A Hymn to Love (Sáqí, bi-dih ábí)
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Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Julio Savi, A Hymn to Love (Sáqí, bi-dih ábí), bahai-library.com.
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A Hymn to Love

(Sáqí, bi-dih ábí)*†

Julio Savi

O Cup-Bearer, give me a drop

He is the Glorious

O Cup-Bearer, give me a drop of the mystic Flame,                         [1]
That it may wash my soul from the whispers of the flesh,
A drop of water revealing the form of Fire,
A sparkle of fire manifesting the celestial Fount.
A glimmer of His image fell on the page of the Soul,
A hundred Hellenic wisdoms were confounded.
A spark of that Flame hit the Tree of Sinai,
A hundred Imranite Moseses were astounded.
A flame of that Fire turned into Love and pitched                         [5]
Its tents in man’s water and clay and in his heart.
Who art Thou, O Love, that ‘cause of Thee the world
Is in turmoil and Luqman’s wisdom is envious?

*
For a general introduction to this and other poems by Bahá’u’lláh see Julio
Savi, “Bahá’u’lláh’s Persian poems written before 1863,” in Lights of
Irfan 13 (2012): 317-361.
†
This provisional translation has been done with the precious assistance of
Ms. Faezeh Mardani Mazzoli, lecturer of Persian language at the
University of Bologna, translated by Julio Savi.
224                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16

Now Thou boastest: “I’m the Beloved’s splendour in the
world.”
Now Thou proclaimest:          “I’m      Myself   that    Divine
Countenance.”
Since Thou breathest the Beloved’s fragrance upon the soul,
Whatever claim Thou advancest, one might say Thou art
much better.
Thou art the Companion of the soul, the Sign of the Beloved,
From Thee tranquility of spirit cometh, from Thee distress.
If a ray from Thy Face shineth on the Divine realms,               [10]
Thou wilt see a hundred Cananaean Josephs put up for sale.
From Thee Joseph’s fragrance bloweth; from Thee the
Messianic Spirit;
Thou art the white-handed Moses, Thou, the flame on
Mount Paran.
Bound are the heads by Thy locks, pierced the hearts
By Thine anguish, be they of insane laymen or of Divine
sages.
I’m drunk of Thee, ‘cause of Thee I’m notorious, whether
Thou offerest me a hundred lives, or Thou slayest me.
If Thou art the Angel of death, how come that Thou revivest
me?
If Thou art the Reviver of bodies, how is it that Thou
actest as a snake?
If Thou graciously movest in the court of a king, Thou
changest                                        [15]
The king into a servant and the servant into a king.
A spark of Thy Face fell upon the rose-bush of the soul,
And lit its beauty as a crimson tulip.
O! What a breeze wafted announcing to the soul the glad
tidings
A Hymn to Love                                                    225

That from the East of the Spirit that Divine Face hath
appeared.
Souls soared with yearning, hearts were enraptured in ecstasy,
Love fell in love with Him, and so did the essence of
creation.
Through His wisdom, the coincidence of opposites is made
manifest,
Now Love becometh a servant, now the Intellect a porter.
Stop tearing asunder the veil of mystery, O Dervish:
A cry riseth from the city of men and the world of brutes. [20]

A hymn to love: a poem revealed by Bahá’u’lláh

Sáqí, bi-dih ábí is a 20 one rhymed (-ání) distiches poem. It is
one among eight Persian poems, composed by Bahá’u’lláh,
signed “Dervish,” and published by the Iranian Bahá’í scholar
‘Abdu’l-Óamíd Ishráq Khávarí (1902–1972) in his multi-volume
anthology of the Writings of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í
Faith Má’idiy-i-Asmání (4:176-211). The eight Persian poems
quoted by Ishráq Khávarí are as follows:1
1. Báz áv-u bi-dih jámí, that may be paraphrased as “Come
back and proffer a chalice” (qtd. in Ishráq Khávarí 186-7; see
also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:158-59);
2. Sáqí az Ghayb-i-Baqá, that may be paraphrased as “The
Cup-bearer of the hidden Realm” (qtd. in Ishráq Khávarí
209-11; see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:157-58);
3. ‘Ishq az Sidriy-i-A‘lá ámad, that may be paraphrased as
“Love came from the loftiest Tree” (qtd. in Ishráq Khávarí
179-80; see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:172-74);
4. Bi-Jánán ján hamí dar-yáft rah, that may be paraphrased
as “The soul hath found its way to the Beloved” (qtd. in
Ishráq Khávarí 176-8; see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:167-69);
226                                                  Lights of Irfán vol. 16

5. Sáqí, bi-dih ábí zán shu‘liy-i-rú˙ání, that may be
paraphrased as “O Cup-bearer, give me a drop of the
mystic flame” (qtd. In Ishráq Khávarí 192-4; see also Majmú’iy-i-
Áthár 30:171-72);

6. Mast-and bulbulán, that may be paraphrased as
“Nightingales get inebriated” (qtd. in Ishráq Khávarí 194-6;
see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:169-71);

7. Sa˙ar ámad bi bistar-am yár, that may be paraphrased as
“At dawn the Friend came to my bed” (qtd. in Ishráq
Khávarí 181-84; see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 30:163-65);

8. But-i-má ámad bá ba††í-u bádih, that may be
paraphrased as “Our Charmer came with a glass and
wine” (qtd. in Ishráq Khávarí 188-92; see also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár
30:159-63).

These eight poems are also quoted in Majmú’iy-i-Áthár
30:157-74. Excerpts from a few of them are included, together
with excerpts from other poems by Bahá’u’lláh, by the Iranian
Bahá’í scholar Mírzá Asadu’lláh Fá∂il Mázandarání (ca.1880–
1957), in volume 4 of his Táríkh ¸uhúru’l-Óaqq (History of the
Manifestation of Truth), a nine volume history of the Bábí and
Bahá’í religions (141-2). Two of them are mentioned in the Bahá’í
World volumes among “Bahá’u’lláh Best Known Works.” They
are Báz Áv-u Bi-Dih Jámí and Sáqí az Ghayb-i-Baqá. Franklin D.
Lewis, an expert in Persian Language and Literature, has offered
three different translations of Sáqí az Ghayb-i-Baqá (“Short
Poem” 86-9). Three of these poems are mentioned, and a few
verses translated, by Stephen N. Lambden, an English Bahá’í
scholar focusing on Shi‘i Islam and Qajar Persia, early
Shaykhism, the Writings of the Báb, the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh, in his “Sinaitic Mysteries” (116-7): Bí jánán ján hamí
daryaft, Sáqí bidih ábí, Mast-and bulbulán.
A Hymn to Love                                                    227

Historical hints

These eight poems were most probably written in Kurdistan,
where Bahá’u’lláh remained from 10 April 1854 to 19 March
1856 and, in ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words, “lived in poverty,” wearing
the “garments . . . of the poor and needy” and eating the “food .
. . of the indigent and lowly . . .” (qtd. in GPB124, sec.7, para.42).
Lewis writes about them:

The information in God Passes By5 seems to suggest that
these poems signed “Dervish” date to the earlier phase
of Bahá’u’lláh’s residence at Sar-Galú, probably some
time between the Spring of 1854 and the Winter of
1854–55. However, we cannot yet completely rule out
the possibility that they were composed later, while at
the Khálidí lodge in Sulaymáníyyih, or perhaps even in
the period shortly after his return to Baghdad. (“Short
Poem” 84)

The attribution of their drafting to the years of Bahá’u’lláh’s
stay in Kurdistan (1854–1856), during which He was in touch
with the local Sufi communities, is also upheld by Mázandarání
in his Táríkh-i-¸uhúru’l-Óaqq (4:139). Moreover, this attribution
seems confirmed by their takhalluß, “Dervish,” the nom de
plume introduced into the final verse of these eight poems
according to the use of Persian lyrics. In that period Bahá’u’lláh
had adopted the surname of Dervísh Mu˙ammad (see Lewis, “Short
Poem” 84). In this paper, we will comment only upon the poem
which begins Sáqí, bi-dih ábí.

