"Translating That Which Hath Been Written Into Reality And Action"

One month ago on this very day, we embarked on a journey to begin understanding the Seven Valleys. Though we have hardly touched the tip of the iceberg, we made some progress into its core. Through each Valley, we detach ourselves of one part of our life-physical and spiritual-and finally end with nothing but our free will which we offer to God, thus making our will the Will of God.

Before ending this basic and novice study, we will cover six more quotations which will assist us in understanding what we have to do in order to achieve the Final Valley. Last time, I mentioned the use of the Hidden Words and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as tools and resources. For this reason, we will be covering passages from these two Works. Remember, we are on a journey to the Friend, God. He has given us guidelines on how to reach His Presence, thus the Seventh Valley. In this journey, we assume that we are not going to give up and that we will finish our task. We will use the tools given by God to reach the end. Here are our primary tools.



The first duty prescribed by God for His servants is the recognition of Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation and the Fountain of His laws, Who representeth the Godhead in both the Kingdom of His Cause and the world of creation. Whoso achieveth this duty hath attained unto all good; and whoso is deprived thereof hath gone astray, though he be the author of every righteous deed. It behoveth every one who reacheth this most sublime station, this summit of transcendent glory, to observe every ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. These twin duties are inseparable. Neither is acceptable without the other. Thus hath it been decreed by Him Who is the Source of Divine inspiration. -Kitáb-i-Aqdas ¶1

This is the first duty. A duty is a task that must be carried out, otherwise the end is a failure. There are two parts to this duty. The first is to recognize Him Who is the Dayspring of His Revelation... This means that we must follow the Manifestation of God for the current day. Bahá'ís believe this to be Bahá'u'lláh. Remember, God will send new Manifestations of Himself in the future. It is a progressive cycle. The Bahá'í Faith is not going to be the last. It is simply the beginning of a new era. The second part of the duty is to observe the ordinance of Him Who is the Desire of the world. We must obey the laws given by the Manifestation of God for this day. It is then fitting that this be in the first paragraph of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as it is the Bahá'í Book of Laws.

As wayfarers moving towards God, we need both duties to be successful. If we miss one, then there is no purpose. If we believe in Bahá'u'lláh as the Manifestation of God for this day but do not follow His Laws and Commandments, why should we be considered a Bahá'í? We would simply be carrying around a title. On the other hand, if we follow the Laws of Bahá'u'lláh but do not accept Him as the Manifestation, then we are missing the other aspect and that is the Faith and the spirit which comes from God. The laws are wonderful even without being a Bahá'í, but if we follow them purposelessly without journeying towards the Friend, we lose out on the final destination of our journey. Thus it hath been Written, "Whoso achieved this duty hath attained unto all good."



O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting. -Arabic Hidden Word #1

Unlike a duty, which is more urgent and forceful, a counsel is just a piece of advice that is wise to be heeded. The purpose of the Hidden Words is to draw us nearer unto God. Within each are multiple pieces of advice, which, if we abide by, will make the journey to the Friend easier. Because there are so many Hidden Words, we will only look at two of them.

It makes complete sense that this should be the first of the Hidden Words. People are attracted to those who are kind and radiant in spirit. It means we are pure and able to progress to further levels after purity in our journey to the Friend. The purity of heart is immortal (unless we rid ourselves of it) and for this reason, we shall be imperishable and everlasting. Also, it refers back to the Seventh Valley, where we become of God and His Will.



O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR! The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal. -Persian Hidden Word #1


A counsel is a guidance-thus our first guidance is to have a pure heart. A duty is a necessity, and our first duty as humans is to follow the Covenant-meaning accept Bahá'u'lláh and follow His laws. Now in the current Hidden Word, we have a call. This is what we are asked to do-this way we reach our goal, the Friend.

We can assume that we are the mystic nightingale that is following the hoopoe bird to Seemorgh. The hoopoe bird would then be either God or His Manifestation.

A rose-garden is a place of beauty to all the senses (except touch to touch. Thorns are never fun...). The fragrances, the nightingales singing, the radiant colors-all are so pleasing. Thus we must reside in a place which is pleasing to the spirit.

Solomon (Sulaymon in the Qúran) was a great king with much power-but his sin caused his entire kingdom to be split in two. The reference in the Hidden Word I believe, however, unlike most of other works of Bahá'u'lláh, focuses on the Biblical rather than the Quranic interpretation of the story (mostly because of the mention of Sheba). Sheba is a place of great wealth and extreme prosperity. The messenger of Solomon was hoopoe bird (this same bird is the leader who leads thirty birds to the land of Seemorgh (described to be like a phoenix)). The hoopoe bird left Solomon because it was looking for a better place to live. Thus we are told to be like the hoopoe bird (by Bahá'u'lláh) and find this spiritual prosperity.

