6. The Attributes of the Exalted
THE PATH OF SEARCH, Chapter 6.
The month of Kalimát (Words) 176 BE
Memorising the 6th Paragraph of The Tablet of the True Seeker
As each chapter and Paragraph of the Tablet has come into synchronisation with the Badíʿ or Bahá’í calendar, a screen shot of the month of Kalimát introduces this chapter, taken from a beautiful arrangement of the calendar, with each month AND the whole 19 months of 361 days arranged into a hexagram, by New York Bahá’í Friend Leland Wright, and available online as a pdf or hard copy decorative wall calendar…
These are among the attributes of the exalted,
and constitute the hall-mark of the spiritually-minded.
They have already been mentioned in connection
with the requirements of the wayfarers
that tread the Path of Positive Knowledge.
When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker
hath fulfilled these essential conditions,
then and only then can he be called a true seeker.
Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions
implied in the verse: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” [1]
he shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the words:
“In Our ways shall we assuredly guide him.” [2]
4 Kalimát Words 176 BE 16 July 2019 CE
It felt good to begin the Chapter for the month of Kalimát Words with another coincidence, manifest sign of the Universe, relating to the end of the last chapter, and involving William Henry and his study of the Tibetan Rainbow body, with its relationship to the ancient Judaic knowledge of the Merkaba, and the hidden stream of knowledge descending from Jesus Christ through Francis of Assisi, and Francis Bacon with his book The New Atlantis. These historical figures, especially Sir Francis Bacon and his Royal Society, followed the path of technology, with the understanding that this was permissible in the path of the soul towards illumination and enlightenment.
However now in this day and age at the beginning of the 21stCentury, with the arrival of 5G technology and beyond, the major companies of Silicon Valley; Google, Facebook, YouTube, Amazon, Apple, Wikipedia etc. are developing a ‘trans-humanist’ agenda of blending humans (homo sapiens) into hybrids or cyborgs with machine intelligence and seeking ‘ascension’ or ‘travel through the cosmos’ with the assistance of technology. The major agenda is in developing external (Luciferian) technology to give us a new eye, a new ear, a new heart and a new mind, and especially a new technological skin or cloak so humans can exist in any environment and be protected from harm. There is so much emphasis on this skin that William Henry’s book on this, which is freely available for download on the internet, is entitled The Skingularity is Near
The nice little coincidence that arrived on the drive back to work came with William Henry’s comments on his work with Robert Downey Jnr, specifically with his character Tony Stark and Iron-Man in the Marvel Comic Super-hero series. Robert Downey Jnr was concerned that the depiction of his character with his powered exoskeleton and amazing technological superhero powers were giving the wrong message to people and he literally wanted his character to be “William Henry-ized”! The beautiful coincidence in this was that a couple of days ago I left the Path of Search to make a brief excursion to the movies with a good friend, and the only film that looked any good was the new Spiderman, in which we discovered that Tony Stark had moved on to the next world and was no longer in this world of dust (as the story was told in Avengers: Endgame 2019), and his chosen heir and recipient of all of his super-powered technology was the young 16 year old Spiderman, whose powers were endogenous, organic and biological, and not machine assisted! It was nice to see the youthful Spiderman defeating the evil-doing superhero whose powers were assisted by an armada of mechanical weaponised drones! It was a nice little story illustrating William Henry’s belief that our only protection from the world of the transhumanists and their controlling 5G technology is to discover our Tibetan Rainbow bodies, otherwise known as our Christ bodies, (as WH pointed out, known in ancient Egypt and Nashville as the ‘Karast’ garment of Osiris!)
Moving on with the synchronicity, the next Video I downloaded to watch was the Dark Journalist X-series X-59, which is all about Ahriman, the evil twin of the Christ Figure Ahura Mazda in the ancient Zarathustrian epic, and the 8th Sphere, which is how Rudolf Steiner referred to the technological world that has been planned by Ahriman the Machine AI to entrap mankind to be harvested by the Archonic forces, with such things as the 5G control grid. The conversation in X-59 was all about how we can escape this move to transhumanism and control in the world of matter. But first, after memorising almost half of The Tablet of the True Seeker, and all the musts, shoulds, and should nots, it was time to look at the Words for this month… These are among the attributes of the exalted and constitute the hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the Path of Positive Knowledge. What these words are referring to are the 36 tasks we counted in the last chapter, that the true seeker must attend to when he determineth to take the step of search on the path leading to the knowledge of the Ancient of Days. So now is probably as good a time as any to write these out and list them in order…
