Morning
This [the station of ‘THE BEAUTY OF THE BELOVED’] is the realm of pure awareness and utter self-effacement. Not even love can find a way to this plane, nor doth affection have a place therein. Wherefore is it said: “Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved.” Here love becometh but an obstructing veil, and aught save the Friend but a curtain. Thus the wise Saná’í hath written:
None may approach that well-belov’d
Who harboreth his own desire;
None may embrace that beauteous form
Who’s burdened with his own attire.
For this is the realm of God and is sanctified above every allusion of His creatures.
Abiding in the court of rapture, the dwellers of this mansion wield with utmost joy and gladness the sceptres of divinity and lordship; and, established upon the lofty seats of justice, they exert their rule and bestow upon every soul its due. Those who drink of this cup abide beneath the canopy of glory, above the throne of the Ancient of Days, and dwell upon the seat of grandeur beneath the tabernacle of majesty. These are they that “know neither sun nor piercing cold”. [Qur’an 76:13]
On this plane the highest heavens are neither opposed to, nor distinguished from, the lowly earth, for this is the realm of divine favours, not the arena of worldly contraries. Albeit at every moment a new condition be displayed, yet that condition is ever the same. Wherefore He saith in one instance, “Nothing whatsoever keepeth Him from being occupied with any other thing.” [1] And in another He saith, “Verily, His ways differ every day.” [Qur’an 55:29]
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Four Valleys’, revised translation by the Baha’i World Center included in ‘The Call of the Divine Beloved’)
[1] The famous adage cited in many Islamic sources
Evening
The word of God which the Supreme Pen hath recorded on the seventh leaf of the Most Exalted Paradise is this: O ye men of wisdom among nations! Shut your eyes to estrangement, then fix your gaze upon unity. Cleave tenaciously unto that which will lead to the well-being and tranquillity of all mankind. This span of earth is but one homeland and one habitation. It behoveth you to abandon vainglory which causeth alienation and to set your hearts on whatever will ensure harmony.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
