"The journeys in the pathway of love are reckoned as four ..."

"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."


-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valley, p. 25

"If I speak forth, many a mind will shatter, And if I write, many a pen will break."

"O thou dear one! Impoverish thyself, that thou mayest enter the high court of riches; and humble thy body, that thou mayest drink from the river of glory, and attain to the full meaning of the poems whereof thou hadst asked.

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 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.

   
    If I speak forth, many a mind will shatter,
    And if I write, many a pen will break. 20 , 21

Peace be upon him who concludeth this exalted journey and followeth the True One by the lights of guidance." ...

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, pp. 28-29

20. The Mathnaví. 
21. This refers to Bahá’u’lláh Himself, Who had not yet declared His mission.

“There was God and there was naught beside Him.”

"O friend, till thou enter the garden of such mysteries, thou shalt never set lip to the undying wine of this Valley. And shouldst thou taste of it, thou wilt shield thine eyes from all things else, and drink of the wine of contentment; and thou wilt loose thyself from all things else, and bind thyself to Him, and throw thy life down in His path, and cast thy soul away. However, there is no other in this region that thou need forget: “There was God and there was naught beside Him.”4 For on this plane the traveler witnesseth the beauty of the Friend in everything. Even in fire, he seeth the face of the Beloved. He beholdeth in illusion the secret of reality, and readeth from the attributes the riddle of the Essence. "...


-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, p. 30-31


 4. Hadíth, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muḥammad or to one of the holy Imáms.

"Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers; No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it."

... "The pen steppeth not into this region, the ink leaveth only a blot. In these planes, the nightingale of the heart hath other songs and secrets, which make the heart to stir and the soul to clamor, but this mystery of inner meaning may be whispered only from heart to heart, confided only from breast to breast.

Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers;
No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it. 2

I am silent from weakness on many a matter,
For my words could not reckon them and my speech would fall short. 3

O friend, till thou enter the garden of such mysteries, thou shalt never set lip to the undying wine of this Valley. " ...

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, p. 30

2.	Háfiz: Shamsu’d-Dín Muḥammad, of Shíráz, died ca. 1389 A.D. One of the greatest of Persian poets.
3.	Arabian poem.

"How many a mystic tree hath this whirlwind of wonderment snatched by the roots, how many a soul hath it exhausted."

"Now is he struck dumb with the beauty of the All-Glorious; again is he wearied out with his own life. How many a mystic tree hath this whirlwind of wonderment snatched by the roots, how many a soul hath it exhausted. For in this Valley the traveler is flung into confusion, albeit, in the eye of him who hath attained, such marvels are esteemed and well beloved. At every moment he beholdeth a wondrous world, a new creation, and goeth from astonishment to astonishment, and is lost in awe at the works of the Lord of Oneness."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, p. 32

"Indeed, O Brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad perfect wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths."

"Indeed, O Brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall witness a myriad perfect wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths. One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets are deposited therein, how many wisdoms treasured up, how many worlds concealed. Observe, how thou art asleep in a dwelling, and its doors are barred; on a sudden thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy feet or wearying thy body; without using thine eyes, thou seest; without taxing thine ears, thou hearest; without a tongue, thou speakest. And perchance when ten years are gone, thou wilt witness in the outer world the very things thou hast dreamed tonight."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys, p. 32

“O Lord, increase my astonishment at Thee!”

"All these states are to be witnessed in the Valley of Wonderment, and the traveler at every moment seeketh for more, and is not wearied. Thus the Lord of the First and the Last in setting forth the grades of contemplation, and expressing wonderment hath said: “O Lord, increase my astonishment at Thee!” Likewise, reflect upon the perfection of man’s creation, and that all these planes and states are folded up and hidden away within him.

Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form
When within thee the universe is folded? 2

Then we must labor to destroy the animal condition, till the meaning of humanity shall come to light."

-Bahá'u'lláh, The Seven Valleys And the Four Valleys , pp. 33-34

2. ‘Alí.