The last part is to be a phoenix of faithfulness. I am not sure exactly what this means, but I will make a guess here. As mentioned earlier, Seemorgh was a phoenix like bird. In Attár's epic poem, the hoopoe bird leads many birds to the land of Seemorgh, many of whom fall away. Finally, only thirty remain. These thirty are told to look in a lake for Seemorgh-and they only see themselves. It is interesting because Seemorgh translates into "thirty birds" a play on words by Attár. These thirty, being a metaphor of Seemorgh-the phoenix, are the most faithful, and follow the guidance of the hoopoe bird. In likewise, we must follow the guidance of Bahá'u'lláh.

So let us put the entire Hidden Word together. We are told by God to listen to the following: Be in a place pleasing to your being, find shelter only in the Kingdom of God and be steadfast in your following of His Teachings. In this way we will reach our ultimate goal-being near unto God.




So what is it that we need to do? We need to follow the Manifestation of God for this day, follow His laws, have a pure heart and be steadfast in our Faith to God. These four tasks together allow us to begin the journey.

Remember, from the first paragraph of the Kitáb-i-Íqán, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth. Sanctify your souls, O ye peoples of the world, that haply ye may attain that station which God hath destined for you and enter thus the tabernacle which, according to the dispensations of Providence, hath been raised in the firmament of the Bayán."

Thus without detachment from all things, we may never reach true understanding and true understanding is found within each level of the Seven Valleys as we progress in the various stages of detachment. The station which God hath destined for you may be achieving our full potential (recall the Valley of Unity) and enter the shelter of God's Grace.

Also, we need to remember the Words from the Short Obligatory Prayer:

I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.

We were created to know and to worship God. How do we do this? By prayer and service. These are simply more tools to guide us through the journey of the Seven Valleys. They assist us to attain the purity of heart and steadfastness in faith. And what is the greatest form of service?

'Abdu'l-Bahá writes this, "Of all the gifts of God the greatest is the gift of Teaching. It draweth unto us the Grace of God and is our first obligation. Of such a gift how can we deprive ourselves? Nay, our lives, our goods, our comforts, our rest, we offer them all as a sacrifice for the Abhá Beauty and teach the Cause of God." -page 25, Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

People say our life is the greatest of God's gifts to us. But it is in fact Teaching. The reason for this comes from the idea that our lives are physical, thus temporary and mortal. Teaching on the other hand is immortal. You are drawing people into the journey of the Seven Valleys. You are offering them the idea of unity in the world and the ability to assist with the progress of humanity. What gift is more incredible than this?


The Words of Bahá'u'lláh are then clear. "It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action." We cannot just sit and lounge on our couches and try to understand the Writings of God. We also need to go into the world and assist in bringing in the New World Order.

Our study is now complete, but the journey is only in its first step.

For What Reason Do We Have Free Will?

Together we have traversed six of the seven Valleys. Now we reach our destination, the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness. Each stage of the journey has lead us to this place-our final destination. We throw aside all of our previous conceptions, ideas, beliefs, possessions, positions... simply put, using the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "Nay, our lives, our goods, our comforts, our rest, we offer them all as a sacrifice for the Abhá Beauty and teach the Cause of God" (Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá)

But what is this final destination? Last time we mentioned the idea of free will. What is free will? Going to Some Answered Questions, it writes, "...in all the action or inaction of man, he receives power from the help of God; but the choice of good or evil belongs to the man himself." It is a two pronged process. We have the choice of doing whatever we want, hence the many dichotomies of life. However, with each action we are assisted by God. Does this mean then that God will help us with any evil action we choose to commit?

In the 5th Arabic Hidden Word, it is written, "Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee." Also, the Short Obligatory Prayer Writes, "I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee." Also, note the phrase from the Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá from above. Let us put the entire thing together.

We were created to worship God. Returning to the Valley of Love, we know that love and worship can be equated to one another because we would do anything for our loved one and we consider him/her the sole focus of our lives. Using the same Valley, we know that all love stems from our love for God. By loving God, His Love will return to us-thus His assistance in all of our daily lives. But this does not answer the question from above. Does God help with all actions we commit, including those considered "evil?" This is where the quote from 'Abdu'l-Bahá comes into play. Our worshiping of God consists of detaching ourselves of all things and teaching His Cause. If we are not teaching His Cause (which can assume to be "good"), then we are not worshiping God, thus not loving Him and thus being veiled away from His love.

The 7th Arabic Hidden Word writes, "If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee." This Hidden Word may be broken into three parts.

