Click on any of the numbers below to go to a page of The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys: The Seven Valleys 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 The Four Valleys 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 |
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
of
BAHÁ'U'LLÁH
THE VALLEY OF SEARCH
For the infidel, error--for the faithful, faith;The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end. In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend.
For Attár's heart, an atom of Thy pain.
A lover is he who is chill in hell fire;Love accepteth no existence and wisheth no life: He seeth life in death, and in shame seeketh glory. To merit the madness of love, man must abound in sanity; to merit the bonds of the Friend, he must be full of spirit. Blessed the neck that is caught in His noose, happy the head that falleth on the dust in the pathway of His love. Wherefore, O friend, give up thy self that thou mayest find the Peerless One, pass by this mortal earth that thou mayest seek
A knower is he who is dry in the sea.+F13
Love seizeth not upon a living soul,Love setteth a world aflame at every turn, and he wasteth every land where he carrieth his banner. Being hath no existence in his kingdom; the wise wield no command within his realm. The leviathan of love swalloweth the master of reason and destroyeth the lord of knowledge. He drinketh the seven seas, but his heart's thirst is still unquenched, and he saith, "Is there yet any more?"+F15 He shunneth himself and draweth away from all on earth.
The falcon preyeth not on a dead mouse.+F14
Love's a stranger to earth and heaven too;He hath bound a myriad victims in his fetters, wounded a myriad wise men with his arrow. Know that every redness in the world is from
In him are lunacies seventy-and-two.+F16
Kindle the fire of love and burn away all things,And if, confirmed by the Creator, the lover escapes from the claws of the eagle of love, he will enter
Then set thy foot into the land of the lovers.+F17
THE VALLEY OF KNOWLEDGE
Split the atom's heart, and lo!The wayfarer in this Valley seeth in the fashionings of the True One nothing save clear providence, and at every moment saith: "No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the gaze: Seest thou a single flaw?"+F18 He beholdeth justice in injustice, and in justice, grace. In ignorance he findeth many a knowledge hidden, and in knowledge a myriad wisdoms manifest. He breaketh the cage of the body and the passions, and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm. He mounteth on the ladders of inner truth and hasteneth to the heaven of inner significance. He rideth in the ark of "we shall show them our signs in
Within it thou wilt find a sun.+F18
Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the loved one;At this hour the morn of knowledge hath arisen and the lamps of wayfaring and wandering are quenched.+F24
More than this I am not permitted to tell.+F16
Veiled from this was MosesIf thou be a man of communion and prayer, soar up on the wings of assistance from Holy Souls, that thou mayest behold the mysteries of the Friend and attain to the lights of the Beloved, "Verily, we are from God and to Him shall we return."+F25
Though all strength and light;
Then thou who hast no wings at all,
Attempt not flight.+F16
THE VALLEY OF UNITY
Cleanse thou the rheum from out thine headIn sum, the differences in objects have now been made plain. Thus when the wayfarer gazeth only upon the place of appearance--that is, when he seeth only the many-colored globes --he beholdeth yellow and red and white; hence it is that conflict hath prevailed among the
And breathe the breath of God instead.+F16
How shall a curtain part the lover and the loved one?
Not Alexander's wall can separate them!+F33
If Khidr did wreck the vessel on the sea,Otherwise, this Servant regardeth Himself as utterly lost and as nothing, even beside one of the beloved of God, how much less in the presence of His holy ones. Exalted be My Lord, the Supreme! Moreover, our aim is to recount the stages of the wayfarer's journey, not to set forth the conflicting utterances of the mystics.
Yet in this wrong there are a thousand rights.+F16
In thy soul of love build thou a fireO my friend, look upon thyself: Hadst thou not become a father nor begotten a son, neither wouldst thou have heard these sayings. Now forget them all, that thou mayest learn from the Master of Love in the schoolhouse of oneness, and return unto God, and forsake the inner land of unreality+F35 for thy true station, and dwell within the shadow of the tree of knowledge.