Literary aspects

As to its form, this specific composition may be defined a
poem in the light of the following definition of poetry, given
by Lewis as to Nineteenth century Persia: “rhymed speech
(moqafâ) composed in lines (bayt / abyât) following one of the
established quantitative meters (bahr / bohur) and arranged
228                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16

according to a particular form” (“Poetry as Revelation” 102).
Specifically, Sáqí, bi-dih ábí seems a ghazal.
As to the ghazal, the French Orientalist Régis Blachère (1900–
1973), a profound interpreter of the Koran, which he translated
into French (1947), writes in the Encyclopaedia of Islam that
ghazal means “‘song, elegy of love,’ often also ‘the erotico-elegiac
genre.’ The term is Arabic, but passed into Persian, Turkish and
Urdu and acquired a special sense in these languages.”
The term ghazal comes from the Arabic root ghazala:

He talked, and acted in an amatory and enticing manner,
with a woman, or with women; he practised . . . the talk,
and actions, and circumstances, occurring between the
lover and the object of love. (Lane 6:39)

And thus the Lane Arabic-English Lexicon defines the word
ghazal as

The talks, and actions, and circumstances, occurring
between the lover and the object of love . . . an
inclining to foolish and youthful conduct, or a
manifesting of passionate love, and becoming notorious
for affections to women . . . talk, and amatory and
enticing conduct, with women; or play, sport, dalliance,
or wanton conduct, and amorous talk, with women . . .
play, sport, or diversion, with women . . . or the talk of
young men and [or with] young women: . . . praise of
what are apparent of the members of the object of love:
or the mention of the days of union and of disunion: or
the like thereof. (Lane 6:39)

Blachère explains:

the ghazal was . . . a man’s song addressed to a girl;
contamination by the noun ghazál “gazelle,” from the
images and comparisons associated with it, is not
perhaps to be excluded (cf. “to make sheep’s eyes”).
A Hymn to Love                                                      229

Whatever the reason, the idea evoked by the term
ghazal, like the English “gallantry” and particularly the
noun “gallant,” now fallen into disuse, became
elaborated in a realm of ideas where there mingle the
notions of flirtation, compliments made to a lady,
complaints at her coldness or inaccessibility and the
description of effeminate languishing attitudes on the
part of the lover . . .

As to Persian ghazals, Alessandro Bausani (1921–1988), a
well-known Italian Islamicist and a deep knower of Persian
religiosity, says that

A widely accepted opinion is that the ghazal, an
unknown genre in the ancient Arabic poetry, derived
from an extrapolation and an autonomous use of the
tashbíb [first part] of the qaßidè. However it also may
be that, without excluding the former hypothesis, the
ghazal may have derived from some form of oral,
popular autochthonous poetry. (“Letteratura neopersiana” 176)

Bausani also writes that the ghazal is “the primary instrument
of Persian lyrics” (ibid.). He explains that qaßídihs and ghazals
are technically different from one another only for their
different “length and different subjects” (ibid.). The former was
mainly used in Persia as “an instrument of panegyric or
philosophic and moralizing poetry” (ibid.). The latter dealt with
“wine, love, springtime and mystics” (ibid. 176). Edward G.
Browne (1862–1926), the renowned British Orientalist, also
explains: “The ghazal differs from the qaßída mainly in subject
and length. The former is generally erotic or mystical, and
seldom exceeds ten or a dozen bayts; the latter may be a
panegyric, or a satire, or it may be didactic, philosophical,
religious” (27). While speaking about Persian ghazals of the
10th–13th centuries, Bausani also explains that in those
centuries the ghazal has “as its object the ma‘shú ḳ ‘the Beloved,’
whereas the ḳaßída has as its object the mamdú˙, ‘the Praised’
230                                           Lights of Irfán vol. 16

(Prince or patron).” However, he adds, in the period from the
13th to the 16th century “the chief object of the ghazal, the
ma‘shú ḳ, the (earthly) Beloved, becomes inextricably connected
not only with the ma‘búd [literally, the Adored One], the divine
Beloved (God, or better His representative on earth, the
mystical Initiator) but even with the mamdú˙ [literally, the
Celebrated One], the traditional object of the ḳaßída” (“Ghazal.
ii. In Persian literature”).

The features of the Persian ghazals, as explained by Bausani
in the Encyclopaedia of Islam,6 may be summarized as follows:
1. Length: “it consists of a few bayts (verses, or distiches),
generally not less than five and no more than twelve” (Bausani).
Other authors consider up to 15 verses as acceptable for a
ghazal (Rossi, Grammatica 92). This is true for Khájih Shamsu’d-
Dín Mu˙ammad Óáfi.z-i-Shírází (ca.1318–1390), for example,
whose Díván comprises only two ghazals longer than 15 verses.
But Mawláná Jalál ad-Dín Rúmí (1207–1273), one of the
greatest Persian poets, wrote some ghazals that have more than
15 verses, up to 29 couplets. However, all scholars agree that a
ghazal should be short. It has been defined as “an older Iranian
cousin to European sonnets and short odes” (Hilmann, “Hâfez and
the Persian ghazal” G).

2. Rhyme: “It has a single rhyme (often accompanied by a
radíf); in the first bayt, called ma†la‘, both hemistichs too
rhyme together” (Bausani).
3. Nom de plume: “the last bayt, called ma ḳ†a‘, contains the
nom-de-plume (takhalluß) of the author” (Bausani).
4. Contents: “the contents of the ghazal are descriptions of
the emotions of the poet in front of love, spring, wine, God,
etc., often inextricably connected” (Bausani).
5. “In classical ghazal each verse forms a closed unit, only
slightly interconnected with the others. To explain this feature
of the ghazal, some modern scholars have invoked the
‘psychology of depth’ to show that in the ghazal there is unity,
A Hymn to Love                                                    231

but an unconscious one. However this may be, external
incongruity would seem to be a real rule in classic Persian
poetry. We are in the presence of a bunch of motifs only lightly
tied together” (Bausani). This rule admits exceptions: “If two or
more verses belong in sense to each other, they are called
muḳa††a” (Wilberforce-Clarke xiv).
Finally Wilberforce-Clark remarks about ghazal:

The poem must be finished, without defects in rhyme,
and pure in language, all obsolete words, or vulgar
expressions being avoided. Each verse must convey a
complete thought. The verses are strung like pearls on a
thread, which makes them a necklace, the value whereof
lies in the value of each pearl, not in the thread. (ibid.)

As to the features of the ghazal in the times immediately
before Bahá’u’lláh, Bausani writes:

The fourth period [of Persian ghazal], that of the so-
called Indian style (10th/16th to 12th/18th centuries) . .
. sees an intellectual reflection on the accepted symbols
of the classical ghazal, which becomes an arena for a
quasi-philosophical exercise of the mind. The ghazal
finds a renewed congruity of meaning, and its
protagonist, instead of the ma‘shú ḳ/mamdú˙/ma‘búd
[that is, the Beloved, the Adored One, the Celebrated
One] seems to be the Mind of its Author, creating ever
new purely intellectual combinations of the old worn-
out symbols. (Bausani)

Sáqí bi-dih ábí seems to meet all these requirements, the most
important exception being its length: 20 verses. However, as
has been said above, both Óáfiz. and Rúmí wrote some ghazals
with more than 20 verses. The main reason why this poem can
be seen as a ghazal is that its central theme is Love. In fact, it
may be considered as a hymn to Love, its protagonist. Like the
other seven poems which have been mentioned at the beginning
232                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16

of this paper, Sáqí bi-dih ábí seemingly alludes to Bahá’u’lláh’s
mystic encounter with the Most Great Spirit in the Síyáh-Chál,
the subterranean dungeon in Teheran where He was confined
from middle August to December 1852, also mentioned in
several biographical passages of His Writings. In this poem the
Most Great Spirit is described first as Water and Fire, and then
as Love itself. Many verses are devoted to a description of Love
and of its impact on human hearts and on the world.

A slow reading of the poem

The following thoughts are offered only as personal
reflections on the verses revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, whose perusal
may evoke remembrances of His own Writings as well as of
verses of earlier poets.

Huva’l-‘Azíz7
He is the Glorious

The invocation of one of the names of God, usually the name
Allah, at the beginning of a script is very frequent in the Islamic
world. The invocation Huv’Alláh means He is God. Francis
Joseph Steingass (1825–1903), the German linguist expert on
Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit who authored a well-known
Persian–English dictionary, writes about Huva, in Arabic huwa,
and in Persian also hú:

He; he is; a name of God;—also hú’i náma, The name of
God, generally accompanied by one or more of his
attributes, written in front of a letter or book as an
auspicious omen . . . (Steingass 1516)

As to Alláh, Steingass writes: “God: The God, by way of
eminence (being compounded of the article al, The, and iláh, a
God)” (Steingass 95). The invocation appears at the beginning of a
A Hymn to Love                                                     233

few of Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings, both in poetry, as for example in
Báz áv-u bi-dih jámí, and ‘Ishq az Sidriy-i-A‘lá ámad, and in
prose. The Tablets translated into English which begin with this
invocation comprise Ishráqát, Law˙-i-Maqßúd, a Tablet quoted
by Bahá’u’lláh in Súriy-i-Haykal: Law˙-i-Náßiri’d-Dín Sháh (108-
11, paras.210-4), a Tablet quoted in Fire and Light (16, no. VII), the
Tablet to Badí‘ (qtd. in Balyuzi, King of Glory 299), a prayer (qtd. in
BP43-5) and section 106 of “Questions and Answers” (139-40).