1. "If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself..." This represents the first three Valleys. We lay aside our previous preconceptions of life, fall in love with God and give up our worldly titles and possessions and find the wisdom behind our pains and sufferings. We are detached from the material realm.

2. "...and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own..." This represents the second three Valleys. We find that we are no longer attached to this earth as everything comes from God, that we are content with whatever occurs as we are rich in spirit and everywhere around us is creation. We are detached from ourselves.

3. "...that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee." This represents the final Valley. Using our free will, we have detached ourselves from everything but God, and we make our will the Will of God. Our every move, our every breath is for God. It does not mean we become God, but we become of God. We become a channel through which God's Love may enter throughout humanity. This comes from teaching.

Now what does the name of the Valley mean? Why is it the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness? Essentially, we have become poor in everything except in God. Bahá'u'lláh states it rather clearly, declaring, "Poverty as here referred to signifieth being poor in the things of the created world, rich in the things of God’s world." (Seven Valleys) It is due to this poverty that our Faith becomes an unmovable pillar.

It can be considered that to enter this Valley, one must live as a monk or dervish and possess nothing. But this is not true. So long as we are detached from all things, we are impoverished. The 55th Arabic Hidden Word writes, "Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants." Gold can symbolize the material things of this Earth. They were given to us for our enjoyment. But, these material things are also placed on this Earth to test us and our detachment (or our attachment to God).

The beauty of the seventh Valley is that it is no ordinary form of detachment. We realize that this earth is nothing but dust and mortal, much like our physical selves. There is no purpose of even attaching ourselves to any of it.

But an interesting question comes up. In the forth Valley, we learn each person has different capacities and we cannot transcend our own capacities. Does this mean that some people may not reach this seventh Valley? Bahá'u'lláh seems to hint at this idea writing, "This is the goal thou didst ask for (from the first Valley); if it be God’s will, thou wilt gain it."

To stay in this Valley, we need to follow the Law of God unwaveringly. If not, we fall from the grace of God.


Before ending, it is important to note that none of the Seven Valleys have a specific end point or beginning point. It is a journey which melds into itself. The traveling of these seven Valleys seems daunting and impossible. We have been given tools to assist us though. Reading through the Hidden Words, one will begin to realize a parallel structure between what is asked of us by God from the Hidden Words and our journey through the Seven Valleys. The Seven Valleys tell us what we need to do. The Hidden Words tell us how we need to do it. The Kitab-i-Aqdás (The Most Holy Book-the Bahá'í Book of Laws) contains the tools to which we advance ourselves.

Next time we will see what we can do now after finishing the Seven Valleys of Bahá'u'lláh.

Contentment: The Antidote of All Pain

For those people who are joining us right now in our study, I will do another quick summary in order to review what is going on in our study of Bahá'u'lláh's mystical work, The Seven Valleys. Thus far, we have detached ourselves of all our previous bias, our ideas of love, our accomplishments and knowledge and from the earth. Not that any of these steps are easy, or even feasible at times, but at this point, each Valley becomes more and more challenging to endure.

Before we begin, I would like to bring out a quote I used from Nabil's Narrative, The Dawn Breakers.
Unfamiliar names in this passage include Quddús, one of the Báb's first eighteen disciples called the Letters of the Living (much like the Apostles of Jesus the Christ). Mullá Ṣádiq was a Bábí-a follower of the Báb. Ḥusayn Khán was the governor of the province of Fárs and not a friend of the Bábí Faith.

Quddús and Mullá Ṣádiq were teaching the Bábí Faith when Ḥusayn Khán came and arrested the two of them. He "reviled and cursed him [Mullá Ṣádiq specifically], ordered his attendants to strip him of his garments and to scourge him with a thousand lashes. He then commanded that the beards of both Quddús and Mullá Ṣádiq should be burned, their noses be pierced, that through this incision a cord should be passed, and with this halter they should be led through the streets of the city. 'It will be an object lesson to the people of Shíráz,' Ḥusayn Khán declared, 'who will know what the penalty of heresy will be...'"

"An eye-witness of this revolting episode, an unbeliever residing in Shíráz, related to me the following: “I was present when Mullá Ṣádiq was being scourged. I watched his persecutors each in turn apply the lash to his bleeding shoulders, and continue the strokes until he became exhausted. No one believed that Mullá Ṣádiq, so advanced in age and so frail in body, could possibly survive fifty such savage strokes. We marvelled at his fortitude when we found that, although the number of the strokes of the scourge he had received had already exceeded nine hundred, his face still retained its original serenity and calm. A smile was upon his face, as he held his hand before his mouth. He seemed utterly indifferent to the blows that were being showered upon him. When he was being expelled from the city, I succeeded in approaching him, and asked him why he held his hand before his mouth. I expressed surprise at the smile upon his countenance. He emphatically replied: ‘The first seven strokes were severely painful; to the rest I seemed to have grown indifferent. I was wondering whether the strokes that followed were being actually applied to my own body. A feeling of joyous exultation had invaded my soul. I was trying to repress my feelings and to restrain my laughter. I can now realise how the almighty Deliverer is able, in the twinkling of an eye, to turn pain into ease, and sorrow into gladness. Immensely exalted is His power above and beyond the idle fancy of His mortal creatures.’”