These are referred to in this paragraph as; attributes of the exalted, or requirements of the wayfarers, and essential conditions to be called a true seeker, but might also be thought of as tasks that must be ticked off before we look for the on-switch of the Merkaba rotating rainbow light body, and feed in a little Compassion in Action, Love is Forgiveness, and remember some of His-Her names in the World of Kalimát Words; the Blessed Beauty and The Beloved as we are discovering on this trail, and with more of them mentioned by `Abdu’l-Bahá in His tablet of Visitation; The Gracious, The Merciful, The Compassionate and in another prayer we remember at the end of the month of Rahmat Mercy, and the beginning of Kalimát Words, as The Most Merciful of The Merciful…
So, The True Seeker, either He or She…
1. Must cleanse his heart from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge
2. Must cleanse his heart from the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy
3. Must purge his breast of every defilement
4. Must sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay
5. Must sanctify his soul from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments
6. Must at all times put his trust in God
7. Must renounce the peoples of the earth
8. Must detach himself from the world of dust
9. Must cleave unto Him Who is the Lord of Lords
10. Must never seek to exalt himself above anyone
11. Must wash away from the tablet of his heart every trace of pride and vain glory
12. Must cling unto patience and resignation
13. Must observe silence and refrain from idle talk
14. Should regard backbiting as grievous error and keep himself aloof from its dominion
15. Should be content with little
16. Should be freed from all inordinate desire
17. Should treasure the companionship of them that have renounced the world
18. Should regard avoidance of boastful and worldly people a precious benefit
19. Should at the dawn of every day commune with God
20. Should with all his soul persevere in the quest of his beloved
21. Should consume every wayward thought with the flame of His loving mention
22. Should with the swiftness of lightning pass by all else save Him
23. Should succor the dispossessed
24. Should never withhold his favour from the destitute
25. Should show kindness to animals
26. Should show kindness more unto his fellow-man, to him who is endowed with the power of utterance
27. Should not hesitate to offer up his life for his beloved
28. Should not allow the censure of the people to turn him away from the truth
29. Should not wish for others that which he doth not wish for himself
30. Should not promise that which he doth not fulfil
31. Should avoid fellow-ship with evil-doers
32. Should pray for the remission of their sins
33. Should forgive the sinful
34. Should never despise his low estate
35. Should regard all else beside God as transient
36. Should count all things save Him who is the Object of all adoration as utter nothingness!
After counting 36 points I found that I should count all things save Him who is the Object of all adoration as utter nothingness! That does indeed simplify it somewhat, as if we cannot decide which one of these points we should be looking at, then it is simple, just look at Him who is the Object of all adoration, at the same time remembering that is also Her Who is the Object of all adoration… And remembering all the sparkling little rainbow diamonds of synchronicity that lead us in the world of Kalimát , Words, to the names of the Rainbow atua god, Uenuku, Kahukura, Aniwaniwa, amongst a thousand other names in the tribes of humankind. And now realising that we too can become that Rainbow god, travelling through the star gates of the Galaxy to 13 different star-systems, as long as we remember the Object of all adoration and the Source of the Light, as in Arabic Hidden Word 11. O Son of Being! Thou art My lamp and my Light is in thee. Get thou from it thy radiance and seek none other than Me... Or again in Arabic Hidden Word 14. O Son of Man! Thou art My light and My light shall never be extinguished; why dost thou dread extinction? Thou art My glory and My glory fadeth not: thou art My robe and My robe shall never be outworn…
6 Kalimát Words 176 BE, 18 July 2019 CE
The last couple of days was spent catching up on business in the world of dust, but time was kept, before going to sleep and waking from sleep, on studying the Words for this month. These are among the attributes of the exalted and constitute the hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the Path of Positive Knowledge. When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then can he be called a true seeker.
It was evident from the words that the exalted possessed more attributes than just the 36 mentioned here, but these were the minimum requirements of the wayfarer, and essential conditions for the seeker to be called a true seeker. The whole lot of them together then could be seen as the hallmark of the spiritually-minded, an interesting phrase that needs a bit more digging for the deeper meaning. In the Oxford Dictionary the first meaning that came up for ‘hallmark’ was ‘a mark stamped on articles of gold, silver, or platinum by … assay offices, certifying their standard of purity’ ...so it was a mark of purity that could be seen at once to the observer, especially related to precious metals such as gold, therefore relating through to the world of soul alchemy revealed in The Hidden Words, where we can read in Arabic Hidden Word 55: O SON OF BEING! Busy not thyself with this world for with fire we test the gold and with gold We test Our servants.