About the invocation “He is God,” ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote:

Thou hast asked regarding the phrase, “He is God!”
written above the Tablets. By this word it is intended
that no one hath any access to the Invisible Essence. The
way is barred and the road is impassable. In this world
all men must turn their faces toward “Him-whom God-
shall-Manifest.” He is the “Dawning-place of Divinity”
and the “Manifestation of Deity.” He is the “Ultimate
Goal,” the “Adored One” of all and the “Worshipped
One” of all. Otherwise, whatever flashes through the
mind is not that Essence of essences and the Reality of
realities; nay, rather it is pure imagination woven by
man and is surrounded, not the surrounding.
Consequently, it returns finally to the realm of
supposition and conjectures. (TAB3:485)

Taherzadeh wrote in this regard, that whenever Bahá’u’lláh
quotes the Koranic verse: “There is none other God but God” at
the beginning of a Tablet, He:

proclaims in majestic and powerful language that in this
day He has removed the letter of negation which had
been placed before that of affirmation. This phrase,
which the Prophet of Islam regarded as the cornerstone
of His Faith, is now in the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh
symbolically replaced by the affirmative phrase “He is
God.” This signifies that the Author of this Faith holds
within His own hands the reins of authority, and, unlike
234                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16

the Dispensations of the past, no one will have the
power to wrest it from Him. Hence the assurance in His
Writings that this is “the Day which shall not be
followed by night.” (160)

In this poem Bahá’u’lláh mentions God’s attribute al-‘Azíz,
“Excellent; precious, dear, valuable, rare, choice; magnificent,
glorious, powerful; venerable, pious, holy; a king, ruler, prime
minister (especially in Egypt)” (Steingass 848). This adjective has
been translated “the Glorious.” It is the ninth among the ninety-
nine beautiful Names of God that Moslem theologians have
found in the Koran. In the Bahá’í Writings it has been
translated the “Mightiest” (Bahá’u’lláh, qtd. in BP92, Long Healing
Prayer; Nafahat-i Fa∂l 2:17, Law˙-i-Anta’l-Káfí).

Sáqí, bi-dih ábí zán shu‘liy-i-rú˙ání,
Tá kih bi-shúyad ján-rá az vasvasiy-i-nafsání,

O Cup-bearer, give me a drop of the mystic Flame,
That it may wash my soul from the whispers of the flesh,

Bahá’u’lláh here addresses His Beloved, perhaps the Most
Great Spirit, Whom He had seen as a Maid, calling Him Cup-
Bearer. This familiar personage of Persian mystic poetry has his
origin in the Koran and in the Traditions. Bausani explains that
Sufis relate the cup-bearer to “the ancient mystic legend
wherefore at the beginning of the Divine Love, the cup-bearer
(sáqí), as God-the Beloved, poured the wine for God-the Lover
during forty successive dawns and thus he created the world”
(“Letteratura neopersiana” 162; see Religion in Iran 277). According to
the German Orientalist Annemarie Schimmel (1922–2003), Sufis

saw this moment in poetical imagery as a spiritual
banquet in which the wine of Love was distributed to
humanity so that everyone received the share which he
or she will have in this life. Here, the imagery of wine is
A Hymn to Love                                                        235

used not for the final goal of the mystic’s unification
with God and his being filled with Him, but rather as the
starting point of the flow of Divine grace at the
beginning of time. (Deciphering 109)

It is the rúz-i-alast, the metahystorical morning when human
souls entered into the eternal Covenant with their Creator,
which is the basis of their life on earth and of the development
of human civilization (see HW, Persian, no.19). Carlo Saccone, an
expert in and a translator of Persian poetry into Italian,
comprising the whole Díván by Óáfi.z, writes in this regard that

the wine which he [the cup-bearer], incessantly invoked
and implored, pours into the cup of the lover\poet
clearly reveals its sacred imprinting, i.e., it is a
transposition of the “mysterious” wine which the
youthful cup-bearers of Muslim paradise offer to the
blessed spirits. (44)

According to Saccone, the cup-bearer sometimes symbolizes
the beloved himself, as

an initiator, i.e., he who . . . initiates the poet . . . into
the mysteries of wine and love for him [God]. [And the
poet’s] initiation . . . is essentially a summon to folly, to
disarm one’s intellect and its analytic processes, because
the lover will attain unto the reunion with his friend . . .
only in the condition of “sacred folly,” fostered by his
drunkenness. (ibid. 49, 50)

A poem by Rúmí also begins with an invocation to the sáqí
and a request of wine:

Happy-cheeked sáqí of mine, give the cup (jám) like the
pomegranate blossom (gulnár); if for my sake you will
not give for the sake of the heart of the Beloved (Yár).
(Mystical Poems 2:70, no.290, v.1; Díván, “Ghazalyát,” no.2283)
236                                                 Lights of Irfán vol. 16

In Sáqí, bi-dih ábí, the lover asks the Cup-Bearer to give him
a drop of the Mystic flame, combining three images: water, ábí,
here translated “drop,” wine (the Cup-Bearer), and fire, shu‘lih,
“Light, splendour, lustre, shining, flashing, coruscation; blaze,
flash, fire, flame” (Steingass 747). These three images are often
associated in Persian mystical poetry. Bausani writes that in
Persian literature “the wine is also fire, and in this it is similar to
the alchemists’ water, which is also fire . . . In fact in traditional
lyric poetry the Wine is often called ‘water’ and compared to
the ‘Water of Life’ (âb-i haivân)” (Religion in Iran 272).
In the second hemistich the lover explains why he wants a
drop of the mystical flame: he wants to cleanse his soul from
the whispers of the flesh. Bahá’u’lláh uses two images: the
whispers and the flesh. As to the Koranic image of the whispers,
vasvasih, “Inspiring, suggesting (one’s own mind or Satan); a
suggestion; instinct; fear, anxiety; conscience; temptation”
(Steingass 1468), translated by Shoghi Effendi as “whisper” (Law˙-i-
Dhabíh 246, para.13; Muntakhabátí 157), the image of “the whispers
of the flesh (vasvasiy-i-nafsání)” comes from the Koran:

In the Name of God, the Compassionate, the Merciful.
Say: I betake me for refuge to the Lord of Men, The
King of men, The God of men, Against the mischief of
the stealthily withdrawing whisperer (al-waswási), Who
whispereth in man’s breast—Against djinn and men.
(114:1-6, Rodwell)

This image is also used by mystical poets. Óáfiz. writes:

In love’s path (ráh-i-‘ishq) Ahriman’s8 temptations (vasvasiy-
i-Ahriman) are many:
Sense keep; and to Surúsh’s9 message the ear of the heart
put. (Díván 744, “Ghazalyát,” no.444, v.6; Divan 411, no.398,
v.2)

Bahá’u’lláh uses the same image in other passages, as for
example:
A Hymn to Love                                                      237

Keep us safe, then, through Thine unfailing protection,
O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation and the
Desire of the whole universe, from them whom Thou
hast made to be the manifestations of the Evil
Whisperer, who whispers (yuwaswisúna) in men’s breasts
(ßudúru’n-nás). (PM233, sec.144, para.2; Munáját 156)

Know verily that Knowledge is of two kinds: Divine and
Satanic. The one welleth out from the fountain of
divine inspiration; the other is but a reflection of vain
and obscure thoughts. The source of the former is God
Himself; the motive-force of the latter the whisperings
of selfish desire (vasávas-i-nafsání). (KI69, para.76; KMI53)

Sharp must be thy sight, O Dhabí˙, and adamant thy
soul, and brass-like thy feet, if thou wishest to be
unshaken by the assaults of the selfish desires that
whisper (vasávis) in men’s breasts. (GWB245-6, sec. CXV,
para.13)

. . . in whose soul (nafs) Satan (Shay†án) hath whispered
(waswasa) (qtd. in GPB141, sec.8, para.30)10

The Evil Whisperer, mentioned by Bahá’u’lláh and in the
Koran (al-waswási) and related by Bahá’u’lláh to Satan
(shay†án), seems to be the human lower nature personified as
Satan, a nature to which Bahá’u’lláh refers as “the Satan of self
(shay†án-i-nafs)” (KI112; KMI84). This lower nature is our ego,
that is proud of itself and pretends to be self-sufficient. It is
the “serpent” that seduced Eve in the Garden of Eden. The Bible
says: “Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the
field which the Lord God had made” (Genesis 3:1 KJB). The
Hebrew word used to refer to the serpent in this verse is
nâchâsh, from the verb nâchash, “to hiss, i.e. whisper” (Strong,
“A Concise Dictionary” 78, no.5172). In one of His talks ‘Abdu’l-
Bahá explained that “the evil spirit, Satan or whatever is
interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature in man” (PUP294).
He explained the same concept in a Letter in which He
238                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16

mentions certain friends that had asked Him advice on material
aspects of their lives. He is reported to have answered:

Tell them they should do as they think best in these
matters. Should they marry, divorce, leave their homes,
move to other places, etc.,—all these matters pertaining
to their material affairs—Abdul Baha says:

“They must do as they wish; they must solve their own
problems; they are grown-ups. We do not like to tell
people what they should do in these matters. My work is
universal; my time and thoughts are for the whole world
on the most important problems relating to affairs that
concern the spiritual welfare of nations and individuals.
When the believers are insistent, Abdul Baha must give
them answers, and it is their wish always that Abdul
Baha grants them. He knows what their wish in reality is.
They must make mistakes to learn, and to unfold the
higher which is within themselves. The initial wish does
not come from Abdul Baha. It comes from them. It is
generally clothed with such words as these: ‘We only
wish to do that which Abdul Baha wishes us to do.’ And
they are sincere in this, for they do not know the
subtlety of the ego of man. It is the Tempter (the subtle
serpent of the mind), and the poor soul not entirely
emancipated from its suggestions is deceived until
entirely severed from all save God.” (qtd. in Baha’i
Scriptures 487, sec.936)

As to the flesh, the adjective nafsání, “Lewd, sensual;
spiritual, vital” (Steingass 1416), derives from nafs, that
sometimes in Persian corresponds to that which we call flesh, in
the sense of the weak side of man, that side which indulges to
sin. Mußlih ad-Dín Sa‘dí (ca.1184–1291) writes.