What is the reason for me to account this story? In a way, it relates directly back to the fifth Valley, the Valley of Contentment. Here, the wayfarer detaches himself finally of all things of the world, including himself. He, in fact, is detached from suffering and finds no pain or sadness within himself. Everything is because of God and for the sake of God. The suffering is temporary and if done with the spirit of absolute detachment, "God will compensate each one out of His abundance."

From the Valley of Unity, they wayfarer has detached himself from the world. But from the current Valley, he realizes that he has something far greater. He resides in the Kingdom of God, and there is no greater fountain for contentment than this knowledge. However, there is a catch-22. The only way to understand this Valley and the secrets laden within, one must experience it for himself.

But the recounting of Mullá Ṣádiq gives us a glimpse of the power which is latent within the Valley. A man at such an age receives fifty lashes. Just ten of these lashes would make an able bodied person fall to the dust, but this feeble man received fifty. However, due to his steadfastness and detachment, God does compensate out of His abundance and he relieves Mullá Ṣádiq out of his suffering.

Many stories such as these may be found throughout the Dawn Breakers and other histories of religions. If you have any, please share them!

After the Valley of Contentment, the wayfarer moves to the next realm-the Valley of Wonderment.

Unity and Oneness

I decided to do another entry to make up for a lot of lost time and some extra time that I have on my hands.

Before we begin, I'd like to return first to the Valley of Knowledge. Recall the idea of the paradox of finding peace in war and knowledge in ignorance. After some consultation, I found a better solution or perhaps understanding of this paragraph. There is an interesting philosophy in which people declare darkness is simply the absence of light. I agree with this statement wholeheartedly as it makes complete sense. If you enter a room, it may be in complete darkness. However, when you exert energy (i.e. light a lamp), there is light which illumines the room. Likewise, ignorance is simply the absence of knowledge and war the absence of peace. You have to add something (i.e. do work) in order to obtain the true good. Hence the phrase, "it is easy to be bad and hard to be good." This is simply because one must exert energy in order to be good.

Remember, it is all about the Knowledge of God and not our own knowledge. It is this way we begin to perhaps begin to understand what is going on in the world around us that on the surface seems inexplicable.

Now to the Valley of Unity. After exiting the Valley of Search, Love and Knowledge, we have detached ourselves of our physical reality-the limited-and have allowed ourselves to enter the limitless. Here, one's identity begins to be lost because we see that everything is united under God. There is no difference in creation as it is all from God. However, this does not mean there are not different tiers of creation. Within each being, there is the potential to manifest the attributes of God. Bahá'u'lláh likens this idea to the sun, where the sun shines its rays on the earth, but each medium reflects or uses the rays in various methods (i.e. the mirror simply reflect it, but a crystal can refract it). Likewise, it is like the idea of visible colors. Light shines on every object, but the object only chooses to shed back certain parts of that light. It is not that the sun shines different on every object. It simply is due to the potential of the object itself (I will not get into the aromatics or photochemical effects behind this). Thus all objects are equal but have different potentialities. For this reason, it is written, "Thou art kind to all, Thou hast provided for all, dost shelter, conferrest life upon all. Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties, and all are submerged in the Ocean of thy Mercy." (Prayer for Mankind) One can then make the assumption that we are all equal in our inequalities. We can see it like man and woman and their equality. We are equal as human beings. Both genders have brains and minds to think with and hearts, lungs, nose and mouth to breath with. Physiologically we are very similar. However, we are still not equal. Man and woman both have different methods of thinking-man being more aggressive and logical, woman being more compassionate and thoughtful. Both are necessary and both genders need to work together to advance forward. In like wise, it does not mean that animals shall become like humans (they shall not become anthropomorphic). Rather, again, we are separated by our capacities. The tree very well will not begin to move and walk around, much like the dear will not begin to speak and drive a car. Humans, also, shall for this reason be separated from God and His Manifestations.

Much of the conflict the world has faced throughout the years is because of this idea. We find differences in others and try to make claims due to these differences, we are better than them. Such is a ridiculous claim. However, God is the Most Forgiving. He allows us to clean our own mirrors, thus empowering us and purifying our hearts. By this point, we have the desire simply to give our lives to God.

