Académique Documents
Professionnel Documents
Culture Documents
of bahá’u’lláh
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NL08
introduction
1858, Iraq. Walking along the banks of the River Tigris, wrapt in med-
itation, Bahá’u’lláh – prophet-founder of the Bahá’í Faith – reflected
on the eternal relationship between God and man, on the purpose of
life, and on the obstacles that lie before man in the path of spiritual
perfection. Out of such profound contemplation poured forth the
inspiration for this absorbing collection of short meditational verses,
in whose brief lines may be found a distillation of those spiritual truths
that have been the central inspirational force behind all the religious
traditions of the past. George Townshend, sometime Canon of St
Patrick’s Cathedral, Dublin and Archdeacon of Clonfert, an eminent
scholar, described The Hidden Words thus:
It has the sweep, the force, the freshness of an original work. It is rich
with imagery, laden with thought, throbbing with emotion. Even at the
remove of a translation one feels the strength and majesty of the style
and marvels at the character of a writing which combines so warm and
tender a loving kindness with such dignity and elevation.
5
before him, he suffered relentless persecution at the hands of both the
clergy and the state in the land of his birth, and his cause was rejected
by his own countrymen. Stripped of all his possessions, he was impris-
oned, tortured and, in 1853, exiled from his native land, to Baghdad,
Iraq. The following year, he began a two-year sojourn in the moun-
tains of Kurdistan, withdrawing from the world to live the simple life
of solitary contemplation in a cave, where his fame as a mystic and spir-
itual teacher soon spread throughout the area. After his return to
Baghdad, Bahá’u’lláh wrote The Hidden Words (1857–8), his greatest
ethical work. In 1868 the Persian authorities delivered him into the
hands of the Ottomans, who consigned him to life-imprisonment in
the penal colony of Acre, Palestine, a gaol reserved for the Empire’s
lowest criminals. After almost forty years of unimaginable hardship in
exile and confinement, it was here that he died at the age of seventy-
four, still a prisoner.
Bahá'u'lláh wrote extensively in Persian and Arabic on a broad
range of subjects, addressing not only those timeless theological and
philosophical themes that have plagued humanity since antiquity – such
as God, soul and the purpose of life – but also the issues that have pre-
occupied present-day thinkers such as equality of the sexes, harmony of
science and religion and the need for unity and a global order. In addi-
tion to writing on theological issues, social and moral teachings, and
mysticism, he penned many prayers and meditations for devotional
use, of which The Hidden Words is perhaps the best known. Described as a
guidebook to the spiritual life, it provides inspiring counsels for a daily
spiritual practice to bring the soul closer to God. For many years only
a few treasured manuscripts of this book existed, passed from hand to
hand and carefully concealed from those who opposed the infant reli-
gion. Now, however, this profoundly edifying little volume has been
translated from its original Persian and Arabic into sixty-nine lan-
guages, and is loved and learned by heart throughout the world.
6
From the Arabic
he is the glory of glories
2
o son of spirit!
9
3
o son of man!
4
o son of man!
10
5
o son of being!
6
o son of being!
11
7
o son of man!
8
o son of spirit!
12
9
o son of being!
10
o son of utterance!
13
11
o son of being!
12
o son of being!
14
13
o son of spirit!
15
14
o son of man!
16
15
o son of utterance!
Turn thy face unto Mine and renounce all save Me;
for My sovereignty endureth and My dominion perisheth not. If thou
seekest another than Me, yea, if thou searchest the universe for evermore,
thy quest will be in vain.
16
o son of light!
17
17
o son of man!
18
o son of spirit!
18
19
o son of the wondrous vision!
20
o son of spirit!
19
21
o son of man!
22
o son of spirit!
20
23
o son of the supreme!
24
o son of man!
21
25
o son of spirit!
26
o son of being!
22
27
o son of man!
28
o son of spirit!
23
29
o son of being!
30
o son of man!
24
31
o son of being!
32
o son of the supreme!
25
33
o son of spirit!
34
o son of spirit!
26
35
o son of man!
36
o son of man!
27
37
o son of man!
38
o son of being!
28
39
o son of man!
40
o son of man!
29
41
o son of man!
42
o son of man!
30
43
o son of being!
44
o son of the throne!
31
45
o son of being!
46
o son of man!
32
47
o son of man!
48
o son of man!
33
49
O son of man!
50
o son of man!
34
51
o son of man!
52
o son of man!
35
53
o son of being!
54
o son of being!
36
55
o son of being!
56
o son of man!
37
57
o son of man!
58
o son of man!
38
59
o son of being!
60
o son of man!
39
61
o son of man!
62
o son of man!
40
63
o son of man!
64
o son of man!
41
65
o son of man!
66
o children of the divine
and invisible essence!
42
67
o son of beauty!