How will know the truth of love (˙aqíqat-i-‘ishq) he who
is subjected to the passions of the flesh (haváy-i-
nafsání)? (“Ghazalyát,” no.610, v.8)
A Hymn to Love                                                   239

Bahá’u’lláh writes in His Lawh-i-Laylatu’l-Quds: “Burn away,
wholly for the sake of the Well-Beloved (al-Ma˙búb), the veil
of self (˙ujubát-i-nafsáníyyih)” (316, para.1; Muntakhabátí 203). In
the Seven Valleys He mentions “the veils of the Satanic self
(˙ijáb-háy-i-nafs-i-shay†ání)” (SV7; Haft Vádí 102) that must be
burnt by the fire of love so that the mystical seeker may enter
the Valley of Knowledge (SV12). This is one of the main
functions of the mystic wine, the Word of God, assisting the
soul to proceed from the stage of the nafs-i-ammarih, the
commanding soul, or the insistent self, to higher stages of her
spiritual evolution.

Zán áb kaz-ú shud ßúrat-i-átash paydá,
Zán nár kaz-ú z. áhir án Kawthar-i-Rú˙ání.

A drop of water revealing the form of Fire,
A sparkle of fire manifesting the celestial Fount.

The combination of wine, fire and water continues in the
second distich. The first hemistich identifies wine, here called
water, áb, and fire—átash, in the first hemistich and nár in the
second. Wine is fire, because it is conducive to the intoxication
of love that burns away, as a fire, the veils of the Satanic self.
The fire of wine also is the celestial Fount (kawthar-i-rú˙ání),
because wine also is water of life, that is the Word of God. The
word Kawthar (literally, abundance) is mentioned in Súra 108,
“Truly we have given thee an abundance” (108:1, Rodwell).
Edward William Lane (1801–1876), the leading British Arabicist
scholar who authored the monumental Arabic-English Lexicon,
describes Kawthar as “A certain river in paradise . . . from
which flow all the [other] river thereof . . . pertaining specially
to the Prophet, described as being whiter than milk and sweeter
than honey and as having its margin composed of pavilions of
hollowed pearls” (Lane 7:122). The word has a connotation of
abundance, because it derives from the Arabic root kithara, “It
240                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16

was, or became, much, copious, abundant, many, numerous,
great in number or quantity; it multiplied; it accumulated” (Lane
7:121). It is the Water of Life, a recurrent motif of both Sufi
literature and Bahá’í Writings. In the first case it has mythical
and legendary connotations, in the second it is a poetic image
to describe mostly the Words of the Manifestation of God and
their regenerating power.

Yik jilvih11 zi12 ‘aks-ash bar ßaf˙iy-i-Ján uftád,
Válih shud13 az án jilvih ßad ˙ikmat-i-Yúnání.

A glimmer of His image fell on the page of the Soul,
A hundred Hellenic wisdoms were confounded.

The “glimmer (jilvih) of His image” is the unveiling of the
Beloved. This is one of the meanings of the world jilvih,
“Presenting a bride to her husband adorned and unveiled; the
meeting of the bride and bridegroom; the nuptial bed; the bridal
ornaments; splendour, lustre, effulgence, transfiguration”
(Steingass 369). However here it has been translated “glimmer”
following the example of Shoghi Effendi who translated it as
“splendour” (SWAB32, sec.15).
The “page of the Soul (ßaf˙iy-i-Ján)” is another typical image
of Sufi poetry. Rúmí mentions in his Mathnaví an equivalent
locution, “the leaf (surface) of the heart (varaq-i-dil).” Varaq
means “A leaf of a tree or of paper; paper cut out into any
shape” (Steingass 1464). He writes:

God hath given thee the polishing instrument (ßayqal),
Reason (‘aql), to the end thereby the leaf (surface) of the
heart (varaq-i-dil) may be made resplendent. (4:2475)

It is the soul, here compared to a page, reflecting the Beauty
of the Beloved. This verse by Rúmí also mentions a “polishing
instrument (ßayqal), Reason (‘aql).” A “polishing instrument” is
A Hymn to Love                                                    241

also mentioned in the Valley of Love: “A pure heart is as a
mirror; cleanse it with the burnish of love (ßayqal-i-˙ubb) and
severance from all save God, that the true sun may shine within
it and the eternal morning dawn” (SV21; Haft Vádí 113). This first
hemistich is reminiscent of the words of Genesis:

Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. (Genesis
1:26)

It also is reminiscent of the following Tradition:

God created Adam in His image (khalaqa Alláh ádama
‘alá ßúratihi). (qtd. in Schimmel, Mystical Dimensions 188;
Furúzánfar no.595)

It finally reminds us of the Aristotelian “tabula rasa,” the
unscribed tablet.14 The soul is seemingly described as a page
upon which the beauteous features of the Face of the Lord can
be drawn.
The second hemistich hints at the impotence of philosophy,
the “hundred Hellenic wisdoms,” and thus of the human
intellect, when it is not assisted by Revelation. This concept
was later on developed by Bahá’u’lláh in His Law˙-i-Óikmat, in
which He states that Greece was “a Seat of Wisdom for a
prolonged period” (149-50). Then He adds:

Although it is recognized that the contemporary men of
learning are highly qualified in philosophy, arts and
crafts, yet were anyone to observe with a discriminating
eye he would readily comprehend that most of this
knowledge hath been acquired from the sages of the past
[i.e. the Greek philosophers], for it is they who have laid
the foundation of philosophy, reared its structure and
reinforced its pillars . . . The sages aforetime acquired
their knowledge from the Prophets, inasmuch as the
latter were the Exponents of divine philosophy and the
Revealers of heavenly mysteries. Men quaffed the
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crystal, living waters of Their utterance, while others
satisfied themselves with the dregs. Everyone receiveth a
portion according to his measure . . . The essence and
the fundamentals of philosophy have emanated from the
Prophets. That the people differ concerning the inner
meanings and mysteries thereof is to be attributed to the
divergence of their views and minds. (144-5, comment in
brackets added)

Yik jadhvih az án shu‘lih bar Sidriy-i-Síná zad,
Madhúsh az án jadhvih ßad Músíy-i-‘Imrání.

A spark of that flame hit the Tree of Sinai,
A hundred Imranite Moseses were astounded.

This distich refers to the story of Moses, the Burning Bush
and Moses’s swoon when God showed Himself to Him. Fire
seems here identified with the Most Great Spirit. Lambden
comments upon this verse as follows:

So powerful is the fiery “water” of the stunning Divine
Cupbearer (sáqí) that but a “firebrand” (jadhwa) ignited
from its flame in the Sinaitic Lote-Tree would suffice to
throw one hundred Imranite Moseses into a state of
bewildered astonishment. (116)

Moses is called Imranite from the name, Imran, which
Muslim tradition ascribes to His father, called Amran in the
Bible (Exodus 6:20).

Yik shu‘lih az án átash shud, ‘Ishq15 bi-zad khar-gáh
Dar áb-u gil-i-ádam ham dar dil-i-insání.

A flame burst out from that fire and Love pitched
A Hymn to Love                                                       243

Its tent in man’s water and clay and in his heart.

This distich refers to the legend that man is moulded of
water and clay, mentioned by many Persian poets. For example
Rúmí writes in this vein in his Mathnaví:

Where were we when the Judge of Judgement (Day) was
sowing reason (‘aql) in the water and clay (‘ab-u †ín) of
Adam? (6:3134)

Bahá’u’lláh also uses this image in later Writings:

He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the
abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and
sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and
clay (áb-u-gil), from all shadowy and ephemeral
attachments. (KI192; KMI149)

Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force
of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous
confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until,
impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the
water and clay (áb-u-gil) of the earth below it, and,
having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth
itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence
it came. (Law˙-i-A˙mad bi-Fársí 327, para.6; Muntakhabátí 210)

I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven,
ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never
having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to
water and clay (áb-u gil). (HW, Persian, no.13; Ad‘íyyih 428)

Elsewhere Bahá’u’lláh uses the Arabic word má’, water, in
the place of the Persian áb, and the word turáb, “ground, earth,
dust” (Steingass 291), in the place of gil:

Magnified be Thy name, O Lord my God! I know not
what the water (má’) is with which Thou hast created
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me, or what the fire (nár) Thou hast kindled within me,
or the clay (turáb) wherewith Thou hast kneaded me.
(PM12, sec.9, para.1, Munáját 12)