The last phrase in the paragraph was a puzzle as in the original version I had copied from somewhere there were two notations. Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” [1] he shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the words: “In Our ways shall we assuredly guide him.” [2] . Looking in all my digital copies of the Tablet of the True Seeker; in Gleanings, and then in the Kitab-i-Iqan Book of Certitude neither of the two editions had the notations. I was pretty sure that they were quotes from the Qur’an, but I wanted to make sure of this, so spent the time and downloaded the new Ocean 2.0 Reader, which is an interfaith library tool with a special emphasis on religious/faith teachings and history with integrated full-text search and immersive word-aligned audio, covering all of the major religions on Planet Earth. I opened the search engine and wrote the Words: In Our ways shall we assuredly guide him. Lo and behold, a half dozen different references came up; the deepest and most interesting one to me being one including the original Words and showing the translation, in a book about the return of Joseph – yes, Him of the rainbow coloured cloak! – Todd Lawson, “The Bahá’í Tradition: The Return of Joseph and the Peaceable Imagination” :
‘These are among the attributes of the exalted [‘ālin], and constitute the hall-mark of the spiritually-minded [rūhāniyīn]. They have already been mentioned in connection with the requirements of the wayfarers [sharā’it-i mujāhidīn wa mashy-i sālikīn] that tread the path of the pursuit of the knowledge of certitude [dar manāhij-i ‘ilm al- yaqīn]. When the detached wayfarer [sālik-i farīgh] and sincere seeker [tālib-i sādiq] has fulfilled these essential conditions [ba’d az tahaqquq īn maqamāt], then and only then can he be called a true seeker [laf’ mujāhid dar barih-yi ‘ū sādiq mi’ayad]. Whenever he has fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse: “Those who make efforts for Us [al-ladhīna jāhadū fīna],” (Qur’an 29:69) he shall enjoy the blessings conferred by the words: “In Our Ways shall We assuredly guide him.” (Qur’an 29:69)’
So, my feeling was correct, the words came from Muhammad, or actually from the arch-angel Gabriel through Muhammad, and then written down in the Qur’an. It was a good reminder that Muhammad too was one of the Divine Messengers, of the same station as Jesus the Christ, thus His veneration in the Islamic world; something that the lovers of Christ sometimes have difficulty in comprehending, but clearly spelt out by the Blessed Beauty. Hence, He too was one of those who was familiar with His Rainbow body and by his own account travelled through the Worlds of God. In the Words of Bahá’u’lláh in The Book of Certitude Kitáb-i-Íqán:
“Every discerning observer will recognize that in the Dispensation of the Qur’án both the Book and the Cause of Jesus were confirmed. As to the matter of names, Muhammad, Himself, declared: “I am Jesus.” He recognized the truth of the signs, prophecies, and words of Jesus, and testified that they were all of God. In this sense, neither the person of Jesus nor His writings hath differed from that of Muhammad and of His holy Book, inasmuch as both have championed the Cause of God, uttered His praise, and revealed His commandments.”
I saw too that a more literal translation of the phrase the Path of Positive Knowledge might be the path of the pursuit of the Knowledge of Certitude and that the attributes or requirements needed to tread this path in a true way had already been mentioned by Bahá’u’lláh, possibly in another Tablet, or almost certainly so, or He would not have mentioned the clue for the true seeker to go looking for it. Hm, I thought; the path of the pursuit of the knowledge of certitude! That might also very well be somewhere in the Book of Certitude; maybe it was in the reading about the Wayfarer we had learnt as a song in our first Ruhi Class, 12 years ago or so under the tutelage of Bahá’í Friend Peter Bruce. During those series of blessed study group meetings, we had the benefit of a new Bahá’í by the name of Steve Lockie who was a great musician and started a process that now 12 years later sees him with 4 (and going on 5) whole albums of songs, withWords from the Blessed Beauty. My favourite one was one of the first Bahá’í songs I learnt to sing as well, and I still had it off by heart for special occasions when asked to sing at Bahá’í gatherings. It was about the Wayfarer, so maybe this was the writing referred to by Bahá’u’lláh?
Oh wayfarer on the Path of God, take thou thy portion of the Ocean of His Words, and deprive not thyself of the things that lie hidden in its depths. Be thou of them that have partaken of its treasures. A dew-drop of this Ocean would if shed upon all that is in the heavens and on the earth suffice to enrich them with the bounty of God, the All Knowing, the All Mighty, the All Wise. With the hands of renunciation draw forth from these life-giving waters and sprinkle therewith all created things, that they may be cleansed from all man-made limitations, and might approach the Mighty Seat of God, this Hallowed and Resplendent Spot!
I decided to later do another search on Ocean to find the exact location of these words, but first felt like reading a few chapters of Marzieh Gail’s book Dawn Over Mount Hira and other Essays, which I had picked up on my last visit home as it called out to come with me. I had actually read some of these before, but now having recently encountered this beautiful lover of Bahá’u’lláh on the Path of Search (see Chapter 3) and found a whole new appreciation of her shy and polite poetic soul, not only from hearing her live on a YouTube Video, but recognising her divinely inspired work in translating tablets such as The Seven Valleys and the Rashh-i-`Ama into English, I had a much better appreciation of what her words meant, and found a whole new picture and vision of Muhammad emerging, as well as possibly a bit more understanding and empathy with the Islamic soul…
Then today, before making a search for the Words again and looking for the reference to Wayfarers, I decided to sit down and finish the 2nd of Steven Phelps’ study groups on The Call of the Divine Beloved. After his introductory statements he was just starting into a detailed examination of The Seven Valleys, and noted the new Introductory paragraph that had not actually been included in the Original copy he passed around to the group: “An Exposition of the mysteries en-shrined in the stages of ascent for them that seek to journey unto God, the Almighty, the Ever-Forgiving” He spent some time looking at the beginning of the Tablet, and explained that the first paragraphs were in Arabic, and consisted of a classic dedication, as was the practice with mystical works of this period. It was first dedicated to God, then Muhammad, and then in the highest terms of mystical poetry to one of the seekers who had sent Bahá’u’lláh his questions: To continue, I have hearkened to the song of the nightingale of knowledge upon the twigs of the tree of thine inmost being, and to the cooing of the dove of certitude upon the branches of the bower of thine heart. Methinks I inhaled the fragrance of purity from the raiment of thy love and, in perusing they letter, attained thy very presence.