And burn all thoughts and words entire.+F16
If I speak forth, many a mind will shatter,Peace be upon him who concludeth this exalted journey and followeth the True One by the lights of guidance.
And if I write, many a pen will break.+F16,+F36
Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers;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
No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it.+F33
I am silent from weakness on many a matter,
For my words could not reckon them and my speech would fall short.+F38
How can feeble reason encompass the Qur'án,All these states are to be witnessed in the Valley of Wonderment, and the traveler at
Or the spider snare a phoenix in his web?+F13
Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny formThen we must labor to destroy the animal condition, till the meaning of humanity shall come to light.
When within thee the universe is folded?+F40
The tale is still unfinished and I have no heart for it--The pen groaneth and the ink sheddeth tears, and the river+F41 of the heart moveth in waves of blood. "Nothing can befall us but what God hath destined for us."+F42 Peace be upon him who followeth the Right Path!
Then pray forgive me.+F16
THE VALLEY OF TRUE POVERTY AND ABSOLUTE NOTHINGNESS
When the qualities of the Ancient of Days stood revealed,He who hath attained this station is sanctified from all that pertaineth to the world. Wherefore, if those who have come to the sea of His presence are found to possess none of the limited things of this perishable world, whether it be outer wealth or personal opinions, it mattereth not. For whatever the creatures have is limited by their own limits, and whatever the
Then the qualities of earthly things did Moses burn away.+F16
The Beloved shineth on gate and wallNow hast thou abandoned the drop of life and come to the sea of the Life-Bestower.
Without a veil, O men of vision.+F12
Even as the sun, bright hath He shined,In this Valley, the wayfarer leaveth behind him the stages of the "oneness of Being and Manifestation"+F47 and reacheth a oneness that is sanctified above these two stations. Ecstasy alone can encompass this theme, not utterance nor argument; and whosoever hath dwelt at this stage of the journey, or caught a breath from this garden land, knoweth whereof We speak.
But alas, He hath come to the town of the blind!+F16
When the pen set to picturing this station,Salám!+F51 O My friend! Many a hound pursueth this gazelle of the desert of oneness; many a talon claweth at this thrush of the eternal garden. Pitiless ravens do lie in wait for this bird of the heavens of God, and the huntsman of envy stalketh this deer of the meadow of love.
It broke in pieces and the page was torn.+F13
Live free of love, for its very peace is anguish;Peace be upon him who followeth the Right Path! *
Its beginning is pain, its end is death.+F38
THE FOUR VALLEYS
THE FOUR VALLEYS
He is the Strong, the Well-Beloved!O light of truth, Hisám-i-Dín, the bounteous,I am wondering why the tie of love was so abruptly severed, and the firm covenant of friendship broken. Did ever, God forbid, My devotion lessen, or My deep affection fail, that thou hast thus forgot Me and blotted Me from thy thoughts?
No prince hath the world begot like unto Thee!+F1
What fault of Mine hath made thee cease thy favors?
Is it that We are lowly and thou of high degree?+F2
I do as bidden, and I bring the message,Albeit I have received no answer to My letters and it is contrary to the usage of the wise to express My regard anew, yet this new love hath broken all the old rules and ways.
Whether it give thee counsel or offense.+F6
Tell us not the tale of Laylí or of Majnún's woe--
Thy love hath made the world forget the loves of long ago.
When once thy name was on the tongue, the lovers caught itAnd of divine wisdom and heavenly counsel, [Rúmí says]:
And it set the speakers and the hearers dancing to and fro.+F7
Each moon, O my beloved, for three days I go mad;We hear that thou hast journeyed to Tabríz and Tiflis to disseminate knowledge, or that some other high purpose hath taken thee to Sanandaj.+F8,+F9
Today's the first of these--'Tis why thou seest me glad.
