A taste of the Hidden Words

For those of you who are not familiar, the Hidden Words are small passages revealed by Bahá'u'lláh after He and His family were exiled to Baghdad by the Persian government between the years of 1853 and 1863. They were Revealed in the Persian and Arabic languages. Themes such as the Love of God, Creation, Justice and Detachment are covered within these Writings. Unlike normal prayers, where the human asks God for assistance, the Hidden Words are recommendations God makes for us, His creation on how to live our lives and become more spiritual beings.

For more information, I leave this link from Wikipedia up for you: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Words
If you are interested in seeing the whole work: http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/HW/

"O quintessence of passion! Put away all covetousness and seek contentment; for the covetous hath ever been deprived, and the contented hath ever been loved and praised."
-Baha'u'llah Hidden Words #50 Persian

Let us begin with the opening statement. In many of the Holy Writings, most notably the Hidden Words, we see this opening (i.e. Fire Tablet: "In the name of God, the Most Ancient, the Most Great). This opening is highly unusual and requires much time to grasp its true meaning (the same goes for all the Hidden Words).

What does quintessence mean? It was a word I never understood when I was younger. I would say the prayer for evening* and would pronounce it as queen essence. Anyways, quintessence is the fifth element, and to quote Wikipedia... "Aristotle included aether in the system of the classical elements of Ionic philosophy as the "fifth element" (the quintessence), on the principle that the four terrestrial elements were subject to change and moved naturally in straight lines while no change had been observed in the celestial regions and the heavenly bodies moved in circles. In Aristotle's system aether had no qualities (was neither hot, cold, wet, or dry), was incapable of change (with the exception of change of place), and by its nature moved in circles."

So what do we get out of this statement "O quintessence of passion!" ? The quintessence is incapable of change, but it is able to still move. I believe, from my own thoughts, that this could be a reference to our unwavering passion of God. However, lets read the rest of the quotation before we get back to this idea.

Covetous means, "marked by inordinate desire for wealth or possessions or for another's possessions." So, essentially the Hidden Word is saying to be content with what you have. This way, you will be detached and he who is detached will be happy (this statement will be covered in full at a later time: happiness through detachment).

Let us now return to the opening. O quintessence of passion! Looking at Plato's idea, there is an "existence of a fifth element (corresponding to the fifth remaining Platonic solid, the dodecahedron) called quintessence, of which the cosmos and all celestial bodies are made." And this is what we are made of. Perhaps... Or... we are the cosmos what passion is created.

What do you think?




*O my God, my Master, the Goal of my desire! This, Thy servant, seeketh to sleep in the shelter of Thy mercy, and to repose beneath the canopy of Thy grace, imploring Thy care and Thy protection.

I beg of Thee, O my Lord, by Thine eye that sleepeth not, to guard mine eyes from beholding aught beside Thee. Strengthen, then, their vision that they may discern Thy signs, and behold the Horizon of Thy Revelation. Thou art He before the revelations of Whose omnipotence the quintessence of power hath trembled.

No God is there but Thee, the Almighty, the All-Subduing, the Unconditioned

-Bahá'u'lláh