This distich seemingly explains that the bestowal of Spirit
(Fire) introduces love into the nature of man (his water and
clay), and his heart. In this regard, it seems that spirit is the
same as love. In this vein, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá states: “love is the cause
of the existence of all phenomena” (PUP255) and also: “The
greatest power in the realm and range of human existence is
spirit—the divine breath which animates and pervades all
things” (PUP58). Love and spirit are described as two similar
powers, on which the whole existence has its foundations.
Indeed, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá reportedly said:

the first principle of God, Love, is the creative
principle. Love is an outpour from God, and is pure
spirit. (‘Abdu’l-Bahá, qtd. in Bahá’í Scriptures 300, no.609)

This distich seemingly says that love permeates both the
water and clay of man, and his heart. The locution “water and
clay” seems an image denoting human flesh, the element
whereby man is a weak creature. As to the heart, in the Sufi
world, the heart is, first, the organ of the inner knowledge of
transcendent reality that Sufis call ma‘rifa. Second, it is the seat
of the divine presence. And, third, it is the organ that is
attracted towards what is other than it (see Savi, 51-3). Therefore
this distich could denote that through the bestowals of Spirit
love takes possession of man as a whole. This distich is
reminiscent of a ghazal by Óafi.z that says:

(O true beloved!) in eternity without beginning (the day of
mißáḳ),16 of glory, the splendour-ray of Thy beauty
boasted.
Revealed became love; and, upon all the world, fire dashed.
A Hymn to Love                                                   245

(O absolute existence!) Thy face displayed splendour; (and)
beheld (that) the angel had no (capacity for) love:
From this (exceeding) jealousy, it became the essence of
fire; and upon Ādam dashed.

From that torch (of love), reason wished to kindle its lamp,
Jealousy’s lightning flashed; and in confusion, the world
dashed.

The adversary (Shai†án)17 sought to come to the spectacle-
place of the mystery (of love):
The invisible hand (of God) came, and, at the heart of the
excluded one (Shai†án), dashed.

Others, all on ease, dashed the dice of partition (fate):
Our grief-experienced heart it was that also, on grief (the
dice of fate) cast.

The desire of thy chin’s dimple (thy mysteries) possessed the
lofty soul:
At the ring of that tress, curt with curl, (his) hand, he
dashed.

The joy-book of love for Thee, Óáfi.z wrote on that day,
When, on the head of the chattels of his joyous heart, the
reed (of cancellation), he dashed. (Díván 354-55,
“Ghazalyát,” no.186; Divan 158-9, no.152)

Ay ‘Ishq, chih í Tú, kaz Tú jahán pur áshúb,
Ham az Tú dar ámad ˙asrat18 dar ˙ikmat-i-Luqmání.

Who art Thou, O Love, that ‘cause of Thee the world,
Is in turmoil and Luqman’s wisdom is envious?
246                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16

The world of love is the world of paradoxes. No wonder that
love throws the word into turmoil, áshúb, “Terror, dread, fear;
grief, affliction, misfortune; confusion, discord, disturbance,
tumult, riot, sedition” (Steingass 67). Bahá’u’lláh writes in the
Seven Valleys:

Love setteth a world aflame at every turn, and he
wasteth every land where he carrieth his banner. Being
hath no existence in his kingdom; the wise wield no
command within his realm. The leviathan of love
swalloweth the master of reason and destroyeth the lord
of knowledge. He drinketh the seven seas, but his heart’s
thirst is still unquenched, and he saith, “Is there yet any
more?” He shunneth himself and draweth away from all
on earth. (SV10)

In the world of love many things turn upside down. It is this
reversal that arises the feeling of wonderment in the lovers.
Bahá’u’lláh says about wonderment: “How many a mystic tree
hath this whirlwind of wonderment (˙ayrat) snatched by the
roots, how many a soul hath it exhausted” (SV31; Haft Vádí 124).
As to turmoil, one remembers at this point the tumultuous
events, whose protagonist or spectator Bahá’u’lláh had just
been: the Conference of Badasht in June 1848, the Mázindarán
upheaval, with the battle of the Fort of Shaykh ˇabarsí, that
began in late summer of 1848 and ended in the spring of 1849,
the slaughter of the Sevens Martyrs of Teheran in February
1850, the upheaval of Nayríz, in the late spring of 1850, the
massacre that followed the attempt on the life of the Shah on
15 August 1852 . . . Iran had really been in turmoil.
And yet the folly of love conceals a great wisdom, a wisdom
for which even Luqman, the legendary sage mentioned in the
Koran (31:11-8), that in post-Koranic literature is described as a
fabulist, a Muslim Aesop (see Savi 202-3), becomes full of envy.
The folly of love is the wisdom of the person that has become
detached from the water and clay of the world and has placed
A Hymn to Love                                                  247

all his affections on the eternal world, wherefrom his soul
comes and whereto she is returning. While so doing, this person
gives a meaning to each instant of her life, that she does not
live in the superficiality of its contingent and ephemeral
meanings, but in the inner depth of the Absolute that transpires
thereof. All this, as poetical and mystic as it is, is taught by
Bahá’u’lláh in an extremely rational and practical way. This
transparency of absolute appears in the actions of a human
beings, whenever he is prompted by the sincere intention of
serving humankind to promote its ever-advancing civilization.

Gáh kuní da‘ví kih Man-am jilviy-i-Ma˙búb bi ‘álam.
Gáh gúy kih Man-am khúd án ˇal‘at-i-Sub˙ání.

Now Thou boastest: “I am the Beloved’s splendour in the
world.”
Now Thou proclaimest: “I’m Myself that Divine
Countenance.”

In this verse begins a description of Love, in its various
aspects, each of which conveys a mystical meaning.
Love is “the Beloved’s splendour in the world (jilviy-i-
Ma˙búb bi ‘álam).” This sentence is reminiscent of words
written and uttered by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

Know thou of a certainty that Love is the secret of
God’s holy Dispensation, the manifestation of the All-
Merciful, the fountain of spiritual outpourings. Love is
heaven’s kindly light, the Holy Spirit’s eternal breath
that vivifieth the human soul. Love is the cause of God’s
revelation unto man, the vital bond inherent, in
accordance with the divine creation, in the realities of
things. (SWAB27, sec.12)
248                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16

Know thou, the first bounty from the True One is love,
unity and harmony, and without these all the deeds pass
in vain and give no result. Love is the result of the
Manifestation and the glorious purpose of the rising of
Light on the Mount, in the Sinai of the Forgiving Lord.
(TAB1:183-4)

Love is the first effulgence of Divinity . . . (PUP338)

Love is, in reality, the first effulgence of Divinity and
the greatest splendor of God. (PUP397)

Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of
Man. (PT20, sec.6, para.12)

Love is the “Divine Countenance (ˇal‘at-i-Sub˙ání).”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá writes about the word “face:”

The word “face” (vajh) hath many meanings, among
which there is submissiveness to the Will of God (ri∂á),
as God, exalted be He, says: “Seeking His Face” [Koran
6:52], and also: “We feed you for the sake of God alone”
[Koran 76:9], and moreover His good-pleasure (ri∂á). And
the face also means the Essence (dhát). God, exalted be
He, says: “Everything . . . will perish except His own
Face” [Koran 28:88]. And the face (vajh) also means the
unveiling (jilwat). God, exalted be He, says:
“whithersoever ye turn, there is the Presence of God”
[Koran 2:115]. And the face (vajh) hath various
interpretations and allusions, beside what hath been
said. However, due to lack of time, it hath been chosen
not to expatiate on the subject. On the basis of all this,
submission (taslím) of the face [of the believer] is one
of the special virtues of the righteous and of the
greatest gifts of the free. Whosoever is so aided is
graciously favored with absolute faith in the highest
level of certitude and assurance. (Makátíb 1:396)19
A Hymn to Love                                                   249

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has repeatedly stated that “God is Love”
(PUP158), and has explained that “Christ has said God is Love”
(PT192, sec.58, para.2), possibly referring to the following verses:

He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love. (1
John 4:8, KJV)

God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him. (1 John 4:16, KJV)

‘Abdu’l-Bahá has also hinted at this concept in various other
contexts. He is quoted as stating:

God is Love and Peace. God it Truth. God is
Omniscience. God is without beginning and without
end. God is uncreated and uncreating, yet the Source,
the Causeless Cause. God is pure Essence, and cannot be
said to be anywhere or in any place. (qtd. in Bahá’í
Scriptures 300, no.609)

God is love; God seeketh fellowship, purity, sanctity and
long-suffering; these are the attributes of Divinity.
(PUP290)

For God is love, and all phenomena find source and
emanation in that divine current of creation. The love
of God haloes all created things. Were it not for the
love of God, no animate being would exist. (PUP315)

Chún az Tú vazad bar ján rá’i˙iy-i-Jánán,
Bar har chih kuní da‘ví gúyad20 kih bih az ání.