The point where Bahá’u’lláh switched from Arabic to Persian was at the point that said: And further: the stages that mark the wayfarers’ journey from their mortal abode to the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have referred to them as seven valleys, and others, as seven cities. And it is said that until the wayfarer taketh leave of self and traverseth these stages, he shall never attain the ocean of nearness and reunion nor taste of the matchless wine. The references to the wayfarer suddenly made me wonder if it was indeed The Seven Valleys that Bahá’u’lláh was referencing in regard to the attributes already mentioned in which the wayfarers… tread the path of the pursuit of the knowledge of certitude (or Positive Knowledge)
Moving on in his exposition of The Seven Valleys, Steven Phelps came to the phrases I had noted in a previous chapter about the Steed of the Valley of Search being Patience, and that the wayfarer should never become downhearted: If he strive for a hundred thousand years and yet fail to behold the beauty of the Friend, he should not falter. For those who seek the Kaaba of “for Us” rejoice on the tidings “In Our ways shall We assuredly guide them.” It was another Zikru’llah Khadem moment: Increase my astonishment at Thee O Lord! Yes Indeed! The place in which Bahá’u’lláh had previously mentioned the attributes of the true seeker was indeed The Seven Valleys! Furthermore, the synchronicity of being led to it so effortlessly itself brought a lot of comfort and rejoicing in the realisation that this process was a good example of what the phrase was referring to; In God’s ways being assuredly guided! The timing was so impeccable also, that it gave me a lot of faith in the ongoing process, and I look forward with joy, now that we have almost memorised and learnt to recite the essential conditions of the true seeker, to exploring the realms ahead in the Tablet of the True Seeker, which evidently are also the rest of the valleys cities or stations in The Seven Valleys!
7 Kalimát Words 176 BE, 19 July 2019 CE
The heat of the fire of Search and Love burneth in the heart! Thrashed at the ED last night I had very little sleep so went back to sleep after 4 hours and had almost 2 hours of deep REM sleep in which I had a recurrent dream of having to include one more tablet in my memorisation process. The tablet was from a woman, but I could not quite make out who that woman was, except she seemed to be very exalted beyond my full visualization and acquaintance, but it went on for a couple of hours, so on rising the tantalising dream was on my mind. After doing the obligatory LOP and 95AAs and meditating with the Words I was drawn again to Marzieh Gail’s book, and moving on in the reading discovered a real gem entitled “For Love of Me…”.
We go through life hitching our wagons to stars that fall; where-upon we are miserable and lasso the next ones. Our leaves shrivel, our moons wane, the marbles we build our statues of are crumbled. Only God is worthy to be worked for. And to achieve this detachment from everything except God we require prayer. His Holiness Bahá’u’lláh says: (in Arabic Hidden Word 16): O Son of Light! Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit. This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it.
Then there were some words about how the power of Mercy and Forgiveness is what we need to accept in our lives to become whole and happy. That’s all we need to do – accept the offer of forgiveness! (The people) are afraid of the justice of God, and they have forgotten the ocean of His mercy (an infinite, sunlit, peaceful ocean). They have not read the glad tiding of Bahá’u’lláh, and the prayer which He has revealed for those who have sinned.
Later in the essay we read… then there is the question, ‘to whom shall we pray?’ … Who God is eludes our finite minds. We must therefore pray to the attributes of God in their fullest and most clearly represented form – we must seek them in His highest creation – man. And among men, we must turn, if we seek God, to the most perfect man – His Manifestation.
…The desire to pray is, like everything else, strengthened with practice and atrophied through disuse. In the latter case people are forever restless and longing for something and dissatisfied with every new possession. But if one prays, one is always refreshed and re-interested. ‘`Abdu’l-Bahá says, (In Paris Talks) ‘When a man turns his face to God, he finds sunshine everywhere’.
Before moving onto Marzieh Gail’s next essay Notes on Persian Love Poems, I was amused to find that she finished her exquisitely constructed little essay on the Power of Prayer with a comment that showed a unique sense of humour, and a mind that had reflected on the secret nooks and crannies of the Elizabethan court. In her time Marzieh Gail spent ten years in Europe as a Bahá’í pioneer, and in this time, she was also a scholar of historical research on the Middle Ages and Renaissance, so her last paragraph must be referring to the times of Queen Elizabeth 1, when people generally washed only several times a year, and used lots of perfume to conceal the more offensive odours! Lol… J
No doubt future generations will look back at this prayerless age with the same uneasiness with which we contemplate the unwashed courtiers of Queen Elizabeth.
Then as a natural next step on the trail, knowing that in his time Steven Phelps had been a student at the feet of Marzieh Gail, and was now a burning fire in his own essence, I went to make notes on the last 20 minutes or so of his 2nd Workshop, focused on the 1st Valley of Search, but also going into detail about how this Valley in many ways merges with the 2nd Valley of Love. Where we left off in the study group was at the words saying that the steed of the Valley of Search is Patience: without patience the wayfarer on this journey will reach nowhere and attain no goal. Nor should he ever become downhearted: If he strive for a hundred thousand years and yet fail to behold the beauty of the Friend, he should not falter. Then came the reference to the words of Muhammad… For those who seek the Kaaba of “for Us” rejoice in the tidings “In Our ways shall We assuredly guide them.”
