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A new version of the Bahá’í Reference Library is now available. This ‘old version’ of the Bahá’í Reference Library will be replaced at a later date.
The new version of the Bahá’i Reference Library can be accessed here »
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The Valley of Unity |
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and drinketh from the cup of the Absolute,
and gazeth on the Manifestations of Oneness.
In this station he pierceth the veils of plurality,
fleeth from the worlds of the flesh, and ascendeth
into the heaven of singleness. With the ear
of God he heareth, with the eye of God he
beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation. He
steppeth into the sanctuary of the Friend, and
18
shareth as an intimate the pavilion of the
Loved One. He stretcheth out the hand of
truth from the sleeve of the Absolute; he revealeth
the secrets of power. He seeth in himself
neither name nor fame nor rank, but
findeth his own praise in praising God. He
beholdeth in his own name the name of God;
to him, “all songs are from the King,”
1
and
every melody from Him. He sitteth on the
throne of “Say, all is from God,”
2
and taketh
his rest on the carpet of “There is no power or
might but in God.”
3
He looketh on all things
with the eye of oneness, and seeth the brilliant
rays of the divine sun shining from the dawning-point
of Essence alike on all created things,
and the lights of singleness reflected over all
creation.
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It is clear to thine Eminence that all the variations
which the wayfarer in the stages of his
journey beholdeth in the realms of being, proceed
from his own vision. We shall give an
example of this, that its meaning may become
fully clear: Consider the visible sun; although
it shineth with one radiance upon all things,
and at the behest of the King of Manifestation
bestoweth light on all creation, yet in each
place it becometh manifest and sheddeth its
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bounty according to the potentialities of that
place. For instance, in a mirror it reflecteth
its own disk and shape, and this is due to the
sensitivity of the mirror; in a crystal it maketh
fire to appear, and in other things it showeth
only the effect of its shining, but not its full
disk. And yet, through that effect, by the command
of the Creator, it traineth each thing
according to the quality of that thing, as thou
observest.
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In like manner, colors become visible in
every object according to the nature of that
object. For instance, in a yellow globe, the
rays shine yellow; in a white the rays are white;
and in a red, the red rays are manifest. Then
these variations are from the object, not from
the shining light. And if a place be shut away
from the light, as by walls or a roof, it will be
entirely bereft of the splendor of the light,
nor will the sun shine thereon.
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Thus it is that certain invalid souls have
confined the lands of knowledge within the
wall of self and passion, and clouded them with
ignorance and blindness, and have been veiled
from the light of the mystic sun and the mysteries
of the Eternal Beloved; they have
strayed afar from the jewelled wisdom of
the lucid Faith of the Lord of Messengers,
have been shut out of the sanctuary of the
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All-Beauteous One, and banished from the
Ka‘bih
4
of splendor. Such is the worth of the
people of this age!
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And if a nightingale
5
soar upward from
the clay of self and dwell in the rose bower of
the heart, and in Arabian melodies and sweet
Íránian songs recount the mysteries of God—a single word of which quickeneth to fresh,
new life the bodies of the dead, and bestoweth
the Holy Spirit upon the moldering bones of
this existence—thou wilt behold a thousand
claws of envy, a myriad beaks of rancor hunting
after Him and with all their power intent
upon His death.
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In sum, the differences in objects have now
been made plain. Thus when the wayfarer
gazeth only upon the place of appearance—that
is, when he seeth only the many-colored globes—he beholdeth yellow and red and white; hence
it is that conflict hath prevailed among the
21
creatures, and a darksome dust from limited
souls hath hid the world. And some do gaze
upon the effulgence of the light; and some have
drunk of the wine of oneness and these see
nothing but the sun itself.
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Thus, for that they move on these three
differing planes, the understanding and the
words of the wayfarers have differed; and
hence the sign of conflict doth continually
appear on earth. For some there are who dwell
upon the plane of oneness and speak of that
world, and some inhabit the realms of limitation,
and some the grades of self, while others
are completely veiled. Thus do the ignorant
people of the day, who have no portion of the
radiance of Divine Beauty, make certain claims,
and in every age and cycle inflict on the people
of the sea of oneness what they themselves
deserve. “Should God punish men for their
perverse doings, He would not leave on earth
a moving thing! But to an appointed term doth
He respite them….”
