O My brother! Not every sea hath pearls; not every branch
will flower, nor will the nightingale sing thereon. Then, ere the nightingale
of the mystic Paradise repair to the celestial garden, and the rays of the morn
of inner meaning return to the Day-Star of Truth, make thou an effort, that
haply in this dust-heap of a mortal world thou mayest catch a fragrance from
the everlasting rose-garden and live in the shadow of the inhabitants of this
everlasting city. And when thou hast attained this highest plane and most
exalted degree, then shalt thou gaze on the Beloved and forget all else. - Baha’u’llah (‘The Seven Valleys’, 2019
revised translation by the Baha’i World Centre; included in ‘The Call of the
Divine Beloved’)
