The Chosen Highway/Notes on the Baghdád Period
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VARIOUS DOCUMENTS
Notes ON THE BaGHDAD PERIOD
During the sojourn of Baha’u’llah in the desert mountain places of Sulaymaniyyih, the Sufis of those districts, with a profound reverence for Him Whom they knew as the “Nameless One, Who has magnetized the land with His love,” came to Him with their problems, craving for His explanations.
Baha’u’llah thus speaks of the time in the wilderness retreat:
“We took our departure . . . to deserts of solitude, and spent two years in the wilderness of isolation. Many a night we were destitute of food, and many a day the body found no rest.
“‘ Notwithstanding these showering afflictions and successive calamities
. we continued in perfect happiness and exceeding joy.”
When He was about to depart from the neighbourhood, these mystical people were disconsolate, and begged to know when and where they should see Him again.
“I go to Baghdad,” Baha’u’llah told them. “There you may find me.”
Accordingly, later on, having discovered His abode, one of these Sufis came to ask Him to describe “‘the journey of man towards his Creator.”
Thereupon Baha’u’llah wrote The Seven Valleys.
In that remarkable work He sets forth the lands through which a pilgrim must travel before reaching his destination, which is the “Recognition of the Manifestation of God.”
Hasan Balyuzi describes The Seven Valleys as “a gem of mystical prose, unsurpassed in its beauty, simplicity, and profundity.”
Whilst in exile in Baghdad, Baha’u’llah unsealed The Hidden Words.
After His return from the mountain land of Sulaymantyyih, walking on the bank of the river Tigris, or sheltering in the hut built by His devoted friends, clad in the red garment of
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prophecy Jamal-i-Mubarak, the Blessed Beauty, spoke thus of The Hidden Words:
“This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof, and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfil in their lives His trust, and in the realm of the spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue.”
In The Hidden Words we have the true unchangeable heart of all religion, the Voice of the Creator of all things visible and invisible, telling of the Beginning:
“O Son of Man!
“Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, engraved on thee Mine image, and revealed to thee My beauty.”
Thus the Voice calls upon us:
“TI loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name, and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.”
It is Love, Love always; but we must do our part. The Voice commands:
“Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O Servant!”
Doing our part, our destiny is assured:
“Thy Paradise is My love; thy heavenly home, reunion with Me. Enter therein and tarry not. This is that which hath been destined for thee in Our kingdom above, and Our exalted Dominion.”
Beauty is our inheritance:
“* Abandon not the everlasting Beauty for a beauty that must die. .
“O Son of Man!
“Rejoice in the gladness of thine heart, that thou mayest be worthy to meet Me and to mirror forth My beauty.
“Neglect not My commandments if thou lovest My beauty.”
Death has no power over us:
“*T have made death a messenger of joy to thee.
“Wherefore dost thou grieve? I made the light to shed on thee its splendour. Why dost thou veil thyself therefrom?
“The gates that open on the placeless stand wide... .
“O Son of Man! Thou art My dominion, and My dominion perisheth not, wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light, My light
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shall never be put out, why dost thou dread thine extinction? Thou art My glory, and My glory fadeth not; thou art My robe, My robe shall never be outworn. Abide therefore in thy love for Me. That thou mayest find Me in the realm of glory.
“My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy.”
Our rest and peace are in God alone:
“O Son of Man!
“Wert thou to speed through the immensity of space and traverse the expanse of heaven, yet thou shouldst find no rest save in submission to Our command and humbleness before Our Face.
“O Son of Spirit!
“There is no peace for thee, save by renouncing thyself and turning unto Me; for it behoveth thee to glory in My name, not in thine own; to put thy trust in Me and not in thyself, since I desire to be loved alone and above all that is.
“O Son of Glory!
“Be swift in the path of holiness, and enter the heaven of communion with Me. Cleanse thine heart with the burnish of the spirit, and hasten to the court of the Most High.”