Concerning the questions of Manakji Limji Hataria 6 страница
or in some face he may behold the beauty of the Loved [One].
The Tablets of the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys CHAPTER THREE
Divisions 51-80
Valley of Love
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
51.
And if, by the help of God, he findeth on this journey a trace of the traceless Friend,
and inhaleth the fragrance of the long-lost Joseph from the heavenly messenger,
he shall straightway step into the Valley of Love... (Joseph in the Qurán and the Torah)
and be dissolved in the fire of love.
52
In this city the heaven of ecstasy is upraised and the world-illuming sun of yearning shineth, and the fire of love is ablaze;
and when the fire of love is ablaze, it burneth to ashes the harvest of reason.
53.
Now is the traveler unaware of himself, and of aught besides himself.
54.
He seeth neither ignorance nor knowledge, neither doubt nor certitude;
he knoweth not the morn of guidance from the night of error.
55.
He fleeth both from unbelief and faith, and deadly poison is a balm to him.
56.
Wherefore Attár (Farídu'd-Dín Attár (ca. 1150-1230 A.D.), the great Persian Súfí poet.) saith:
For the infidel, error—for the faithful, faith;
For Attár's heart, an atom of Thy pain.
57.
The steed of this Valley is pain; and if there be no pain this journey will never end.
58.
In this station the lover hath no thought save the Beloved, and seeketh no refuge save the Friend.
59.
At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One,
at every step he throweth a thousand heads at the feet of the Beloved.
60.
O My Brother!
Until thou enter the Egypt of love,
thou shalt never come to the Joseph of the Beauty of the Friend;
61.
and until, like Jacob, thou forsake thine outward eyes,
thou shalt never open the eye of thine inward being;
62.
and until thou burn with the fire of love,
thou shalt never commune with the Lover of Longing.
63.
A lover feareth nothing and no harm can come nigh him:
Thou seest him chill in the fire and dry in the sea.
64.
A lover is he who is chill in hell fire;
A knower is he who is dry in the sea. Persian mystic poem
65.
Love accepteth no existence and wisheth no life:
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He seeth life in death, and in shame seeketh glory.
66.
To merit the madness of love, man must abound in sanity;
to merit the bonds of the Friend, he must be full of spirit.
67.
Blessed the neck that is caught in His noose,
happy the head that falleth on the dust in the pathway of His love.
68.
Wherefore, O friend, give up thy self that thou mayest find the Peerless [Lord],
pass by this mortal earth that thou mayest seek a home in the nest of heaven.
69.
Be as naught, if thou wouldst kindle the fire of being and be fit for the pathway of love.
70.
Love seizeth [not] upon a living soul,
The falcon preyeth not on a dead mouse. Persian mystic poem
(The Hidden Words Arabic trans.)
71.
Love setteth a world aflame at every turn,
and he wasteth every land where he carrieth his banner.
72.
Being hath no existence in his kingdom;
the wise wield no command within his realm.
73.
The leviathan of love swalloweth the master of reason and destroyeth the lord of knowledge.
74.
He drinketh the seven seas, but his heart's thirst is still unquenched, and he saith,
"Is there yet any more?" Quran 50:29)
He shunneth himself and draweth away from all on earth.
75.
Love's a stranger to earth and heaven too;
In him are lunacies 72. Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí (AD 1250)
(the greatest of all Persian Súfí poets, and founder of the "whirling” dervish order)
76.
He hath bound a myriad victims in his fetters, wounded a myriad wise men with his arrow.
77.
Know that every redness in the world is from his anger,
and every paleness in men's cheeks is from his poison.
78.
He yieldeth no remedy but death, he walketh not save in the valley of the shadow;
yet sweeter than honey is his venom on the lover's lips, and fairer his destruction in the seeker's eyes than 100,000 lives.
79.
Wherefore must the veils of the satanic self be burned away at the fire of love,
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that the spirit may be purified and cleansed and thus may know the station of the Lord of the Worlds.
80.
Kindle the fire of love and burn away all things,
Then set thy foot into the land of the lovers. From an ode by Bahá-ulláh
The Tablets of the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys CHAPTER FOUR
Divisions 81-105
Valley of Knowledge
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
81.
And if, confirmed by the Creator, the lover escapes from the claws of the eagle of love,
he will enter The Valley of Knowledge ...
and come out of doubt into certitude,
and turn from the darkness of illusion to the guiding light of the fear of God.
82.