43
68
o children of men!
44
69
o ye sons of spirit!
70
o son of him that stood
by his own entity in the kingdom
of his self!
45
71
o son of man!
46
From the Persian
In the Name of the Lord of Utterance, the Mighty.
1
o y e p e o p l e t h a t h av e m i n d s
to know and ears to hear!
49
2
o son of spirit!
50
3
o friend!
4
o son of justice!
51
5
o son of dust!
6
o son of earth!
52
7
o s o n o f l ov e !
Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights
above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one pace and with
the next advance into the immortal realm and enter the pavilion of eternity.
Give ear then to that which hath been revealed by the
pen of glory.
8
o son of glory!
53
9
o fleeting shadow!
10
o son of desire!
54
11
o son of dust!
55
12
o man of two visions!
Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the
world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty
of the Beloved.
13
o my children!
56
14
o friends!
15
o son of spirit!
57
16
o essence of negligence!
17
o comrades!
58
18
o ye dwellers in the highest paradise!
59
19
o my friends!
60
In the eighth of the most holy lines, in the fifth Tablet
of Paradise, He saith:
20
o ye that are lying as dead
on the couch of heedlessness!
61
21
o m ov i ng f o r m o f d u s t !
62
22
o son of desire!
63
23
o dw e l l e r s i n t h e c i t y o f l ov e !
64
24
o ye that are foolish,
y e t h av e a n a m e t o b e w i s e !
25
o y e s e e m i n g f a i r y e t i n wa r d l y f o u l !
65
26
o my friend in word!
27
o son of dust!
66
28
o essence of desire!
67
29
o son of bounty!
68
30
o b o n d s l av e o f t h e w o r l d !
31
o son of earth!
69
32
o befriended stranger!
70
33
o my brother!
71
34
o dwellers of my paradise!
35
o my friends!
72
36
o son of dust!
The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain
a hearing, even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he
findeth a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his
heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved. Wherefore sow the
seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the heart, and keep
them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the
heart and not from mire and clay.
73
In the first line of the Tablet it is recorded and written,
and within the sanctuary of the tabernacle of God
is hidden:
74
37
o m y s e r va n t !
75
38
o son of spirit!
39
o offspring of dust!
76
40
o m y s e r va n t !
41
o son of my handmaid!
77
42
o m y s e r va n t !
43
o my friends!
78
44
o companion of my throne!
79
45
a l a s ! a l a s ! o l ov e r s o f wo r l d ly d e s i r e !
80
46
o brethren in the path!
47
o children of desire!
81
In the third of the most holy lines writ and recorded
in the Ruby Tablet by the pen of the unseen this
is revealed:
82
48
o brethren!
83
49
o children of dust!
50
o quintessence of passion!
84
51
o son of my handmaid!
85
52
o children of negligence and passion!
86
53
o ye that pride yourselves on
mortal riches!
87
54
o ye rich ones on earth!
55
o son of passion!
88
56
o my son!
57
o son of dust!
89
58
o son of my handmaid!
59
o heedless ones!
90
60
o friends!
61
o son of man!
91
62
o son of dust!
92
63
o ye peoples of the world!
64
o oppressors on earth!
93
65
o rebellious ones!
66
o emigrants!
94
67
o children of fancy!
68
o weed that springeth out of dust!
95
69
o children of adam!
96
70
o son of worldliness!
97
71
o my friends!
98
72
o m y s e r va n t !
73
o my friend!
99
74
o c h i l d r e n o f va i n g l o r y !
75
o children of negligence!
100
76
o son of my handmaid!
101
77
o son of justice!
102
claws of the dogs of earth. Thereupon the Maid of heaven hastened forth
unveiled and resplendent from Her mystic mansion, and asked of their
names, and all were told but one. And when urged, the first letter thereof
was uttered, whereupon the dwellers of the celestial chambers rushed forth
out of their habitation of glory. And whilst the second letter was
pronounced they fell down, one and all, upon the dust. At that moment a
voice was heard from the inmost shrine: “Thus far and no farther.”
Verily We bear witness to that which they have done
and now are doing.
103
78
o son of my handmaid!
79
o son of desire!
104
80
o m y s e r va n t s !
105
81
o m y s e r va n t !
82
o m y s e r va n t !
106
The mystic and wondrous Bride, hidden ere this
beneath the veiling of utterance, hath now, by the
grace of God and His divine favour, been made manifest
even as the resplendent light shed by the beauty of the
Beloved. I bear witness, O friends! that the favour is
complete, the argument fulfilled, the proof manifest and
the evidence established. Let it now be seen what your
endeavours in the path of detachment will reveal. In this
wise hath the divine favour been fully vouchsafed unto
you and unto them that are in heaven and on earth. All
praise to God, the Lord of all Worlds.