Morning
Indeed, O brother, if we ponder each created thing, we shall
witness a myriad consummate wisdoms and learn a myriad new and wondrous truths.
One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets have been
deposited therein, how many wisdoms treasured up, how many worlds concealed.
Observe how thou art asleep in a dwelling, and its doors are shut; on a sudden
thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy
feet or wearying thy body. Without taxing thine eyes, thou seest; without
troubling thine ears, thou hearest; without a tongue, thou speakest. And
perchance when ten years have passed, thou wilt witness in this temporal world
the very things thou hast dreamt tonight.
Now there are many wisdoms to ponder in the dream, which none but the people of this valley can comprehend in their reality. First, what is this world where without eye or ear or hand or tongue one can put all these to use? Second, how is it that in the outer world thou seest today the effect of a dream which thou didst witness in the world of sleep some ten years past? Consider the difference between these two worlds, and the mysteries they conceal, that, attended by divine confirmations, thou mayest attain unto heavenly discoveries and enter the realms of holiness.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Seven Valleys’, revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
Evening
O Son of Dust! Blind thine eyes, that thou mayest behold My beauty; stop thine ears, that thou mayest hearken unto the sweet melody of My voice; empty thyself of all learning, that thou mayest partake of My knowledge; and sanctify thyself from riches, that thou mayest obtain a lasting share from the ocean of My eternal wealth. Blind thine eyes, that is, to all save My beauty; stop thine ears to all save My word; empty thyself of all learning save the knowledge of Me; that with a clear vision, a pure heart and an attentive ear thou mayest enter the court of My holiness.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Hidden
Words’)