When we fall in love with the Word of God, thus the Manifestation of God for the current day (whether it be Jesus, Bahá'u'lláh, Buddah, etc.), our entire body becomes immersed with these Words and it shows through our action. However, all of this mentioned above is hidden within us unless we remove the veils which shut us out from God. That would mean our physical self. The physical is simply an illusion of our self and it keeps us from progressing, from realizing the oneness of everything. Thus we begin to realize we are unstoppable in our actions. From here many doors open and eternity is witnessed.

The beauty is that it is our humanity that limits us. We can go forever as humans, but we can surpass this infinity but detaching ourselves of everything of our mortal selves. The mortal has three realms of detachment, three stages which we must surpass. The immortal has four realms... and this is just the first. And we cannot even unravel the Hidden Mysteries within each realm even when we reach them. They remain hidden to our minds as we do not have the capacity to understand them.

For each Valley, we will all see different things for we all have different paths and different experiences and different capacities. The tests we face and the powers we gain shall be to different levels. However, the same idea applies-we are detaching ourselves of each part of our existence.




We begin with the Valley of Search trying to find what our journey is to lead to, detached of previous bias.
We enter the Valley of Love to detach ourselves of all previous love and love for the sake of God.
We enter the Valley of Knowledge where within everything we find the possibilities of perfection and we detach ourselves of all previous knowledge.
We leave the limited realm and enter the limitless Valley of Unity and see God within every being, and we no longer are the center of the universe.

The limitless realms will continue as we enter the Valleys of Contentment, Wonderment, and True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness.

If there is anything I did not explain well or you think must be clarified, please do so! Thank you very much!

The Limits of the Physical Realm

I apologize for the long gap between these two entries-I have had much on my plate to work on. In return, I shall go through both the Valley of Love and the Valley of Knowledge in this entry.

We have all heard the phrase "blinded by love." When you fall in love with somebody, you cannot imagine anything but being with your desire. It is appropriate then when the Hidden Words write, "Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved." Hidden Word 4 Persian. It is a beautiful idea really-complete attachment to something due to attractions we can hardly describe. Yet this creates a problem. The purpose of the Seven Valleys is to describe a journey to detachment, yet right here we have attachment. How can this paradox be mended?

It is the love of God we are to find within ourselves. We need to blind ourselves of our own desires and see only God, our Creator, our Beloved. The stead of this Valley is pain. We all know clearly when a love goes wrong, pain is felt. Pain teaches us unhappiness and we want to avoid it, thus we need to cling to our love. In such wise, we cling to the love of God, thus we do not lose it and find ourselves in misery.

Attar writes, and is quoted by Bahá'u'lláh in this passage:

"For the infidel, error—for the faithful, faith;
For Aṭṭár’s heart, an atom of Thy pain"

But what does this mean? It means this is simply what we desire most from our love. The faithful desires faith while the infidel, error (its a cultural reference I am pretty sure). Attár on the other hand desires pain... God's pain to be specific. But does God feel pain? Perhaps it could mean the desire of a pain so he could understand his love for God more clearly.

For love to be absolutely pure, one must be willing to do whatever it takes to achieve such love-and in the case of our love of God, it means even offering up our lives for the love. What better way is there to show our love than to give up our physical reality-what was given to us by God in the first place? Thus love is the second Valley... We give up our bodies to God, but He gave them to us in the first place, so what does it matter? He dons us atoms to create a physical entity by which we may live and progress-if He wants it back, why should we not give it to Him. This does not mean commit suicide spontaneously of course. Just giving up our lives randomly does not help matter at all because it is like getting a gift from a friend and throwing it away moments later. Giving up our lives for the sake of God is more like a friend gives us a gift and we use it for his benefit. We give up our lives (and it does not even mean we need to die! We could offer up our time, our comforts, our rest and be giving up our lives this way) for the sake of God when protect His Holy Words and the Message He has brought for this day.

But we digress from the topic at hand. We are never quenched by our love and we should continue to allow it to grow and expand. The love we feel for others must stem only because of our love of God; due to our love of God, we love others and ourselves. This love leads to the purity of the heart, and if God accepts this love, we may enter the next Valley, being the Valley of Knowledge.

Unlike the previous two Valleys, this Valley does not have a stead. It is the last of the three limited Valleys-meaning purely physical Valleys. Here, we begin to increase our certitude of Faith and begin to follow "the guiding light of the fear of God." In Arabic, there is a very similar idea behind fear of God and losing the love of God. Our fear of God stems from the very idea that His love will not reach us, hence the Hidden Word writing, "Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee." Hidden Word #5 Arabic. But we are in the Valley of Knowledge, why do we need love? Because everything builds on each other. Remember, if we lose sight of our goal and destination, we must start the entire process over again from the beginning.

