“And he that feareth not God, God shall make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God.”

 

Eliot Porter

"In truth, the wayfarer who journeyeth unto God, who treadeth the snow-white Path and turneth towards the Crimson Pillar, will never reach his heavenly home unless his hands are empty of such worldly things as are cherished by men. “And he that feareth not God, God shall make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God.” 

Speak the Persian tongue, though the Arabian pleaseth more: Love indeed doth have a hundred other tongues in store.¹²³

How sweet in this connection is the following couplet:

Our hearts will be as open shells

Should He the pearls of grace bestow;

Our lives will ready targets be

Were He to hurl the darts of woe."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/932934309

123. Rúmí

“Love is a distinction never conferred upon a heart possessed by fear and dread.”

 

Reza Mostmand "So High A Calling"

"Whoso comprehendeth this station will assuredly conceal it, and were he to reveal but the faintest trace thereof, they would assuredly hang him from the gallows. And yet, by God, were a true seeker to be found, I would divulge it to him; for He saith: “Love is a distinction never conferred upon a heart possessed by fear and dread.”¹²²

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/956516480

122. From a Ḥadíth.

"This is the seat of the mystery “He doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth what He pleaseth."

 

O'Keeffe

"If the mystic knowers be among them that have attained the beauty of the Beloved, this station is the throne of the inmost heart and the secret of divine guidance. This is the seat of the mystery “He doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth what He pleaseth.” Should all that are in heaven and on earth attempt to unravel this exalted allusion and subtle mystery, from now until the Day whereon the Trumpet shall sound, yet would they fail to comprehend even a letter thereof, for this is the station of God’s immutable decree and His foreordained mystery. Hence, when asked regarding this matter, He made reply: “It is a bottomless sea that none shall ever fathom.” And when the question was repeated, He answered: “It is the blackest of nights through which none can find his way.”¹²¹

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/191856609

121. From a Ḥadíth.

"The lovers’ teacher is the Loved One’s beauty, His face their lesson and their only book."

 

"In this station, both instruction and apprenticeship are assuredly of no avail: 

   The lovers’ teacher is the Loved One’s beauty, 

   His face their lesson and their only book. 

   Learning of wonderment, of longing love their duty; 

   Not on learned chapters and dull themes they look. 

   The chains that bind them are His musky hair; 

   The Cyclic Scheme, to them, is but to Him a stair.¹¹⁹

Here followeth a supplication to God—blessed and glorified be He: 

   O Lord, O Thou Whose grace fulfilleth every need!

   To mention aught before Thee would be sin indeed.

   Allow this mote of knowledge hidden in my soul

   To free itself of lowly clay and reach its goal.

   And grant this drop of wisdom that

   Thou gavest me To be at last united with Thy mighty sea.¹²⁰

Thus do I say: There is no power nor strength except in God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/646035598

119 Rúmí. A reference to the Cyclic Theory of Avicenna (Abu-‘Alí Síná [980–1037]).
120 Rúmí

"They find all words of sense to be meaningless, and senseless words to be full of meaning."

 

"The dwellers of this abode know not the destination, yet they spur on their chargers. They see naught in the Beloved but His very Self. They find all words of sense to be meaningless, and senseless words to be full of meaning. They cannot distinguish head from foot or one limb from another. To them the mirage is water itself and departure is the mystery of return. Wherefore hath it been said: 

The story of Thy beauty reached the hermit’s dell; 

Crazed, he sought the Tavern where the wine they buy and sell. 

The love of Thee hath levelled down the fort of patience; 

The pain of Thee hath firmly barred the gate of hope as well." ¹¹⁸

~Baha'u'llah

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/940875560

118. Sa'dí

"Love shunneth this world and that world too; In him are lunacies seventy-and-two. The minstrel of love harpeth this lay: Servitude enslaveth, lordship doth betray."

 

"If the lovers be among them that abide within the precincts of the abode of the Lodestone of hearts, no soul may dwell on this kingly throne save the countenance of love. I am powerless to describe this station or to depict it in words. 

