March 12

The tongue faileth in describing these three Valleys[1], and speech falleth short. The pen steppeth not into this region, the ink leaveth only a blot. In these planes, the nightingale of the heart hath other songs and secrets, which make the heart to stir and the soul to clamor, but this mystery of inner meaning may be whispered only from heart to heart, confided only from breast to breast.

Only heart to heart can speak the bliss of mystic knowers; 

No messenger can tell it and no missive bear it. [2]

I am silent from weakness on many a matter,
For my words could not reckon them and my speech would fall short. [3]

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 taste of it, thou wilt shield thine eyes from all things else, and drink of the wine of contentment; and thou wilt loose thyself from all things else, and bind thyself to Him, and throw thy life down in His path, and cast thy soul away. However, there is no other in this region that thou need forget: “There was God and there was naught beside Him.” [4] For on this plane the traveler witnesseth the beauty of the Friend in everything. Even in fire, he seeth the face of the Beloved. He beholdeth in illusion the secret of reality, and readeth from the attributes the riddle of the Essence. For he hath burnt away the veils with his sighing, and unwrapped the shroudings with a single glance; with piercing sight he gazeth on the new creation; with lucid heart he graspeth subtle verities. This is sufficiently attested by: “And we have made thy sight sharp in this day.” [5] (Baha’u’llah, ‘The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys)

[1] Valleys of Knowledge, Unity, Contentment

[2] Háfiz: Shamsu’d-Dín Muhammad, of Shíráz, died ca. 1389 A.D. One of the greatest of Persian poets.

[3] Arabian poem.

[4] Hadíth, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the Prophet Muhammad or to one of the holy Imáms.

[5] From Qur’án 50:21.