Things seeming to be paradoxes will become understandable because they are within the Will of God. For example, "he will... seeth war as peace" has a greater meaning. War is an internal turmoil which should end up bringing peace to the greater whole. It is a tool (when utilized properly). The body uses war in order to protect itself and allow it return to equilibrium. It sends phagocytes and T-cells to infected places within the body and destroy macrophages which make us sick. Without this inner struggle or war, we would not be at peace. Remember, it must be utilized properly. War can also teach us lessons for what we can avoid in the future (much like the body creating antibodies which will be remembered for the next invasion of pathogens). Another paradox mentioned, which may be better understood, is from a Persian poem which writes:

Split the atom’s heart, and lo!
Within it thou wilt find a sun.

Atomic bomb anybody? An atom is so small and so insignificant, but, when opened... it yields the power of the sun (or something similar in nature and strength, far greater than what we understand). And this was quoted 80-90 years before the advent of the bomb, let alone written.

In this valley, an almost inner peace is found. The petty trials within the world no longer cause us pain, but rather we begin to see that they allow us to growth further.

The story of the watchman and the lover really explains the idea of the paradox well. When the watchman chases the lover, the lover finds his beloved in his escape. Thus, what may seem horrible to us at one time, may in fact lead us to a greater path beyond our imagination.

Things of the limited realm become less and less important and less obtrusive. One may argue that this Valley proves that the end justifies the means; that the journey does not matter so long as we reach the end. However, this is preposterous. The means were brought about by things beyond our control. To reach our own ends, we must act with justice and with wisdom. Prayer is necessary-it acts almost as a catalyst in order to decrease the energy necessary to move us forward (a catalyst does not remove the entire necessity of energy use though. Work is still needed). Whatever God sends to move us forward, we must accept it with open arms.

Once this entire idea is understood and acted upon, we will enter the Valley Unity-the first of the limitless Valleys.

People, Names, Stories

"Attar roamed the seven cities of love -- We are still just in one alley."
-Rumi

Before continuing to the Valley of Love, it may be wise to dwell on a few stories, important figures and beliefs given throughout the Seven Valleys.

First and foremost: What is Sufism?

Sufism is a mystical branch of Islam whose adherents strive to achieve complete detachment from all else but God (very much what the Seven Valleys talks about). They arose out almost like rebellion against the Umayyad Dynasty; the Umayyad was a very materialistic society while the Sufis were a dervish-unmaterialistic-one. Much of its influence can be found from Yoga (the Hindu tradition of meditation applying both the physical and mental capacities of the performer) in terms of movement and concentration. The real idea however, is giving up one's own will and placing it with the will of God. It is in this way, one can perhaps become connected with God personally and attain Divine Knowledge. Islam in general follows this same belief, however, Sufis contend that this path begins in the physical life rather than after.
One cannot learn Sufism on his own. It requires years of discipline and training under a teacher. The students performs service for the teacher where one learns humility and detachment from all things.

Who are some important Sufis of note?

Shaykh Muhyi'd-Din: He is the Sufi who wrote to Bahá'u'lláh (circa 1860) about the journey to God which is a focus of Sufi tradition. He was of the Qádiríyyih branch of Sufism (they are not unique in their teachings or doctrines of Islam other than the mystic Sufi following), the oldest of the Sufi traditions leading back to 'Abd al-Qadir al-Djilani (the founder of this branch. In his eyes, charity was a crucial element of Islam. Many Sufi elements such as the chanting of praises of Muhammad and the body movements derive from him) and, even further back to Ali, son of the Prophet Muhammad. Shaykh Muhyi'd-Din left his post as a judge around the time he posed his question to Bahá'u'lláh and became a traveling dervish in the Kurdistan region of modern day Iraq.

Farídu'd-Dín Attár: Persian Sufi poet and theorist who lived from 1145-1221 AD. Not much is known about his life other than he traveled around India, Persia and Arabia before returning to his hometown as a Sufi. One of his most famous works is called Mantiq at-Tayr (the Conference of the Birds). In this allegory, he follows the journey of many birds in their servitude to their master, a hoopoe (compare this to the students of Sufism following their master). They are to be lead to the land of Simorgh, the greatest of the birds. They follow the hoopoe through seven valleys (not unlike the Seven Valleys of Bahá'u'lláh. Sufis use metaphors of valleys and cities as metaphors for one's own journey to enlightenment, hence Bahá'u'lláh's own use of the term) in which birds fall prey to their own wants and desires. It ends with only thirty birds who reach the land of Simorgh. Attár uses a play on words for this matter, for Simorgh in Persian translates directly to "thirty birds." Thus, these thirty birds did not find Simorgh, but themselves. The greater idea behind this story is the Sufi's own discovery of God within himself. He gave much influence to Rumi, perhaps the greatest of Sufi poets.