At this point at around 0108 in the Video Steven Phelps pointed out that the Words seem to say that the goal of beholding the Beauty of the friend is an unattainable goal, but then he read a few passages from Gleaningsthat demonstrate for the true seeker on the path, that to behold the Beauty of the Beloved can also be only a breath away, or a step away, and the way to get there is to feed the flame in your heart till it is burning with such fierceness that it will allow you to attain your supreme and most exalted goal. To illustrate how close is this Ocean, and its lustrous pearls he read a quote from Gleaningsthat the Blessed guardian Shoghi Effendi himself quoted in his book The Promised Day is Come “O My servants! The one true God is My witness! This most great, this fathomless and surging ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer to you than your life vein! Swift as the twinkling of an eye ye can, if ye but wish it, reach and partake of this imperishable favor, this God-given grace, this incorruptible gift, this most potent and unspeakably glorious bounty.”
8 Kalimát Words 176 BE, 20 July 2019 CE
So now having had my heart kindled into a flame by listening again to the recording of Marzieh Gail’s voice from the encounter in Chapter 3, and having just read the next essay in her book; Notes on Persian Love Poems, I think I might be feeling a little of the ardour of Majnún in his search for Laylí in the world of the dust, as told by the Blessed Beauty Himself in the 1stValley of Search, when He said: One must judge of search by the standard of the Majnún of love. There was a footnote here saying: Majnún means “madman”. This is the title of the celebrated lover of ancient Persian and Arabian lore whose beloved was Laylí. Symbolising true human love bordering on the divine, the story has been the theme of many Persian romantic poems, most famously that of ‘Niẓāmī, written in 1188.
At this point Steven Phelps pointed out that Bahá’u’lláh was illustrating that the Valleys of Love and Search are inseparable by telling us that we need to be consumed with love on the path of search even in the dust… and he then read to his group Paragraph 7 of the TOTTS, the Paragraph that inspired this quest in the first place! From this point Bahá’u’lláh continued: It is related that one day they came upon Majnún sifting the dust, his tears flowing down. They asked, “What doest thou?” He said, “I seek for Laylí.” “Alas for thee!” they cried, “Laylí is of pure spirit, yet thou seekest her in the dust!” He said, “I seek her everywhere; haply somewhere I shall find her.”
Yea, though to the wise it be shameful to seek the Lord of Lords in the dust, yet this betokeneth intense ardour in searching. “Whoso seeketh out a thing and persisteth with zeal shall find it.” 20
A few paragraphs later while describing the condition of the seeker in these two valleys of limitation Bahá’u’lláh says: He joineth every company and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some heart he may discern the secret of the Beloved, or in some face behold the beauty of the Adored One. Steven Phelps in turn said that in this phrase permission is given to explore the world of dust like Majnún searching for Laylí, which I reflected was what I was doing looking at all the historical books and YouTube documentaries looking for the truth and the beauty of history and the real events behind the fake news. But I also reflected that I was VERY fortunate in finding some real gold in this beautiful aspect of the Maid of Heaven who was delivering not only the truth of the history of humankind but also the importance of prayer and communication with God, and true spiritual history as in today’s masterly piece dedicated to her father, known in the west as Ali Kuli Khan, whose pen-name was Ishti’al – Aflame – and presenting an example of his inspired poetry coming out of his ancient Zoroastrian Magian roots, passing the intensity of the flame on through his beloved daughter… who wrote about her father…
The young man, who had gone on a journey by then and was in the town of Senna, capital of Persian Kurdistan, wrote a poem in which he offered his life to the great Son of Bahá’u’lláh and begged permission to be there with him in the prison city. The lines of this ode show his familiarity with Persian mystic poetry and also his ecstatic love. Students of this poetry will recognise the classical style and terminology, will note the Joseph story from the Qur’an, the lover’s madness and ill-repute, the lover’s disregard of reason, the Zoroastrians’ secret drinking place (wine was forbidden to Muslims), the symbolic wine, the Majnún story, the Beloved’s tangled hair, the Beloved’s likeness to a cypress tree, the author’s pen-name in the closing lines. The present writer (translator of the ode and daughter of the poet) would like to call particular attention to the Sun of Truth stanza which refers to the youth’s recognition of `Abdu’l-Bahá’s station, then recently conferred by Bahá’u’lláh.
The poem had 12 stanzas each one ending in the Words ‘Thy Face’ and the stanza MG is referring to here, which is Paragraph number 8, went as follows.
As the Sun of Truth rose out of this earthly world of His,
He opened up before thee His secret treasure store.
The effulgence of Thy beauty flashed from that world into this,
And from nothingness, the Divine Decree stood humbly at Thy door,
And said; ‘Obedient to Thy wish and will, I bow before Thy face’.
According to MG `Abdu’l-Bahá understood. He did not turn the youth away. His answer, the original of which, illuminated by a Persian artist, now hangs on a wall in New Hampshire, said to praise not `Abdu’l-Bahá but Bahá’u’lláh, the Manifestation of God. This is the text:
He is the All-Glorious of the All-Glorious!
