seemed to the photographer like returning to a place that should have been familiar but rather felt altogether different.

A calmness seemed to permeate the air in a manner that simply could not have been ten days prior.

5 Days prior to the arbaeen, millions upon millions of devoted pilgrims would have filed through the shrine seeking the permission of the Imam To traverse the long and dusty road to Karbala.

People would have been walking in every direction. Some would have slept in the tiny nooks and crannies that surround the outer wall of the Holy shrine, the surges would have seemed like tsunamis, currents and torrents pulling and pushing in opposite directions and yet one could always find a tiny space to pray or simply contemplate.

Though after the Arbaeen, the photographer was able to meander the narrow corridors that once resembled arteries dispersing blood around a body, though now quiet and serene. The majesty of the place unfurled, revealing perfections and signs that were rendered unnoticeable only days prior.

There it floated, on the inside of the outer wall facing Bab Al Quibla. A small mirror facing the Shrine of the Noble Imam. The photographer, immediately intrigued, walk closer to it, slowly. Any faster and the jewel that lay hidden within its sphere would dissipate unseen, un appreciated. He stopped, swivelled and arched to positioned himself, in that perfect vantage. Just a few degrees lower, and there it was, the solemnity and magnificence of the holy shrine reflected in the heart of all that stood before it, there he stood as he has since the day of his birth, in the heart of every beautiful believer.