Love shunneth this world and that world too; In him are lunacies seventy-and-two. The minstrel of love harpeth this lay: Servitude enslaveth, lordship doth betray.¹¹⁶

This plane demandeth pure love and unalloyed affection. In describing these companions He saith: “They speak not till He hath spoken, and act according to His commandment.”¹¹⁷

In this station, neither the reign of the intellect is sufficient nor the rule of self. Thus one of the Prophets of God asked, “O my Lord, how shall I reach Thee?” And the answer came: “Leave thy self behind, and then approach Me.” 

In the estimation of such souls, to be seated amidst the sandals by the door is the same as to abide at the place of honour, and in the path of the Beloved the retreats of earthly beauty differ not from the field of a battle waged."

~Baha'u'llah

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)

www.bahai.org/r/741438210

116 Rúmí. 
117 Qur’án 21:27

“Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth.”

"This station is that of the true standard of knowledge and the final end of tests and trials. Nor is it needed, in this realm, to seek after knowledge, for He hath said concerning the guidance of wayfarers on this plane, “Fear ye God; God will teach you”,¹¹² and again, “Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth.”¹¹³

 Wherefore, one must make ready the receptacle and become worthy of the descent of heavenly bestowals, that the all-sufficing Cup-Bearer may give one to drink of the wine of bounty from the crystal chalice of mercy. “For this let the striving strive!”¹¹⁴ And now do I say, “Verily, we are God’s, and to Him shall we return.”¹¹⁵

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/259966900

112. Qur’án 2:282. 
113. From a Ḥadíth. 
114. Qur’án 83:26.
115.  Qur’án 2:156

"On this plane, the traveller meeteth with many a trial and reverse. Now is he lifted up to heaven, now is he cast into the depths."

 
"On this plane, the traveller meeteth with many a trial and reverse. Now is he lifted up to heaven, now is he cast into the depths. As it hath been said: “Now Thou drawest me to the throne of the realms above, again Thou scorchest me in the fire of hell.” The hidden mystery of this station is divulged in the following blessed verse from the Súrih of the Cave: “And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a guardian and guide.”¹¹⁰

If a soul could grasp the allusions that lie hid in this single verse, it would suffice him. Such indeed are those whom He hath extolled as “men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of God”.¹¹¹

~Bahá'u'lláh 

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/176338424

110. Qur’án 18:17.

111. Qur’án 24:37.

"As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well-nigh a century, has bitten into the fiber, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Bahá’í community at the present stage of its evolution."

"As to racial prejudice, the corrosion of which, for well-nigh a century, has bitten into the fiber, and attacked the whole social structure of American society, it should be regarded as constituting the most vital and challenging issue confronting the Bahá’í community at the present stage of its evolution. The ceaseless exertions which this issue of paramount importance calls for, the sacrifices it must impose, the care and vigilance it demands, the moral courage and fortitude it requires, the tact and sympathy it necessitates, invest this problem, which the American believers are still far from having satisfactorily resolved, with an urgency and importance that cannot be overestimated. White and Negro, high and low, young and old, whether newly converted to the Faith or not, all who stand identified with it must participate in, and lend their assistance, each according to his or her capacity, experience, and opportunities, to the common task of fulfilling the instructions, realizing the hopes, and following the example, of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá. Whether colored or noncolored, neither race has the right, or can conscientiously claim, to be regarded as absolved from such an obligation, as having realized such hopes, or having faithfully followed such an example. A long and thorny road, beset with pitfalls, still remains untraveled, both by the white and the Negro exponents of the redeeming Faith of Bahá’u’lláh. On the distance they cover, and the manner in which they travel that road, must depend, to an extent which few among them can imagine, the operation of those intangible influences which are indispensable to the spiritual triumph of the American believers and the material success of their newly launched enterprise."

Shoghi Effendi 

(The Advent of Divine Justice) 1937
www.bahai.org/r/720204804

"Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.”