Since Thou breathest the Beloved’s fragrance upon the soul,
Whatever claim Thou advancest, one might say Thou art
much greater.
250                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16

Love sheds “the Beloved’s fragrance upon the soul (bar ján
rá’i˙iy-i-Jánán).” The image of perfume is widely used in Sufi
literature. We remember here that the fragrance of the Beloved
is a symbol of His bounties. Love brings the bounties of the
Beloved. Whatever bounty He bestows, it is but a reflection of
the Beauty of God. In this vein Bahá’u’lláh writes:

O My Well-Beloved! Thou hast breathed Thy Breath into
Me, and divorced Me from Mine own Self. Thou didst,
subsequently, decree that no more than a faint reflection,
a mere emblem of Thy Reality within Me be left among
the perverse and envious. (GWB89, sec. XL, para.1)

These sanctified Mirrors, these Day-springs of ancient
glory are one and all the Exponents on earth of Him
Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and
ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge
and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The
beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His
image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory.
(KI99-100, para.106)

The Manifestation of God, the apex of the spiritual
hierarchy in the world, is Himself but a reflection of the Beauty
of God. And yet, the Manifestation of God is “the Supreme
Goal (maqßad-aqßá) and Most Sublime Summit (dhurviy-i-‘ulyá)”
(ESW147; Law˙-i Mubárak-i-kha†áb 96), “the world’s Ultimate Desire
(gháyat-i-qußvá), the Summit (dhurviy-i-‘ulyá) and Day Spring
of Glory (ufuq-i-a‘lá)” (GWB345, sec. CLXIV, para.7; Muntakhabátí
221).

Ham Mú’nis-i-jání, ham Áyiy21-i-Jánání,
Ham jam‘íyat-i-ján-há az Tú,22 ham az Tú paríshání.

Thou art the Companion of the soul, the Sign of the
Beloved,
A Hymn to Love                                                       251

From Thee tranquillity of spirit cometh, from Thee
distress.

Love is “the Companion (mú’nis) of the soul.” Mú’nis means
“A companion, intimate friend; a solacer, comforter” (Steingass
1349). Bahá’u’lláh turns to God using this Name in many
prayers, as for example:

I implore Thee, O Thou Who art the beloved
Companion (mú’nis) of Bahá . . . (PM15, sec.13, para.2;
Munáját 16)

I beseech Thee, O Thou Who art my Companion
(mú’nisí) in my lowliness . . . (PM16, sec.14, par. 2; Munáját
16)

Let Thine everlasting melodies breathe tranquillity on
me, O my Companion (mú’nisí) . . . (PM248, sec.155, para.1;
Munáját 167)

Love is “the Sign of the Beloved (Áyiy-i-Jánání).” Áyih means
“A mark, a sign; a miracle; a verse of the Qur’án; (met.) an
accomplished master” (Steingass 128). Bahá’u’lláh writes in His
Law˙-i-Hadí:

From the exalted source, and out of the essence of His
favor and bounty He hath entrusted every created thing
with a sign (áyih) of His knowledge (‘irfán), so that none
of His creatures may be deprived of its share in
expressing, each according to its capacity and rank, this
knowledge. This sign (áyih) is the mirror of His beauty
in the world of creation. The greater the effort exerted
for the refinement of this sublime and noble mirror, the
more faithfully will it be made to reflect the glory of the
names and attributes of God, and reveal the wonders of
His signs and knowledge. Every created thing will be
enabled (so great is this reflecting power) to reveal the
potentialities of its pre-ordained station, will recognize
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its capacity and limitations, and will testify to the truth
that “He, verily, is God; there is none other God besides
Him.” . . . (262, para.2; Muntakhabátí 168)

And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains:

. . . all the divine Manifestations suffered, offered their
lives and blood, sacrificed their existence, comfort and
all they possessed for the sake of mankind. Therefore
consider how much they love. Were it not for their love
for humanity, spiritual love would be mere
nomenclature. Were it not for their illumination, human
souls would not be radiant. How effective is their love!
This is a sign of the love of God; a ray of the Sun of
Reality. (PUP257)

Love brings tranquillity and distress. It is another of the
many paradoxes characterizing the condition of love. A lover
achieves tranquillity because he discovered “the Beloved (al-
Ma˙búb) of his heart, and the Object of his desire (al-
Madhkúr)” (PM108, sec.66, para.9; Munáját 78). However, his heart
also is distressed, because the lover is aware of his ideal
remoteness from the Beloved, and of his meanness, and also
because he longs for spiritual growth and self-sacrifice. As
Bahá’u’lláh writes:

Though my body be pained by the trials that befall me
from Thee, though it be afflicted by the revelations of
Thy Decree, yet my soul rejoiceth at having partaken of
the waters of Thy Beauty, and at having attained the
shores of the ocean of Thine eternity. Doth it beseem a
lover 23 to flee from his beloved (al-ma˙búb), or to
desert the object of his heart’s desire (ma‘ashúq)? Nay,
we all believe in Thee, and eagerly hope to enter Thy
presence. (PM96, sec.60, para.3; Munáját 70)
A Hymn to Love                                                253

Gar partawí az Rúy-at dar Mißr-i-Ilahí24 árand,
Bíní bi-kharídárí ßad Yúsuf-i-Kan‘ání.

If a ray from Thy Face shineth on the Divine realms,25
Thou wilt see a hundred Cananaean Josephs put up for
sale.

This distich refers to the story of Joseph, son of Jacob, sold
as a slave by his brothers and, after many vicissitudes, become
viceroy of Egypt. Here the Face of the Beloved matches the
beauteous Joseph. Whenever a ray of the face of the Beloved
shines in the realm of love, it is as if a hundred Josephs were
put up for sale.

Ham búy-i-qamíß az Tú, ham Rú˙-i-Masí˙ az Tú,
Ham Musíy-i-bay∂á’í, ham shu‘liy-i-Fárání.

From Thee Joseph’s fragrance26 bloweth; from Thee the
Messianic Spirit;
Thou art the white-handed Moses, Thou, the flame on
Mount Paran.

Love is successively identified with Joseph, described
through the image of the scent of his garment (qamíß); with
Jesus, described through two among His attributes known in
the Moslem world, Spirit and His Messianic Station; and
Moses, described through the image of His white hand and of
the Burning Bush. In later Writings Bahá’u’lláh identified
Himself with all these three Personages. As to Joseph,
Bahá’u’lláh describes Him as a “Prophet (nabí)” together with
“Jesus, Moses . . . and Mu˙ammad” (KI254, para.282; KMI197), and
writes about Him:
254                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16

Dust fill your mouths, and ashes blind your eyes, for
having bartered away the Divine Joseph for the most
paltry of prices. (GWB208, sec. CIII, para.4)

As to Moses, He writes in His Súriy-i-Damm:

Praise be to Thee, O Lord My God, for the wondrous
revelations of Thy inscrutable decree and the manifold
woes and trials Thou hast destined for Myself. At one
time Thou didst deliver Me into the hands of Nimrod
[Abraham]; at another Thou hast allowed Pharaoh’s rod
to persecute Me [Moses] . . . (88, para.1, added terms in
brackets)

As to Jesus, He writes:

Again I was crucified for having unveiled to men’s eyes
the hidden gems of Thy glorious unity, for having
revealed to them the wondrous signs of Thy sovereign
and everlasting power [Jesus]. (Súriy-i-Damm 88, para.1,
added terms in brackets)

O Jews! If ye be intent on crucifying once again Jesus,
the Spirit of God, put Me to death, for He hath once
more, in My person, been made manifest unto you.
(GWB101, sec. XLVII, para.1)

This distich seems to foreshadow the concept of the
“essential unity” of the Messengers of God later on explained in
greater details:

These Manifestations of God have each a twofold
station. One is the station of pure abstraction and
essential unity. In this respect, if thou callest them all by
one name, and dost ascribe to them the same attribute,
thou hast not erred from the truth. Even as He hath
revealed: “No distinction do We make between any of
His Messengers!” For they one and all summon the
A Hymn to Love                                                    255

people of the earth to acknowledge the Unity of God,
and herald unto them the Kawthar of an infinite grace
and bounty. They are all invested with the robe of
Prophethood, and honoured with the mantle of glory.
Thus hath Mu˙ammad, the Point of the Qur’án,
revealed: “I am all the Prophets.” Likewise, He saith: “I
am the first Adam, Noah, Moses, and Jesus.” Similar
statements have been made by ‘Alí. Sayings such as this,
which indicate the essential unity of those Exponents of
Oneness, have also emanated from the Channels of
God’s immortal utterance, and the Treasuries of the
gems of divine knowledge, and have been recorded in
the scriptures. These Countenances are the recipients of
the Divine Command, and the day-springs of His
Revelation. This Revelation is exalted above the veils of
plurality and the exigencies of number. Thus He saith:
“Our Cause is but one.” Inasmuch as the Cause is one
and the same, the Exponents thereof also must needs be
one and the same. (KI152-3, para.161)

Sar-há bi-kamand-at bastih, dil-há az27 gham-at khastih,
Ham ‘ámíy-i-shaydá’í, ham ‘álim-i-Rabbání.

Bound are the heads by Thy locks, pierced the hearts
by Thine anguish, be they of insane laymen or of Divine
sages.