Jalálu'd-Dín Rúmí: Another Sufi poet, he lived from 1207-1273 AD. He and his father fled from Persia during the Mongol invasions. He met Attár who, feeling the spiritual capacity Rumi possessed, called Rumi an ocean walking behind a sea (Rumi's father). Afterward, Rumi came in contact with Sufis in Baghdad. He was trained in the tradition of Sufism by Siyyid Burhan ud-Din Muhaqqiq Termazi, and, after his master's death, Rumi himself became a Sufi Master and Scholar. His most influential work (a poem of over 50,000 lines and 424 stories) was the Masnavi-I Ma'navi meaning literally, "Rhyming Couplets of Profound Spiritual Meaning." Within this work and each of its stories, are analysis of Quranic ideas and verses which follow man's journey in his quest for God and the hardships he faces.

Khájih `Abdu'lláh: Another Sufi poet living from 1006-1088 AD. He followed many of the ideas of detachment throughout his life. Not only did he avoid the company of the rich and powerful, but he also gave what he had to the poor and needy. His influence was spread far and wide and many schools of thought were influenced and created by his philosophy.

Háfiz: Shamsu'd-Dín Muhammad: Persian lyric poet who lived from 1315-1390 AD. His work is most famous for containing many ideas within a single verse. Our life, in his eyes, is much like an illusion-thus the material is not to be a major focus. His work is probably the most famous in Iran today.

Who were Layla and Majnun?

This is probably the most famous love story in Arabic and Persian traditions. It follows Qays ibn al-Mulawwah ibn Muzahim, a poet, who is unable to marry his beloved Layla Al-Aamiriya due to Quranic traditions and the ill-will of her father. After some time, Layla's father married her to another man. Qays ibn al-Mulawwah, maddened by his grief, came to be known as Majnun, or madman. He left the village for the desert and would wander the land simply reciting poetry. Layla herself died over time. In his progress to madness, he wrote poetry about Layla and his love for her. He died over an unknown grave having written three final lines declaring his love for her.

Who were Joseph and Jacob?

This is a very interesting tale as the story of Jacob and his beloved Joseph has been told by two sources: The Bible and The Quran. Jacob, the grandson of Abraham, had many children of his own-the youngest one being Joseph. At a young age, Joseph had a dream in which the planets, the sun and the moon bowed down to him. Jacob saw this as a fulfillment of the prophesy of Abraham where God's light would be spread to all the people. He warned Joseph not to tell this dream to any of his brothers as they would become jealous and be rid of him. This however did not matter because his brothers were jealous of their father's favoring of Joseph over them.

One day, they took Joseph out to play and left him in a well to be picked up and sold as a slave. They then took his shirt, covered it in sheep blood as proof to their father that he had been eaten by wolves. Jacob, aware of their treachery, said he would wait in patience until Joseph returned to him. The Bible, differs in its telling, claiming that the brothers sold Joseph into slavery to some Egyptians.

In the Quranic tale it writes how as Joseph matured, the signs of God became latent in him as a prophet. Many times, the wife of Imra'at al-Aziz (assumed to be the Pharoah Potiphar) attempted to seduce him. He refused however, but she continues to seduce him until caught by her husband. In order to protect his wife's honor, he placed Joseph in prison. In prison, it is said God gave Joseph the ability to interpret dreams. The king, having heard of his ability came to Joseph asking him for advice on a dream he had. Joseph interpreted the dream to fortell the coming of a great famine which the King could save the people of Egypt from if he so desired. After Egypt avoided the famine, Joseph became a close adviser to the king.

Years later, he would come across his family. Jacob had become blind due to his tears of missing and desiring his son. He forgave his brothers, restored his father's vision and returned home with them.

The Bible gives a slightly different tale. Joseph was imprisoned in Egypt but freed after saving the people due to his interpretation of the King's dream. Jacob, suffering from famine, sent his remaining sons (except Benjamin-Joseph's only full brother) to retrieve grain from Egypt. Joseph, recognizing his brothers, imprisons Simeon claiming that they are all spies. He demanded Benjamin be brought to testify on their behalf. Jacob, hearing of this tragedy, refuses to send Benjamin. Judah, another of Jacob's sons, promises to Jacob not to allow Benjamin to come to any harm. When the brothers are sent once again to Joseph to retrieve more grain, Joseph demands Benjamin. However, Judah offers himself in Benjamin's place. Impressed, and perhaps proud that Judah did not betray Benjamin as he had betrayed him, Joseph revealed himself to his brothers and offered them and his father sanctuary in Egypt.