 

"It must be remembered, however, that the maintenance of such a high standard of moral conduct is not to be associated or confused with any form of asceticism, or of excessive and bigoted puritanism. The standard inculcated by Bahá’u’lláh seeks, under no circumstances, to deny anyone the legitimate right and privilege to derive the fullest advantage and benefit from the manifold joys, beauties, and pleasures with which the world has been so plentifully enriched by an All-Loving Creator. “Should a man,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself reassures us, “wish to adorn himself with the ornaments of the earth, to wear its apparels, or partake of the benefits it can bestow, no harm can befall him, if he alloweth nothing whatever to intervene between him and God, for God hath ordained every good thing, whether created in the heavens or in the earth, for such of His servants as truly believe in Him. Eat ye, O people, of the good things which God hath allowed you, and deprive not yourselves from His wondrous bounties. Render thanks and praise unto Him, and be of them that are truly thankful.”

Bahá'u'lláh cited by Shoghi Effendi

(The Advent of Divine Justice)
www.bahai.org/r/114138899

“It behooveth the people of Bahá,” He also has written, “to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanctity.…"

“They that follow their lusts and corrupt inclinations,” is yet another warning, “have erred and dissipated their efforts. They indeed are of the lost.” “It behooveth the people of Bahá,” He also has written, “to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanctity.… They that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God by following the things of the flesh—these are in palpable error!” “Purity and chastity,” He particularly admonishes, “have been, and still are, the most great ornaments for the handmaidens of God. God is My Witness! The brightness of the light of chastity sheddeth its illumination upon the worlds of the spirit, and its fragrance is wafted even unto the Most Exalted Paradise.” “God,” He again affirms, “hath verily made chastity to be a crown for the heads of His handmaidens. Great is the blessedness of that handmaiden that hath attained unto this great station.” “We, verily, have decreed in Our Book,” is His assurance, “a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will turn away from wickedness, and lead a chaste and godly life. He, in truth, is the Great Giver, the All-Bountiful.” “We have sustained the weight of all calamities,” He testifies, “to sanctify you from all earthly corruption and ye are yet indifferent.… We, verily, behold your actions. If We perceive from them the sweet smelling savor of purity and holiness, We will most certainly bless you. Then will the tongues of the inmates of Paradise utter your praise and magnify your names amidst them who have drawn nigh unto God.”

Bahá'u'llláh cited by Shoghi Effendi

(The Advent of Divine Justice)
www.bahai.org/r/870655891

“The civilization,” is His grave warning, “so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.… If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.”

 

“A race of men,” is His written promise, “incomparable in character, shall be raised up which, with the feet of detachment, will tread under all who are in heaven and on earth, and will cast the sleeve of holiness over all that hath been created from water and clay.” “The civilization,” is His grave warning, “so often vaunted by the learned exponents of arts and sciences, will, if allowed to overleap the bounds of moderation, bring great evil upon men.… If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.” “He hath chosen out of the whole world the hearts of His servants,” He explains, “and made them each a seat for the revelation of His glory. Wherefore, sanctify them from every defilement, that the things for which they were created may be engraven upon them. This indeed is a token of God’s bountiful favor.” “Say,” He proclaims, “He is not to be numbered with the people of Bahá who followeth his mundane desires, or fixeth his heart on things of the earth. He is My true follower who, if he come to a valley of pure gold will pass straight through it aloof as a cloud, and will neither turn back, nor pause. Such a man is assuredly of Me. From his garment the Concourse on high can inhale the fragrance of sanctity.… And if he met the fairest and most comely of women, he would not feel his heart seduced by the least shadow of desire for her beauty. Such an one indeed is the creation of spotless chastity. Thus instructeth you the Pen of the Ancient of Days, as bidden by your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful.”

Bahá'u'lláh cited by Shoghi Effendi

(The Advent of Divine Justice)
www.bahai.org/r/870655891

"The things of the earth ill beseem you. Cast them away unto such as may desire them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and effulgent Vision.”