The first hemistich presents the image of the hair of the
Beloved—kamand, “A halter, noose, snare, lasso; slip-knot; a
scaling-ladder . . . a lock of hair” (Steingass 1051)—that tie the
lovers. Bausani writes that “the most common mystical
explanation” of the hair of the Beloved is that it “symbolizes
the ‘plurality of the phenomenal world that veils the face of
God’s unity’” (Religion in Iran 280-1). It also presents the image of
the anguish of the lovers—gham, “Being cloudy (day); being
256                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16

intensely hot and suffocating; making sad; muzzling; covering;
grief, sadness, anxiety, trouble, care; a source of regret;
remorse; mourning, lamentation; loss” (Steingass 894). The second
hemistich describes the universal effects of the love for the
Beloved on all lovers, “Be they of insane laymen (‘ámíy-i-
shaydá’í) or of Divine sages (‘álim-i-Rabbání).” ‘Ámí means
“Blind, ignorant” (Steingass 868); shaydá’, “mad, insane, in love”
(Steingass 772); ‘álim, “Learned, intelligent, wise” (Steingass 831);
and rabbání, “Divine, godly” (Steingass 567). The two categories
of seekers mentioned in this verse could be the same as the
“men of mind (mu†áli‘ín) and heart (mushtáqín)” of the Four
Valleys (FV63; Chihár Vádí 154). It is the ancient division between
those who preferred the path of sobriety of ascesis and those
who preferred the inebriation of the way of love.

Man khúd zi Tú-am makhmúr, ham az Tú shudam mashhúr,
Kih28 dahí-am ßad ján, ham29 kih kuní-am qurbání.

I’m drunk of Thee, ‘cause of Thee I’m notorious, whether
Thou offerest me a hundred lives, or Thou slayest me.

The lover proclaims his love for the Beloved. This love made
him commit such foolish acts that now everyone talks about
him and he has become mashhúr, that is, “public, notorious,
well-known; published, divulged, conspicuous; celebrated,
illustrious, noted, famous” (Steingass 1250). This is another trope
of Sufi poetry, belonging to the malámatí strand. Marcello
Perego, an Italian expert on Sufism, defines the malámatí Sufis
as “persons who observe a perfect religious conduct, but
carefully hide any ecstatic state (A˙wál) and grace (Wáridát)
which the One Being bestows upon them; they dissemble their
good deeds, so that none but God may know them” (151). A
number of Sufis of the malámatiyya tried to appear
blameworthy in the eyes of common people. The second
A Hymn to Love                                                  257

hemistich restates the concept of the faithfulness of the lover,
independently of the attitude of the Beloved.

Gar Qábi∂-i-arvá˙í, az chih kuní-am zindih?
Var Mu˙iy-i-abdání, az chih kuní thu‘bání.

If Thou art the Angel of death, how come that Thou revivest
me?
And if Thou art the Reviver of bodies, how is it that Thou
actest as a snake?

This distich presents another oxymoron. So cruel is the
Beloved that the lover compares Him to the Angel of death,
Qábi∂-i-arvá˙í, literally the sequestrator of spirits. And yet
from Him life comes. And if He gives life, why does He act as
cruelly as a thu‘bání, that is, “A large male serpent, a dragon,
cockatrice, basilisk” (Steingass 345)? It seems the human reaction
of a person when faced by the “onrushing winds of . . . [God’s]
decree (qa∂á)” (PM12, sec.9, para.2. Munáját 13). Bahá’u’lláh wrote
in His Súriy-i-Haykal:

Should We choose, at one time, to shed the radiance of
Our loving providence upon the mirrors of all things,
and, at another, to withhold from them the splendours
of Our light, this verily lieth within Our power, and
none hath the right to ask “why” or “wherefore.” For
We are potent indeed to achieve Our purpose, and
render no account for that which We bring to pass. (35,
para.68)

And yet many “whys” and “wherefores” are voiced in the
Tablet which Western Bahá’ís know as the “Fire Tablet,” which
expresses concepts similar to those conveyed by this distich:
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Indeed the hearts of the sincere are consumed in the fire
of separation: Where is the gleaming of the light of Thy
Countenance, O Beloved of the worlds?

Those who are near unto Thee have been abandoned in
the darkness of desolation: Where is the shining of the
morn of Thy reunion, O Desire of the worlds?

The bodies of Thy chosen ones lie quivering on distant
sands: Where is the ocean of Thy presence, O Enchanter
of the worlds?

Longing hands are uplifted to the heaven of Thy grace
and generosity: Where are the rains of Thy bestowal, O
Answerer of the worlds?

The infidels have arisen in tyranny on every hand: Where
is the compelling power of Thine ordaining pen, O
Conqueror of the worlds?

The barking of dogs is loud on every side: Where is the
lion of the forest of Thy might, O Chastiser of the
worlds? (212-4)

These words are reminiscent, to Christian ears, of the words
uttered by Jesus on the cross a few moments before dying after
many hours of agony:

Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani? that is to say, My God, my
God, why hast thou forsaken me? (Matthew 27:46, KJV)

Dar khar-gáh-i-sul†án yik bár agar bi-kharámí,
Sul†án kuní-ash bandih, ham bandih kuní sul†ání.

If Thou graciously movest in the court of a king, Thou
changest
A Hymn to Love                                                      259

The king into a servant and the servant into a king.

The gracious pace of the Beloved is a Sufi motif of Persian
mystical poetry. Óáfi.z writes in this vein:

If, like the (lofty) cypress (sarv), a moment thou move in a
rose-garden (gulzár)
In envy of thy face (rúy), every rose (gul) suffereth a
thorn. (Díván 901, “Ghazalyát,” no.552, v.1; Divan 456,
“Ghazalyát,” no.443, v.1)

This distich by Bahá’u’lláh exalts the power of the Beloved,
Who can change a king into His humble vassal and bestow royal
greatness upon a servant. As to the capacity to subdue a
sovereign, Bahá’u’lláh writes about Muhammad in the Kitáb-i-
ˆqán: “Behold, how many are the Sovereigns who bow the knee
before His name!” (KI110, para.117). And the Báb reportedly said
to His disciples:

Heed not your weaknesses and frailty; fix your gaze
upon the invincible power of the Lord, your God, the
Almighty. Has He not, in past days, caused Abraham, in
spite of His seeming helplessness, to triumph over the
forces of Nimrod? Has He not enabled Moses, whose
staff was His only companion, to vanquish Pharaoh and
his hosts? Has He not established the ascendancy of
Jesus, poor and lowly as He was in the eyes of men, over
the combined forces of the Jewish people? Has He not
subjected the barbarous and militant tribes of Arabia to
the holy and transforming discipline of Muhammad, His
Prophet? (qtd. in Nabíl 94)

As to the capacity to change a servant into a king, the Báb
reportedly said to His disciples:

You are the lowly, of whom God has thus spoken in His
Book: “And We desire to show favour to those who
were brought low in the land, and to make them
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spiritual leaders among men, and to make them Our
heirs.” You have been called to this station; you will
attain to it, only if you arise to trample beneath your
feet every earthly desire, and endeavour to become those
“honoured servants of His who speak not till He hath
spoken, and who do His bidding.” (qtd. ibid. 93)

And ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote about Jesus:

Peter was a fisherman and Mary Magdalene a peasant,
but as they were specially favoured with the blessings of
Christ, the horizon of their faith became illumined, and
down to the present day they are shining from the
horizon of everlasting glory. (SWAB105, sec.68)

Yik shu‘lih30 zi31 rúy-at dar gul-bun-i-Ján ámad,
Afrúkht jamál-i-ján chún láliy-i-nu‘mání.

A spark of Thy face fell upon the rose-bush of the soul,
And lit its beauty as a crimson tulip.

This distich uses many images typical of Persian mystical
literature: the “spark (shu‘lih)” of the face (rúy), “the rose-bush
of the soul (gul-bun-i-Ján),” the “crimson tulip (láliy-i-
nu‘mání).” The image of the face has been explained above (see
above verse 7). This verse seems to use the image of the Face of
the Beloved to hint at the Beauty of the Beloved, at His
influence on the lover and at the unveiling of His Beauty. As to
the rose (gul), in the Sufi world it “is the supreme manifestation
of Divine beauty or the symbol of the beloved cheek” (Schimmel,
Deciphering 26). As to the tulip (lálih), “poets have tended to
compare the red tulip that looks indeed like a flame to the fire
on the sacred mountain [Sinai]” (ibid. 10). Óáfi.z uses the image
of the tulip in the following verse:
A Hymn to Love                                                    261

In the garden (bágh) (of the existence), renew the usage’s of
the faith (dín) of Zardusht.
Now that the (red) tulip (lálih) hath kindled the fire (átash)
of Nimrod. (Díván 253, “Ghazalyát,” no.121, v.8; Divan 229,
“Ghazalyát,” no.219, v.8)

Óáfi.z associates the tulip to the fire of Nimrod, because
God has transformed the fire of the furnace, into which
Abraham had been thrown, into a garden. Likewise, Bahá’u’lláh
associates the tulip to the fire lit by the Beloved in the spiritual
worlds, a fire that is as sweet as a garden for the lovers. The
tulip described by Bahá’u’lláh is crimson (nu‘mání). In the
Muslim world

red is connected with life, health, and blood; it is the
colour of the bridal veil that seems to guarantee
fertility; and it is used as an apotropaic colour. Red
wine, as well as fire (in its positive aspects) and the red
rose, all point to the Divine Glory, as it is said that the
ridá al-kibriyá, “the cloak of Divine Glory,” is radiant
red. (Deciphering 16)

