(AhlulBayt News Agency) - As part of final touches of gilding of the Dome project, the secretariat of Imam Ali Holy Shrine prepared and returned the golden crown that tops the dome of the holy shrine (Peace be upon him). The dome is expected to open within the special ceremony that will take place on the seventeenth of Rabee al-Awal within the celebration of birth of the Prophet.
The crown of Nader Shah, which had been donated by him to the Astan (custodianship) of Imam Ali’s (AS) holy shrine in Najaf, Iraq, was returned to the Astan after decades.
The gold crown is in shape of a sun with 14 beams of light, representing the 14 Infallibles (AS).
On top of it, there is a hand, representing the "Khamis Ahl al-Aba” (The Five: the Holy Prophet, Imam Ali, Hazrat Fatima, Imam Hassan and Imam Hussein (PBUT), whose common virtues and positions distinguish them from others).
The crown had been donated to the Astan Alavi by Nader Shah Afshar (1698- 1747 AD), after he conquered India and paid a pilgrimage to Najaf some 280 years ago.
Nader Shah was one of the most powerful kings in the history of Iran, ruling as Shah of Persia from 1736 to 1747.
The crown had been taken away from the mausoleum of Imam Ali (AS) by former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.
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