 

Tryon

“By the righteousness of God!” writes Bahá’u’lláh, “The world, its vanities and its glory, and whatever delights it can offer, are all, in the sight of God, as worthless as, nay even more contemptible than, dust and ashes. Would that the hearts of men could comprehend it. Wash yourselves thoroughly, O people of Bahá, from the defilement of the world, and of all that pertaineth unto it. God Himself beareth Me witness! The things of the earth ill beseem you. Cast them away unto such as may desire them, and fasten your eyes upon this most holy and effulgent Vision.” “O ye My loved ones!” He thus exhorts His followers, “Suffer not the hem of My sacred vesture to be smirched and mired with the things of this world, and follow not the promptings of your evil and corrupt desires.” And again, “O ye the beloved of the one true God! Pass beyond the narrow retreats of your evil and corrupt desires, and advance into the vast immensity of the realm of God, and abide ye in the meads of sanctity and of detachment, that the fragrance of your deeds may lead the whole of mankind to the ocean of God’s unfading glory.” “Disencumber yourselves,” He thus commands them, “of all attachment to this world and the vanities thereof. Beware that ye approach them not, inasmuch as they prompt you to walk after your own lusts and covetous desires, and hinder you from entering the straight and glorious Path.” “Eschew all manner of wickedness,” is His commandment, “for such things are forbidden unto you in the Book which none touch except such as God hath cleansed from every taint of guilt, and numbered among the purified.”

~Bahá'u'lláh cited by Shoghi Effendi

(The Advent of Divine Justice)
www.bahai.org/r/870655891

"This, verily, is a self-evident truth, for the braying of the donkey can never compare with the cooing of the dove."

 

"A myriad names and attributes have been ascribed to these degrees and stations, which I am disinclined to mention here. It is, indeed, solely because of thy longing and devotion that I have engaged in such ephemeral and limited topics. And this, notwithstanding that speech is the greatest evidence of the worth of the speaker and guideth unto the recognition of the source of guidance, for no more complete and enduring proof hath been or will be vouchsafed unto man from the empyrean of everlasting glory than words and utterance. This, verily, is a self-evident truth, for the braying of the donkey can never compare with the cooing of the dove. Never wilt thou hear from the raven the melodies of the nightingale, nor inhale from the abject beetle the fragrance of eternity."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/999178088

“Where’er I turn my gaze, ’tis Thee Whom I behold.”

 

"Yet others, assisted by the grace of the everlasting Friend, consume these veils with the fire of His love and step into the meads of ancient glory. That is, forsaking the wilderness of the “unity of existence”, they attain unto the ultimate abode of the “true appearance of the Divine Unity”. So clearly will they witness in this stage God’s all-encompassing mercy that in every created thing, both in the world and in the souls of men, they will behold Him Who hath been interpreted as the Holy Outpouring. No longer will they close their eyes to any beauty, nor stop their ears from hearkening to any voice. For there is no prohibition in this stage and no debarment, inasmuch as in all things they will discern, with both their outer and inner eyes, the revelation of the signs of Him Who is the King of all names and attributes, and in every atom they will find a door that leadeth to the garden of Divine Unity and the city of pure abstraction. “Where’er I turn my gaze, ’tis Thee Whom I behold.” So entirely will the hearts of the wayfarers be transported by longing for the ecstasies of this station that they will come to conceive no stage apart from this stage, to see themselves as abiding within the court of the Beloved and circling round His sanctuary, and to consider it as the ultimate abode of them that search and the uttermost station of such as have attained."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/248246133

"He will see no beauty but the Beloved’s and hear no utterance but His praise; that is, he will avert his gaze from aught save His beauty and refuse to hearken to any melody but the sweet accents of His voice."

 

"He will pass beyond the mortal world and approach the everlasting realm. He will see no beauty but the Beloved’s and hear no utterance but His praise; that is, he will avert his gaze from aught save His beauty and refuse to hearken to any melody but the sweet accents of His voice. Howbeit some are led astray even in this station; for no sooner do they inhale the fragrance of reunion, and hearken unto the voice of the doves of heavenly grace, than they imagine themselves to have attained perfection and wander lost in the wilderness of self-conceit, thus depriving themselves of the soft-flowing stream of divine providence and the ethereal cup of heavenly delight."