O thou who art drunk with the wine of the Covenant!
Thy verses were full of savour; they were running waters, a fount of learning, and most sweetly eloquent. Reading them cheered and refreshed us. From the consuming blaze of that yearning heart a flame was kindled in ours and our whole being responded and caught fire.
Light up Love’s fire,
Throw on the pyre
All things that be.
Then with one step (it is not far)
Enter the place where the lovers are.
`Abdu’l-Bahá’s tablet to the young man went on for several more verses in the same sort of poetic romantic language, that must have made his heart burn even more fiercely with his Love, which evidently his daughter came to understand and appreciate and was able to convey to the western world in her exquisite writings… She completed her beautiful Notes on Persian Love Poems with some more words about her Dad.
Many a time, before he finally did get to ‘Akka, he must – being literary-minded – have remembered these lines from Hafiz:
There’ll be no end to longing till I find my heart’s desire
Either I’ll win my own Heart’s Life or lose my life entire.
But this I know, though I be dead, my body will burn on:
Open my grave when I am gone
And see my shroud on fire.
Such thoughts must have moved him when he set out, one snowy afternoon, left his home with no good-byes and walked away through the city gates. Part of his journey was on foot to the Caspian, by ship to Baku, then steerage from some Caucasian port to Constantinople, and finally at long last, to the prison of ‘`Abdu’l-Bahá. It is a long time ago now, and he and Those he sought have left this earth, but the letters and verses are still here; the love is still alive.
Marzieh Gail’s Notes on Persian Love Poems was published in World Order, 2, no 3 (Spring 1968), 16-22. The material was © Copyrighted by the National Assembly of the Bahá’ís of the United States, but the fire of Search and Love filled my heart so much I had to throw all caution to the winds and I just had to transcribe her words, realising that she had now gone to join her beloved father, but her love was also still alive. In the small excerpt hyperlinked in Chapter 3 she also filled in some more of the history of what happened to her dad when he got to ‘Akka and was admitted to `Abdu’l-Bahá’s presence, told in her refined and loving tones, laughing at times, as she explained her dad had only seen pictures of the young `Abdu’l-Bahá and now his hair was starting to turn iron grey. The young man had such a shock as he thought he was seeing Bahá’u’lláh and he fainted right away. `Abdu’l-Bahá had him revived and when he found out that he was fluent in English he gave him a whole stack of tablets and told him to move to America and translate them for the people. Her father protested that he was not learned in the Arabic, but only in the Persian, but `Abdu’l-Bahá said it did not matter and gave him a big handkerchief full of candy and told him he would do it anyway! Her father then obediently moved to America, married an American woman who gave birth to his beautiful daughter, and became a skilled translator of Arabic and Persian. This skill he then passed on to his daughter and helped her to translate several oceans of His Words including The Seven Valleys, along with many other tablets, a whole series of literary gems, lustrous pearls of great price for us to value and appreciate for their spiritual fire that never fails to kindle the heart.
9 Kalimát 176 BE, 21 July 2019 CE
Aware of the fact that I am writing this chapter all within a few days, as my work stint is ending tomorrow, and I am taking a longer break than usual and doing some travelling with my wife, which will not allow for so much focus on the TOTTS, I feel under a little pressure to finish the writing for this month. It is also becoming apparent that first 6 Paragraphs and learning the 36 essential conditions without which we cannot be called a true seeker, equates with the early stages of the Seven Valleys, perhaps to the 3 Valleys of limitation. Hence after writing the above section yesterday I went to re-watch Steven Phelps 3rd workshop about the 2nd Valley of Love, where the steed is pain, but instead I was drawn to a report of the Iranians capturing 2 British oil tankers in a tit tit for tat after the Brits seized an Iranian tanker off Gibraltar last week. Tensions are evidently rising, and I remembered the dream I had of the 3 terrorists – which were increasingly emerging in my recognition as the States or Nations of the UK, USA, and Israel - being taken out completely…
This fit into the contemplations and meditations as I later focused on the 2nd and 3rd Valleys, but first I noticed, as another little exquisitely timed gift from the Universe another post from Robert Sepehr on his Atlantean Gardens YouTube channel entitled Shams the Sun. This was an irresistible watch, and an echo from the mystical realm of contemplation with MG and her father, as I had earlier read in her essay a reference to Shams, meaning Sun in Persian, who was also the beloved teacher of Rumi.
Then moving on to SP’s 3rd study group I listened again to his introduction, in which he talked about the meaninglessness of materialistic western civilisation and the massive hole in our beings where God should be, and how this book The Call of the Divine Beloved, along with its companion volume from the early mystical writings, Gems of Divine Mysteries– can fill the hole. At the end of the workshop this topic came up again and SP brought to attention the fact that this hole is not a bad thing, as it is a stage in evolution from the encrusted belief systems of former times and old religions, and is a necessary step before we discover new life in the new dispensation, and immerse ourselves in the true essence of the Valleys of Love and Knowledge before we leave the Valleys of limitation.
