“And whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways will We guide them.”

"The stages that mark the wayfarer’s journey from the abode of dust to the heavenly homeland are said to be seven. Some have called these Seven Valleys, and others, Seven Cities. And they say that until the wayfarer taketh leave of self, and traverseth these stages, he shall never reach to the ocean of nearness and union, nor drink of the peerless wine. The first is

The Valley of Search

The steed of this Valley is patience; without patience the wayfarer on this journey will reach nowhere and attain no goal. Nor should he ever be 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 Ka‘bih 8 of “for Us” rejoice in the tidings: “In Our ways will We guide them.” 9 In their search, they have stoutly girded up the loins of service, and seek at every moment to journey from the plane of heedlessness into the realm of being. No bond shall hold them back, and no counsel shall deter them.

It is incumbent on these servants that they cleanse the heart—which is the wellspring of divine treasures—from every marking, and that they turn away from imitation, which is following the traces of their forefathers and sires, and shut the door of friendliness and enmity upon all the people of the earth."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, Valley of Search, pp. 4-5

8.The holy Sanctuary at Mecca. Here the word means “goal.”

9.Qur’án 29:69: “And whoso maketh efforts for Us, in Our ways will We guide them.”