His inner eyes will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved;
he will set ajar the gate of truth and piety, and shut the doors of vain imaginings.
83.
He in this station is content with the decree of God,
and seeth war as peace, and findeth in death the secrets of everlasting life.
84.
With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men,
and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless Manifestations of God.
85.
In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea.
86.
Split the atom's heart, and lo!
Within it thou wilt find a sun. Persian mystic poem
87.
The wayfarer in this Valley seeth in the fashionings of the True One nothing save clear providence,
and at every moment saith:
88.
"No defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy:
Repeat the gaze:
Seest thou a single flaw?" Quran 67:3
89.
He beholdeth justice in injustice, and in justice, grace.
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90.
In ignorance he findeth many a knowledge hidden,
and in knowledge a myriad wisdoms manifest.
91.
He breaketh the cage of the body and the passions,
and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm.
92.
He mounteth on the ladders of inner truth and hasteneth to the heaven of inner significance.
93.
He rideth in the ark of "we shall show them our signs in the regions and in themselves,"
and journeyeth over the sea of "until it become plain to them that (this Book) is the truth."
Quran 41:53
94.
And if he meeteth with injustice he shall have patience,
and if he cometh upon wrath he shall manifest love.
95.
There was once a lover who had sighed for long years in separation from his beloved,
and wasted in the fire of remoteness.
96.
From the rule of love, his heart was empty of patience,
and his body weary of his spirit;
he reckoned life without her as a mockery, and time consumed him away.
97.
How many a day he found no rest in longing for her;
how many a night the pain of her kept him from sleep;
his body was worn to a sigh, his heart's wound had turned him to a cry of sorrow.
98.
He had given a thousand lives for one taste of the cup of her presence,
but it availed him not.
99.
The doctors knew no cure for him, and companions avoided his company;
yea, physicians have no medicine for one sick of love,
unless the favor of the beloved one deliver him.
100.
At last, the tree of his longing yielded the fruit of despair,
and the fire of his hope fell to ashes.
101.
Then one night he could live no more,
and he went out of his house and made for the marketplace.
102.
On a sudden, a watchman followed after him.
103.
He broke into a run, with the watchman following;
then other watchmen came together, and barred every passage to the weary one.
104.
And the wretched one cried from his heart, and ran here and there, and moaned to himself:
"Surely this watchman is Izrá'íl, my angel of death, following so fast upon me;
or he is a tyrant of men, seeking to harm me."
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105.
His feet carried him on,
the one bleeding with the arrow of love, and his heart lamented.
The Tablets of the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys CHAPTER FIVE
Divisions 106-130
(Valley of Knowledge)
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
106.
Then he came to a garden wall, and with untold pain he scaled it, for it proved very high;
and forgetting his life, he threw himself down to the garden.
107.
And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand, searching for a ring she had lost.
108.
When the heart-surrendered lover looked on his ravishing love,
he drew a great breath and raised up his hands in prayer, crying:
109.
"O God! Give Thou glory to the watchman, and riches and long life.
110.
For the watchman was Gabriel, guiding this poor one;
or he was Isráfíl, bringing life to this wretched one!"
111.
Indeed, his words were true,
for he had found many a secret justice in this seeming tyranny of the watchman,
and seen how many a mercy lay hid behind the veil.
112.
Out of wrath, the guard had led him who was athirst in love's desert to the sea of his loved one, and lit up the dark night of absence with the light of reunion.
113.
He had driven one who was afar, into the garden of nearness,
had guided an ailing soul to the heart's physician.
114.
Now if the lover could have looked ahead, he would have blessed the watchman at the start,
and prayed on his behalf, and he would have seen that tyranny as justice;
but since the end was veiled to him, he moaned and made his plaint in the beginning.
115.
Yet those who journey in the garden land of knowledge,
because they see the end in the beginning, see peace in war and friendliness in anger.
116.
Such is the state of the wayfarers in this Valley;
but the people of the Valleys above this see the end and the beginning as one;
nay, they see neither beginning nor end, and witness neither "first" nor "last." Quran 57:3
117.
Nay rather, the citizens of the undying city, who dwell in the green garden land,
see not even "neither first nor last";
they fly from all that is first, and repulse all that is last.
118.
For these have passed over the worlds of names,
and fled beyond the worlds of attributes as swift as lightning.
119.
Thus is it said:
"Absolute Unity excludeth all attributes." Saying attributed to Alí
120.
And they have made their dwelling-place in the shadow of the Essence.