Moving on again I noted the synchronicity of Steven Phelps’ discourse, when he pointed out that the journey through the first 3 Valleys of limitation is contained and summarised in the first sentence of Paragraph 7, and he talked about almost being able to see the ascending scale, the steps on the ladder of ascent in this sentence, taking us from Search to Knowledge … Only when the Lamp of Search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture and ecstasy, is kindled within the Seekers heart, and the breeze of HIS loving kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. This describes the wonderful transition from search all the way through to ecstasy and then to Knowledge and Certitude, really a thumbnail sketch of the 1st 3 Valleys of limitation
He then asked a question; What is the Pain of the Valley of Love caused by? `Abdu’l-Bahá says it is like a normal human birth, a painful process that ends up in the ecstasy of the parents. In another way it is painful because of the fire of burning away the dross and purifying the gold. The only way one can understand this is by being burned - the understanding of this Valley is only attained by the experience of the Valley – it cannot be communicated. In Sufi understanding there are 3 stages of Knowledge, as in the knowledge of Fire... 1. You can read about or hear about fire and on one level you will understand it. 2. When you see the fire you understand it on a deeper level and then 3. You can attain full understanding by being burned by the fire. So, no tongue can tell this knowledge; and Steven Phelps then quotes Bahá’u’lláh from later on in the Seven Valleys from the Valley of Contentment, where the true seeker will come to after being burned by the fire … Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers; No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it.
There are so many ecstatic phrases and words in this wonderful ocean that is The Seven Valleys, but Joseph and his Rainbow cloak has been a theme in the last chapter, so this reading was very timely… O My Brother! Until thou enter the Egypt of love, thou shalt never come to the Joseph of the Beauty of the Friend; and until, like Jacob, thou forsake thine outward eyes, thou shalt never open the eye of thine inward being; and until thou burn with the fire of love, thou shalt never commune with the Lover of Longing.
It is interesting to me that the story of Joseph and his multi coloured cloak is told in a great deal of detail in the Qur’an and SP retold the whole story, reminding us that at the end of the story his father Jacob was blind but recognised this was the true Joseph by “the fragrance of his garment”. With the deeper meaning of this now becoming apparent that this was his Rainbow body of Light, this resonates with the words of Bahá’u’lláh about recognising the fragrance of the Beloved over immeasurable distances. Thus, when spiritual abilities are awakened, and the olfactory sense is lit up so to speak, we might have the ability to detect the truth and sniff it out at a great distance. There is yet more to discover in this realm as the first writing of the Báb delivered for Mullah Hussein that precious night at the very beginning of the Bahá’í Era, was the Suriy of Joseph, yet to be translated into English.
At 48 minutes into the workshop Steven Phelps went into a discourse on Love, and spent some time talking about AB’s understanding of Love, including when He said Release yourself from the world of life, and at every stage long for non-existence. When the ray returneth to the Sun it is wiped out, and when the drop cometh to the sea it vanisheth, and when the true lover findeth his beloved he yieldeth up his soul. This was from Selection 36 of Selections of the Writings of `Abdu’l-Bahá, to bring in another mention of the 36 in this chapter! SP then talked about the incredible depth of understanding `Abdu’l-Bahá had of the different meanings of love and mentioned an amazing commentary he made on this subject at the age of 19, on the 4 stages of Love. Space does not allow any further expansion on this here, but there is enough space to write out some Words `Abdu’l-Bahá gave the very first group of pilgrims to arrive in Haifa in the Year 1900, recorded in Pilgrim Notes, which pretty much sums it up … The Love of God is like the Sun. It shines upon everything and this is His relationship to man. But the love of man to God is borrowed Light because it is impossible for man to love unless God has first loved. Love is the greatest bounty of God.
Steven Phelps completed his discussion on Love and the Valley of Love at 0108 in his 3rd study group, and then there was an extended discussion by the fortunate participants, and then even more depth of discussion in the comments below the YouTube video. I was inspired to read the comments of Nick Okamoto which brought several flashes of inspiration, triggered by SP’s comments, in this workshop and in the next one where he discussed the different meanings of the English word Knowledge… There are several levels and types of Knowledge, with acquired knowledge, or book knowledge being pretty low on the scale, and internal inspired intuitive knowledge being the highest form and only accessible though the Valley of Love and beyond
Nick Okamoto’s comments below the video so filled in my own understanding of the first 3 Valleys, that I want to include them entirely, especially as he reminded me in his opening, to not forget to order Dr Nader Saiedi’s book! So, as I detect the fragrance of the Beloved in his writing, in much the same way as I detected it in the writings of MG, I will copy his thoughts in green ink… ‘When you mentioned the steed of pain @29:56, and the steed of patience in the previous session, it brings to mind one of several mind blowing moments I had while reading Dr. Nader Saiedi's book Logos and Civilization (L&C). I used to think it was strange that the first two valleys have steeds, but then Baha'u'llah seems to just drop that steed motif for the remaining valleys. What I was failing to notice (as pointed out in chapter 3 of L&C) was the "spatial metaphor" employed in the text.