~Baha'u'llah

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/187153707

"At such times, the ascendancy of God’s names and attributes will so surround a soul as to leave it no place either to stay or to flee"

 

"Some wayfarers remain forever veiled in these stages. Others are assisted by invisible aid from the Source of unfailing grace, whereat the hosts of the Realm on high raise the tabernacle of divine power, and the ascendency of “and verily Our host shall conquer”⁹³ is manifested, obliterating the signs and standards of every worldly attachment and limitation, even as alluded to by some who have attained this station. At such times, the ascendancy of God’s names and attributes will so surround a soul as to leave it no place either to stay or to flee. This station, however, hath its own obscurities and impediments, for they that journey towards the land of Divine Unity and detachment are still wrapt within the confines of names and attributes, and take delight in their gardens and bowers. Thus it is that, in describing these stations, some have made reference to the “unity of existence” and the “unity of appearance”.⁹⁴ By this is meant that the seeker will close his eyes to all save his Beloved and open them to naught but His beauty."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/187153707

93. Cf. Qur’án 37:173.
94. A reference to two Ṣúfí concepts. The doctrine of the unity of existence is commonly ascribed to Ibnu’l-Arabí (1165–1240), that of the unity of appearance to Aḥmad Sirhindí (1564–1624). See ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Some Answered Questions, chapter 82.

“despair not of God’s mercy”

 

" ...At one time, the clouds of affliction and sorrow conceal the heavens of gladness and joy; at another, the eternal leviathan of love devoureth, in one fleeting moment, all manifestations of sadness, anguish, grief, and dejection, and the morn of divine guidance dawneth forth with the joyful tidings of “despair not of God’s mercy”,⁹² and the gentle breezes of His providence dispel every vestige of torpor and estrangement. These tidings, however, are not constant and immutable in these stations, and the wayfarer remaineth confined between the right hand of faith and assurance and the left hand of denial and despair."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/219845948

92 92. Qur’án 39:53. 

"From yet another vantage he perceiveth that the lover and the beloved are one and the same, and that the seeker is himself the very object of his search."

 

© 2020 Chuck Egerton

"From yet another vantage he perceiveth that the lover and the beloved are one and the same, and that the seeker is himself the very object of his search. “How can the lover from the loved one ever part?” ⁸⁹ So it is that, at times, the lovers of the celestial Beauty sound the clarion of “Say: All things are of God”, while, at others, they raise the call of “It is from thyself.” ⁹⁰

Some have related the aforementioned stages to the inner and outer journeys of the soul, which is the station of “the knowledge of certitude”, whilst others that have quaffed the wine of reunion regard each and every stage as relating to that knowledge, and consider the two stations of “the eye of certitude” and “the truth of certitude” as being exalted above and sanctified beyond these realms and all that pertaineth unto them, even as hath been clearly affirmed by that mystic knower.⁹¹ For in all these stages the mirror of the wayfarer’s heart may bear the reflection of shadowy desires, wayward thoughts, and worldly attachments. Wherefore hath it been said that, in these stations, at one time the hosts of reason are triumphant and, at another, the armies of love prevail. ..."

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/122243831

•  

• 88 

  Rúmí. 

• 89 

  Rúmí. 

• 90 

  Qur’án 4:78–79.

“O for a drop to drink!” the thirsty soul doth groan; “O for a thirsty soul!” the spring in turn doth moan."

 

"Thus do the wayfarers in the wilderness of solitude and search experience events and conditions which, though to outward seeming be a mortal poison, are inwardly a wholesome draught, and though in appearance a passing mirage, are in reality pure and refreshing waters. Were I to attempt a full description of this station, neither could I express it nor the hearer grasp it. And whoso observeth with the eye of innate knowledge will confess, openly as well as privily, the selfsame truth. 

As to perceived differences, these can be attributed to the divers stations that have been attained by them that tread the path of search and mystic knowledge. Thus, at one time the wayfarer beholdeth the lover hastening in search of the beloved through the wilderness of desolation, and at another he seeth the beloved yearning for the lover across the wilds of longing and devotion, or wandering, aimless and bewildered, the wastes of love in his pursuit. “O for a drop to drink!” the thirsty soul doth groan;

 “O for a thirsty soul!” the spring in turn doth moan." ⁸⁸

~Bahá'u'lláh

(The Call of the Divine Beloved)
www.bahai.org/r/416990148