THE FIRST VALLEY
If the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One (maqsúd), this station appertaineth to the self--but that self which is "The Self of God standing within Him with laws."+F10O thou soul who art well assured,which endeth:
Return to thy Lord, well-pleased, and pleasing unto Him.+F12
Enter thou among My servants,
And enter thou My paradise.+F12
The death of self is needed here, not rhetoric:Likewise is it written, "And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves. These are the wicked doers."+F17
Be nothing, then, and walk upon the waves.+F16
THE SECOND VALLEY
If the wayfarer's goal be the dwelling of the Praiseworthy One (Mahmúd),+F18 this is the station of primal reason which is known as the Prophet and the Most Great Pillar.+F19 Here reason signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created things--nor doth it refer to every feeble brain; for it is as the wise Saná'í hath written:How can feeble reason encompass the Qur'án,
Or the spider snare a phoenix in his web?
Wouldst thou that the mind should not entrap thee?
Teach it the science of the love of God!
THE THIRD VALLEY
If the loving seekers wish to live within the precincts of the Attracting One (Majdhúb),+F26 no soul may dwell on this Kingly Throne save the beauty of love. This realm is not to be pictured 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, kingship doth betray.+F27
The story of Thy beauty reached the hermit's dell;
Crazed, he sought the Tavern where the wine they buy and sell.In this realm, instruction is assuredly of no avail. The lover's teacher is the Loved One's beauty,
The love of Thee hath leveled down the fort of patience,
The pain of Thee hath firmly barred the gate of hope as well.+F29
His face their lesson and their only book.Here followeth a supplication to God, the Exalted, the Glorified:
Learning of wonderment, of longing love their duty,
Not on learned chapters and dull themes they look.
The chain that binds them is His musky hair,
The Cyclic Scheme,+F30 to them, is but to Him a stair.+F31
Every semblance, every shape that perisheth todaySee also Some Answered Questions, p. 326.
In the treasure-house of Time is safely stored away.
When the world revolveth to its former place,
Out of the Invisible He draweth forth its face.
O Lord! O Thou Whose bounty granteth wishes!Thus do I say: There is no power or might save in God, the Protector, the Self-Subsistent.+F33
I stand before Thee, all save Thee forgetting.
Grant that the mote of knowledge in my spirit
Escape desire and the lowly clay;
Grant that Thine ancient gift, this drop of wisdom,
Merge with Thy mighty sea.+F32
THE FOURTH VALLEY
If the mystic knowers be of those who have reached to the beauty of the Beloved One (Mahbúb), this station is the apex of consciousness and the secret of divine guidance. This is the center of the mystery: "He doth what He willeth, ordaineth what He pleaseth."+F34Speak in the Persian tongue, though the Arab please thee more;
A lover hath many a tongue at his command.+F37
See, our hearts come open like shells, when He raineth grace like pearls,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.+F38
And our lives are ready targets, when agony's arrows He hurls.
The duty of long years of love obeyThis 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:
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.+F42
Never the covetous heart shall come to the stealer of hearts,For this is the realm of Absolute Command and is free of all the attributes of earth.
Never the shrouded soul unite with beauty's rose.
It is not fitting that I tell thee more,For the mystery of this utterance is hid within the storehouse of the Great Infallibility+F50 and laid up in the treasuries of power. It is sanctified above the jewels of explanation; it is beyond what the most subtle of tongues can tell.
For the stream's bed cannot hold the sea.+F49
I seek thy nearness, dearer than sweet Heaven;When I entrusted this message of love to My pen, it refused the burden, and it swooned away. Then coming to itself, it spoke and said, "Glory be to Thee! To Thee do I turn in penitence, and I am the first of them that believe."+F56 Praise be to God, the Lord of the worlds!
I see thy visage, fairer than Paradise bowers.+F55
Let us tell, some other day
This parting hurt and woe;
Let us write, some other way,
Love's secrets--better so.
Leave blood and noise and all of these,Peace be upon thee, and upon those who circle around thee and attain thy meeting.
And say no more of Shams-i-Tabríz.+F57