‘Reading through the Valley of Search gives me the sense of aimless wandering through the wilderness, not knowing which direction to head, not knowing if the beloved is leagues away or around the next bend. We are "wandering distracted in search of the Friend," and become like Majnun sifting the dust searching for any trace of his beloved. "In every face he seeketh the beauty of the Friend; in every region he searcheth after the Beloved. He joineth every company and seeketh fellowship with every soul, that haply in some heart he may discern the secret of the Beloved, or in some face behold the beauty of the Adored One." "Labour is needed, if we are to seek Him; ardour is needed, if we are to drink the nectar of reunion with Him; and if we taste of this cup, we shall cast away the world."
The next valley is attained when we find "a trace of the traceless Friend," as we see in paragraph 14: "if, by the help of the Creator, he findeth on this journey a trace of the traceless Friend, and inhaleth the fragrance of the long-lost Joseph from the heavenly herald, he shall straightway step into the Valley of Love and be consumed in the fire of love." We have picked up the scent and are now galloping our steed of pain in the direction of the beloved. As I understand it, the pain of our separation from the Beloved needs to outweigh the pain of burning away the veils that separate us from our Beloved. "Kindle the fire of love and burn away all things; Then set thy foot into the land of the lovers."
"And if, confirmed by the Creator, the lover escapeth the claws of the eagle of love, he will enter the Realm of Knowledge and come out of doubt into certitude...." This section gives me the sense of proximity to the Beloved, no longer in need of a steed. Here we can dismount (as `Abdu’l-Bahá would do when the Mansion of Bahji came into view) and proceed on foot to the abode of the Beloved. This Realm of Knowledge is "the last station of limitation," where the metaphor of physical separation comes to an end. After scaling a garden wall "with untold pain and trouble," then leaping down into the garden, we are reunited with the Beloved and advance into the "stations of unity."
With the pressure of having to pack up and prepare for a few weeks of travelling on me now, I am very happy to wind up the writing for this month, especially as the synchronicity of the writing process had me already quoting the first sentence of the Paragraph for next month, which is indeed the Paragraph 7 that was memorised 6 Badí months ago, now somewhat forgotten, but it should be easily dredged up from the long term memory banks and hence the following month of Kamal Perfection will be spent travelling and reciting the whole TOTTS from the top down so by the time we come back to our writing desk we should be reciting it whole and complete to the bottom of Para 7. For now, we will wind up the writing for the month of Kalimát Words, with a few more Words.
With tensions rising in the Middle East, God only knows how the planetary situation will be on return to this desk in a few weeks’ time. It doesn’t really matter of course, we can rest in assurance from the story given to us in the 3rd Valley of Knowledge, of the Lover who was totally consumed in his quest for the Beloved, and then becoming alarmed at being followed by a watchman … that wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself, “Surely this watchman is ‘Izra’il, my angel of death, following so fast upon me, or he is a tyrant of men, prompted by hatred and malice”.… Finally, with untold pain and trouble the wounded lover scaled a garden wall… And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost. When the heart-surrendered lover looked upon his ravishing love, he drew a great breath and lifted his hands in prayer, crying, “O God! Bestow honour upon the watch-man, and riches and long life. For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one; or he was Israfil, bringing life to this wretched one!”
So perhaps the lesson in this story is that instead of cursing John Bolton and the other Neo-cons for their false flag events or Israel Bibi Netanyahu with his war mongering, I should perhaps remain detached, and recall the words Bahá’u’lláh has given us in the Valley of Knowledge to put all these things into perspective… Now if the lover could have seen the end, he would from the beginning have blessed the watch-man, prayed God on his behalf, and seen his tyranny as justice; but since the end was veiled to him, he lamented and made his plaint in the beginning. Yet those who journey in the garden land of true knowledge, since they see the end in the beginning, behold peace in war and conciliation in enmity. Earlier in the Valley we had passed by an echo of this … He in this realm is content with the divine decree, and seeth war as peace, and in death findeth the meaning of everlasting life.
And finally, remembering the last sentence for memorisation in this month and some more Words from Muhammad… Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” [1] he shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the words: “In Our ways shall we assuredly guide him.” [2] …I found an echo of this, with another quote from the Qur’an in the Words concluding the passage through the 3rd Valley of Knowledge… If thou be a man of communion and prayer, soar upon the wings of assistance from the holy ones, that thou mayest behold the mysteries of the Friend and attain the lights of the Beloved: “Verily, we are God’s, and to Him shall we return.” (Qur’an 2:156)
The focus for the next month, of Kamal Perfection, will be on re-membering Paragraph Number 7 of the Tablet of the True Seeker.
Only when the Lamp of Search, of earnest striving, of longing desire, of passionate devotion, of fervid love, of rapture and ecstasy, is kindled within the Seekers heart, and the breeze of HIS loving kindness is wafted upon his soul, will the darkness of error be dispelled, the mists of doubts and misgivings be dissipated, and the lights of knowledge and certitude envelop his being. Then will the Mystic Herald, bearing the joyful tidings of the Spirit, shine forth from the City of God, resplendent as the morn, and through the trumpet blast of knowledge will awaken the heart, the soul and the spirit from the slumbers of heedlessness. Then will the manifold favours and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will contemplate the manifest signs of the universe and will penetrate the hidden mysteries of the soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute certitude. He will discover in all things the mysteries of Divine Revelation, and the evidences of an Everlasting Manifestation.
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