7
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O My Brother! A pure heart is as a mirror;
cleanse it with the burnish of love and severance
from all save God, that the true sun may shine
within it and the eternal morning dawn. Then
wilt thou clearly see the meaning of “Neither
doth My earth nor My heaven contain Me,
22
but the heart of My faithful servant containeth
Me.”
8
And thou wilt take up thy life in thine
hand, and with infinite longing cast it before
the new Beloved One.
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Whensoever the light of Manifestation of
the King of Oneness settleth upon the throne
of the heart and soul, His shining becometh
visible in every limb and member. At that time
the mystery of the famed tradition gleameth
out of the darkness: “A servant is drawn unto
Me in prayer until I answer him; and when
I have answered him, I become the ear wherewith
he heareth….” For thus the Master of
the house hath appeared within His home, and
all the pillars of the dwelling are ashine with
His light. And the action and effect of the
light are from the Light-Giver; so it is that
all move through Him and arise by His will.
And this is that spring whereof the near ones
drink, as it is said: “A fount whereof the near
unto God shall drink….”
9
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However, let none construe these utterances
to be anthropomorphism, nor see in them the
descent of the worlds of God into the grades
of the creatures; nor should they lead thine
Eminence to such assumptions. For God is, in
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His Essence, holy above ascent and descent,
entrance and exit; He hath through all eternity
been free of the attributes of human creatures,
and ever will remain so. No man hath ever
known Him; no soul hath ever found the pathway
to His Being. Every mystic knower hath
wandered far astray in the valley of the knowledge
of Him; every saint hath lost his way in
seeking to comprehend His Essence. Sanctified
is He above the understanding of the wise;
exalted is He above the knowledge of the
knowing! The way is barred and to seek it is
impiety; His proof is His signs; His being is
His evidence.
10
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Wherefore, the lovers of the face of the
Beloved have said: “O Thou, the One Whose
Essence alone showeth the way to His Essence,
and Who is sanctified above any likeness to
His creatures.”
11
How can utter nothingness
gallop its steed in the field of preexistence, or
a fleeting shadow reach to the everlasting sun?
The Friend
12
hath said, “But for Thee, we
had not known Thee,” and the Beloved
13
hath
said, “nor attained Thy presence.”
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Yea, these mentionings that have been made
of the grades of knowledge relate to the knowledge
of the Manifestations of that Sun of
Reality, which casteth Its light upon the Mirrors.
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And the splendor of that light is in the
hearts, yet it is hidden under the veilings of
sense and the conditions of this earth, even as
a candle within a lantern of iron, and only
when the lantern is removed doth the light of
the candle shine out.
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Then it is clear that even for the rays there
is neither entrance nor exit—how much less for
that Essence of Being and that longed-for
Mystery. O My Brother, journey upon these
planes in the spirit of search, not in blind imitation.
A true wayfarer will not be kept back by
the bludgeon of words nor debarred by the
warning of allusions.
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On this same basis, ponder likewise the differences
among the worlds. Although the divine
worlds be never ending, yet some refer to them
as four: The world of time (zamán), which
is the one that hath both a beginning and an
end; the world of duration (dahr), which hath
a beginning, but whose end is not revealed; the
world of perpetuity (sarmad), whose beginning
is not to be seen but which is known to
have an end; and the world of eternity (azal),
neither a beginning nor an end of which is
visible. Although there are many differing
statements as to these points, to recount
them in detail would result in weariness. Thus,
some have said that the world of perpetuity
hath neither beginning nor end, and have named
the world of eternity as the invisible, impregnable
Empyrean. Others have called these the
worlds of the Heavenly Court (Lahút), of the
Empyrean Heaven (Jabarút), of the Kingdom
of the Angels (Malakút), and of the mortal
world (Násút).
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The journeys in the pathway of love are
reckoned as four: From the creatures to the
True One; from the True One to the creatures;
from the creatures to the creatures; from the
True One to the True One.
