“Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved.”

"How sweet is this couplet which revealeth such a truth:
See, our hearts come open like shells, when He raineth grace like pearls,
And our lives are ready targets, when agony’s arrows He hurls.

And were it not contrary to the Law of the Book, I would verily bequeath a part of My possessions to the one who would put Me to death, and I would name him My heir; yea, I would bestow upon him a portion, would render him thanks, would seek to refresh Mine eyes with the touch of his hand. But what can I do? I have no possessions, no power, and this is what God hath ordained. 5

Methinks at this moment, I catch the fragrance of His garment 6 blowing from the Egypt of Bahá; 7 verily He seemeth near at hand, though men may think Him far away. 8 My soul doth smell the perfume shed by the Beloved One; My sense is filled with the fragrance of My dear Companion.
The duty of long years of love obey

And tell the tale of happy days gone by,
That land and sky may laugh aloud today,
And it may gladden mind and heart and eye. 9

This is the realm of full awareness, of utter self-effacement. Even love is no pathway to this region, and longing hath no dwelling here; wherefore is it said, “Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved.” Here love becometh an obstruction and a barrier, and all else save Him is but a curtain. The wise Saná’í hath written:

Never the covetous heart shall come to the stealer of hearts,
Never the shrouded soul unite with beauty’s rose.

For this is the realm of Absolute Command and is free of all the attributes of earth."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, The Four Valleys; Fourth Valley, pp. 59-60

5. This was revealed before the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh. The lines following refer to the imminence of His Manifestation.
6. Literally, the garment of Ha’, which is the letter “H” and here represents Bahá.
7. This reference is to the story of Joseph in the Qur’án and the Bible.
8. This refers to those who did not expect the imminent advent of Him Whom God Shall Manifest.
9. The Mathnaví.

The Shrine of the Báb 

on Mt. Carmel, Haifa, Israel, 

veiled during renovation.