All these stories, people and ideas simply give various qualities and attributes latent within The Seven Valleys. Detachment, love, determination/motivation and many more are required for one to achieve the end, The Valley of Poverty and Absolute Nothingness.

To return back to the Valley of Search, it is this desire to succeed and to attain the end which drives us forward. If we drop like many of the birds attempting to reach Simorgh, we will never reach our goal. But finding out what we are searching for is only the beginning. We continue on the journey next time in the Valley of Love. Keep in mind, the stead of this Valley is pain. What does this mean in terms of our search?

The Purpose of Our Quest: The Valley of Search

The first of the Seven Valleys is the Valley of Search. This is quite fitting for the first and the beginning point, because the wayfarer, us, is looking for how to begin his journey. The stead of this Valley is patience. Many of us strive day and night to reach a certain goal, but if we give up, then the goal will not be attained. This is why patience is crucial for our search. If we give up in the beginning, if we give up at all, then the journey is over. It may take eternity, but we still need to move forward. Bahá'u'lláh writes, "No bond shall hold them back, and no counsel shall deter them." If anything holds us back, then we will not be able to move forward. Recall the first sentence of the Kitab-i-Iqan where we need to be detached from all of our previous bias and knowledge and experience in order to gain true knowledge and understanding. The same idea applies here.

The major problem is that this is a limited realm. Thus, it is easy to be encumbered by those around us who are not searching. We need to be vigilante and watch for those who may hold us back. The true seeker, as Bahá'u'lláh mentions, will not be deterred by the world, but will constantly search for his ultimate possession-whatever this is to be.

Like for any form of search, we need to put work into it and until the end. Everyday we need to find the object of our quest. We will learn that we are actually encumbered by the things of this world, thus we will begin to cast them aside.

In the Arabic Hidden Word #30 it is Written, "...Deny not My servant should he ask anything from thee, for his face is My face..." Thus, in every face, we need to see the face of God and we begin to realize that this is the purpose of our quest; to find God, the Friend.

From here we move to the Valley of Love.
If you have anything to add, please do so! I always wish to learn more and gain a better understanding of what I am reading.



I would like to make a final note on the idea of detachment. By detachment it does not mean to get rid of everything we own and possess. Rather, it means we need to simply not worry about the material aspects of life (and as we progress, even life itself). This will only hold us back from progressing further. It is important to enjoy life, and if one does have the chance, it is perfectly acceptable to even drink from a gold cup-but it does not mean that our life depends on having it and that we would not give it up if necessary.

The Seven Valleys-A Road to Absolute Detachment

Bahá'u'lláh wrote an incredible and mystical response to a Sufi regarding the progression of the soul on its journey. The work came to be known as the Seven Valleys. In order these Valleys are Search (whose "stead" is patience), Love (whose "stead" is Pain), Knowledge, Unity, Contentment, Wonderment, and True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness. The first three are physical-limited. At each stage of the journey, the wayfarer brings himself closer to God by detaching something of his being. As it is, we begin first by giving up our physical desires, our spiritual desires, ourselves and then finally our freewill. It is a beautiful idea, I think. We have been given a freewill only to give it up to God.

In the long obligatory prayer we read, "Behold me standing ready to do Thy will and Thy desire, and wishing naught else except Thy good pleasure. I implore Thee by the Ocean of Thy mercy and the Day-Star of Thy grace to do with Thy servant as Thou willest and pleasest. By Thy might which is far above all mention and praise! Whatsoever is revealed by Thee is the desire of my heart and the beloved of my soul. O God, my God! Look not upon my hopes and my doings, nay rather look upon Thy will that hath encompassed the heavens and the earth. By Thy Most Great Name, O Thou Lord of all nations! I have desired only what Thou didst desire, and love only what Thou dost love."

This prayer is the one proof of detachment and humility we have towards God. Reading through it, the only possible way to say it with sincerity is to go through the Seven Valleys and detach ourselves of everything in heaven and on earth (except God of course).

Food for thought before we begin. In the Kitab-i-Iqan, first paragraph (this is perhaps one of my favorite statements of all time, thus you will find me quoting it everywhere), it writes, "No man shall attain the shores of the ocean of true understanding except he be detached from all that is in heaven and on earth."

This true understanding comes also from detaching ourselves from everything. We can look at this in two ways. True understanding can be the Will of God, looking at this from the perspective of the Seven Valleys. However, it could also be referencing the investigation of truth in a more broad aspect-where we detach ourselves of all bias and search for what makes the most sense in the world (to our heart, soul and mind) and accept that as true.

Next time, we will begin with the Valley of Search.
http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SVFV/svfv-1.html