26
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There is many an utterance of the mystic
seers and doctors of former times which I
have not mentioned here, since I mislike the
copious citation from sayings of the past; for
quotation from the words of others proveth
acquired learning, not the divine bestowal.
Even so much as We have quoted here is out of
deference to the wont of men and after the
manner of the friends. Further, such matters
are beyond the scope of this epistle. Our unwillingness
to recount their sayings is not from
pride, rather is it a manifestation of wisdom
and a demonstration of grace.
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Otherwise, this Servant regardeth Himself as
utterly lost and as nothing, even beside one of
the beloved of God, how much less in the
presence of His holy ones. Exalted be My Lord,
the Supreme! Moreover, our aim is to recount
the stages of the wayfarer’s journey, not to
set forth the conflicting utterances of the
mystics.
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Although a brief example hath been given
concerning the beginning and ending of the
relative world, the world of attributes, yet a
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second illustration is now added, that the full
meaning may be manifest. For instance, let
thine Eminence consider his own self; thou art
first in relation to thy son, last in relation to
thy father. In thine outward appearance, thou
tellest of the appearance of power in the realms
of divine creation; in thine inward being thou
revealest the hidden mysteries which are the
divine trust deposited within thee. And thus
firstness and lastness, outwardness and inwardness
are, in the sense referred to, true of thyself,
that in these four states conferred upon
thee thou shouldst comprehend the four divine
states, and that the nightingale of thine heart on
all the branches of the rosetree of existence,
whether visible or concealed, should cry out:
“He is the first and the last, the Seen and the
Hidden….”
17
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These statements are made in the sphere of
that which is relative, because of the limitations
of men. Otherwise, those personages who in a
single step have passed over the world of the
relative and the limited, and dwelt on the fair
plane of the Absolute, and pitched their tent in
the worlds of authority and command—have
burned away these relativities with a single
spark, and blotted out these words with a drop
28
of dew. And they swim in the sea of the spirit,
and soar in the holy air of light. Then what
life have words, on such a plane, that “first”
and “last” or other than these be seen or mentioned!
In this realm, the first is the last itself,
and the last is but the first.
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O my friend, look upon thyself: Hadst thou
not become a father nor begotten a son, neither
wouldst thou have heard these sayings. Now
forget them all, that thou mayest learn from
the Master of Love in the schoolhouse of oneness,
and return unto God, and forsake the
inner land of unreality
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for thy true station,
and dwell within the shadow of the tree of
knowledge.
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Thus it hath been made clear that these stages
depend on the vision of the wayfarer. In every
city he will behold a world, in every Valley
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reach a spring, in every meadow hear a song.
But the falcon of the mystic heaven hath many
a wondrous carol of the spirit in His breast,
and the Persian bird keepeth in His soul many
a sweet Arab melody; yet these are hidden, and
hidden shall remain.
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| 1. |
The Mathnaví.
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| 2. |
Qur’án 4:80.
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| 3. |
Qur’án 18:37.
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| 4. |
The holy Sanctuary at Mecca. Here the word means “goal.”
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| 5. |
This refers to Bahá’u’lláh’s own Manifestation.
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| 6. |
The Mathnaví.
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| 7. |
Qur’án 16:63.
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| 8. |
Hadíth, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad or to one of the holy Imáms.
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| 9. |
Qur’án 83:28.
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| 10. |
Sermon by ‘Alí.
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| 11. |
Hadíth, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad or to one of the holy Imáms.
[ Back To Reference] |
| 12. |
The Prophet Muḥammad.
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| 13. |
The Prophet Muḥammad.
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| 14. |
Háfiz: Shamsu’d-Dín Muḥammad, of Shíráz, died ca. 1389 A.D. One of the greatest of Persian poets.
[ Back To Reference] |
| 15. |
Hadíth, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad or to one of the holy Imáms.
[ Back To Reference] |
| 16. |
The Mathnaví.
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| 17. |
Qur’án 57:3.
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| 18. |
The Mathnaví.
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| 19. |
This refers to the Súfí idea of the inner plane, which compared to Revealed Truth is but unreal.
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| 20. |
The Mathnaví.
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| 21. |
This refers to Bahá’u’lláh Himself, Who had not yet declared His mission.
[ Back To Reference] |
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