121.
Wherefore, relevant to this, Khájih `Abdu'lláh
Shiek Abú Ismá'íl `Abdu'lláh Ansárí of Hirát, AD 1050
Súfí leader, descended from the Prophet's companion Abú Ayyúb.
Chiefly known for his Munáját (Supplications) and Rubá'íyyát (Quatrains).
"Ansár" means the "Helpers" or companions of Muhammad in Medina.)
—may God the Most High sanctify his beloved spirit—
hath made a subtle point and spoken an eloquent word
as to the meaning of "Guide Thou us on the straight path," which is: Quran 1:5
122.
"Show us the right way, that is, honor us with the love of Thine Essence,
123.
that we may be freed from turning toward ourselves and toward all else save Thee,
and may become wholly Thine, and know only Thee,
and see only Thee, and think of none save Thee."
124.
Nay, these even mount above this station, wherefore it is said:
125.
Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the loved one;
More than this I am not permitted to tell. Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí
126.
At this hour the morn of knowledge hath arisen and the lamps of wayfaring and wandering are quenched.
(A reference to the mystic wandering and search for truth guided by 'Lights' or Súfí leaders.
Bahá-ulláh here warns the mystics that the coming of the Divine Manifestation in His Day
makes further search unnecessary, as it was said by `Alí:
"Quench the lamp when the sun hath risen"
—the sun referring to the Manifestation of God in the New Day.)
127.
Veiled from this was Moses
128.
Though all strength and light;
Then thou who hast no wings at all,
Attempt not flight. Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí
129.
If 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,
130.
"Verily, we are from God and to Him shall we return." Quran 2:151
The Tablets of the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys CHAPTER SIX
Divisions 131-165
Valley of Unity
THE SEVEN VALLEYS
131.
After passing through the Valley of knowledge,
which is the last plane of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the Valley of Unity,
and drinketh from the cup of the Absolute, and gazeth on the Manifestations of Oneness.
132.
In this station he pierceth the veils of plurality,
fleeth from the worlds of the flesh, and ascendeth into the heaven of singleness.
133.
With the ear of God he heareth, with the eye of God he beholdeth the mysteries of divine creation.
134.
He steppeth into the sanctuary of the Friend,
and shareth as an intimate the pavilion of the Loved One.
135.
He stretcheth out the hand of truth from the sleeve of the Absolute;
he revealeth the secrets of power.
136.
He seeth in himself neither name nor fame nor rank,
yet findeth his own praise in praising God.
137.
He beholdeth in his own name the name of God;
to him, "all songs are from the King," and every melody from Him. Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí
138.
He sitteth on the throne of "Say, all is from God," Quran 4:80
and taketh his rest on the carpet of "There is no power or might but in God." Quran 18:37
139.
He looketh on all things with the eye of oneness,
and seeth the brilliant rays of the divine sun shining from the dawning-point of Essence alike on all created things, and the lights of singleness reflected over all creation.
140.
It is clear to thine Eminence that all the variations which the wayfarer in the stages of his journey beholdeth in the realms of being, proceed from his own vision.
141.
We shall give an example of this, that its meaning may become fully clear:
142.
Consider the visible sun; although it shineth with one radiance upon all things,
and at the behest of the King of Manifestation bestoweth light on all creation,
yet in each place it becometh manifest
and sheddeth its bounty according to the potentialities of that place.
143.
For instance, in a mirror it reflecteth its own disk and shape,
and this is due to the sensitivity of the mirror; in a crystal it maketh fire to appear,
and in other things it showeth only the effect of its shining, but not its full disk.
144.
And yet, through that effect, by the command of the Creator,
it traineth each thing according to the quality of that thing, as thou observest.
145.
In like manner, colors become visible in every object according to the nature of that object.
146.
For instance, in a yellow globe, the rays shine yellow;
in a white the rays are white; and in a red, the red rays are manifest.
147.
Then these variations are from the object, not from the shining light.
148.
And if a place be shut away from the light, as by walls or a roof,
it will be entirely bereft of the splendor of the light, nor will the sun shine thereon.
149.
Thus it is that certain invalid souls have confined the lands of knowledge
within the wall of self and passion, and clouded them with ignorance and blindness,
and have been veiled from the light of the mystic sun and the mysteries of the Eternal Beloved;
150.
they have strayed afar from the jewelled wisdom of the lucid Faith of the Lord of Messengers, have been shut out of the sanctuary of the All-Beauteous One,
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