This distich seems to describe how the Beauty of the Beloved
(the spark of His face) changes the hearts of His lovers (“the
rose-bush of the soul”), where He raises the vermilion tulip of
knowledge and good deeds. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke diffusely of the
transforming power of the Manifestations of God. For example
He said:

The holy Manifestations of God come into the world to
dispel the darkness of the animal, or physical, nature of
man, to purify him from his imperfections in order that
his heavenly and spiritual nature may become quickened,
his divine qualities awakened, his perfections visible, his
potential powers revealed and all the virtues of the
world of humanity latent within him may come to life.
These holy Manifestations of God are the Educators and
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Trainers of the world of existence, the Teachers of the
world of humanity. They liberate man from the darkness
of the world of nature, deliver him from despair, error,
ignorance, imperfections and all evil qualities. They
clothe him in the garment of perfections and exalted
virtues. Men are ignorant; the Manifestations of God
make them wise. They are animalistic; the
Manifestations make them human. They are savage and
cruel; the Manifestations lead them into kingdoms of
light and love. They are unjust; the Manifestations cause
them to become just. Man is selfish; They sever him
from self and desire. Man is haughty; They make him
meek, humble and friendly. He is earthly; They make him
heavenly. Men are material; the Manifestations
transform them into divine semblance. They are
immature children; the Manifestations develop them
into maturity. Man is poor; They endow him with
wealth. Man is base, treacherous and mean; the
Manifestations of God uplift him into dignity, nobility
and loftiness. (PUP 465-6)

Vah vah, chih nasím ámad, bá muzhdiy-i-ján ámad,32
Kaz Mashriq-i-Ján ámad án ˇal‘at-i-Yazdání.

O! What a breeze wafted announcing to the soul the glad
tiding
That from the East of the Spirit that Divine Face hath
appeared.

This distich poetically announces the new Revelation. This
announcement is brought by the breeze, a reminiscence of the
morning breeze that, according to the tradition, brought to
Muhammad the scent of the holiness of Uways al-Qaraní who
lived in Yemen. This breeze comes from the East, the place
whence the sun rises. Rúmí writes:
A Hymn to Love                                                  263

Finally from the Orient of the spirit (mashriq-i-ján), like the
sun, arose
He Whom the soul (ján) was searching in private and in
public (Díván, “Ghazalyát,” no.142, v.2)

These verses are reminiscent of the following words written
by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

From the beginning of time until the present day the
light of Divine Revelation hath risen in the East and
shed its radiance upon the West. The illumination thus
shed hath, however, acquired in the West an
extraordinary brilliancy. Consider the Faith proclaimed
by Jesus. Though it first appeared in the East, yet not
until its light had been shed upon the West did the full
measure of its potentialities become manifest . . . In the
books of the Prophets certain glad-tidings are recorded
which are absolutely true and free from doubt. The East
hath ever been the dawning-place of the Sun of Truth.
In the East all the Prophets of God have appeared . . .
The West hath acquired illumination from the East but
in some respects the reflection of the light hath been
greater in the Occident. This is specially true of
Christianity. Jesus Christ appeared in Palestine and His
teachings were founded in that country. Although the
doors of the Kingdom were first opened in that land and
the bestowals of God were spread broadcast from its
center, the people of the West have embraced and
promulgated Christianity more fully than the people of
the East. (qtd. in WOB 74-5)33

The good news is that the Face of God has appeared.

Ján-há bi-paríd az shawq, dil-há bi-ramíd az dhawq,
Ham ‘Ishq shud-ash ‘áshiq ham jawhar-i-imkání.
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Souls soared with yearning, hearts were enraptured in
ecstasy,
Love fell in love with Him, and so did the essence of
creation.

This distich describes the impact of the advent of the new
Revelation. The whole creation falls in love with the Beloved,
even Love. Outwardly, when the Manifestation of God appears
in the world, nothing happens. On the contrary, an inward
process starts that slowly but steadily moves towards the birth
of a new civilization. Bahá’u’lláh has often described His Own
advent in triumphant words. He wrote for example in His
Law˙-i-Ri∂ván:

This is the Day whereon the unseen world crieth out:
“Great is thy blessedness, O earth, for thou hast been
made the foot-stool of thy God, and been chosen as the
seat of His mighty throne.” The realm of glory
exclaimeth: “Would that my life could be sacrificed for
thee, for He Who is the Beloved of the All-Merciful
hath established His sovereignty upon thee, through the
power of His Name that hath been promised unto all
things, whether of the past or of the future.” This is the
Day whereon every sweet smelling thing hath derived its
fragrance from the smell of My garment—a garment that
hath shed its perfume upon the whole of creation. This
is the Day whereon the rushing waters of everlasting life
have gushed out of the Will of the All-Merciful. Haste
ye, with your hearts and souls, and quaff your fill, O
Concourse of the realms above! (29, para.6)

Another example are the words whereby He foresees His
arrival to the prison of ‘Akká:

Upon Our arrival, We were welcomed with banners of
light, whereupon the Voice of the Spirit cried out
A Hymn to Love                                                   265

saying: “Soon will all that dwell on earth be enlisted
under these banners.” (qtd. in GPB 184, sec.11, para.4)

In the dimensions of the human world His arrival in ‘Akká is
described by Shoghi Effendi as follows:

Having, after a miserable voyage, disembarked at ‘Akká,
all the exiles, men, women and children, were, under the
eyes of a curious and callous population that had
assembled at the port to behold the “God of the
Persians,” conducted to the army barracks, where they
were locked in, and sentinels detailed to guard them.
“The first night,” Bahá’u’lláh testifies in the Law˙-i-
Ra’ís,34 “all were deprived of either food or drink . . .
They even begged for water, and were refused.” So
filthy and brackish was the water in the pool of the
courtyard that no one could drink it. Three loaves of
black and salty bread were assigned to each, which they
were later permitted to exchange, when escorted by
guards to the market, for two of better quality. (GPB 186-
7, sec.11, para.10)

Evidently in the spiritual words, which are not subject to the
rules of time and space, things appear in a different perspective
than in the earthly world.

Az ˙ikmat-i-ú ulfat-i-má-bayin-i-dú ∂idd .záhir,
Ham ‘Ishq shudih bandih, ham ‘Aql kunad darbání.

Through His wisdom, the coincidence of opposites is made
manifest,
Now love becometh a slave, now the Intellect a porter.

In the Manifestation of God the opposites coincide.
Bahá’u’lláh wrote in later Writings: “I bear witness that in His
266                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16

person solidity and fluidity have been joined and combined”
(PM48, sec.38, para.3). Bahá’u’lláh explained moreover:

These Prophets and chosen Ones of God are the
recipients and revealers of all the unchangeable
attributes and names of God. They are the mirrors that
truly and faithfully reflect the light of God. Whatsoever
is applicable to them is in reality applicable to God,
Himself, Who is both the Visible and the Invisible
(z. áhir-i-mastúr) . . . Through the manifold attributes of
these Essences of Detachment, Who are both the first and
the last, the seen and the hidden, it is made evident that
He Who is the Sun of Truth is “the First and the Last,
the Seen, and the Hidden [Koran 57:3].” (KI142-3; KMI110)

An aspect of this coincidence is the harmonious balance
between elements that human beings often see as conflicting
with one another, as for example mercy and justice, love and
reason, religion and science. This distich explains that, on the
one hand, love becomes a slave, possibly of the “divine,
universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created
things” (Four Valleys 52), and, on the other, the Intellect becomes
a porter, that is, it submits to Revelation. Rúmí writes in this
vein:

O perfect full moon (máh), the house of the heart belongs to
Thee,
Intellect that was a lord is wholly submitted to Thee.
(Díván, “Ghazalyát,” no.2243, v.2)

Darvísh, ma-dar zín bísh ín pardiy-i-asrár,
Kaz shahr faghán khízad vaz ‘álam-i-˙ayvání.

Stop tearing asunder the veil of mystery, O Dervish:
A cry riseth from the city of men and the world of brutes.
A Hymn to Love                                                      267

This poem, as a few others, ends with a call to silence. The
clamour that rises “from the city of men and the world of
brutes” could be due to the fact that the city of men is not
prepared to receive the Beloved. This verse is reminiscent of the
following words by Bahá’u’lláh in His Ri∂vánu’l-‘Adl:

The fears and agitation which the revelation of this law
provokes in men’s hearts should indeed be likened to the
cries of the suckling babe weaned from his mother’s
milk, if ye be of them that perceive. (175, para.1)

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Publishing Trust, Iran, n.d.
Bahá’í Scriptures. Selections from the Utterances of Bahá’u’lláh and
‘Abdu’l-Bahá. Edited by Horace Holley. Approved by Bahá’í
Committee on Publications, 1923. 2nd ed. New York: Brentano’s
Publisher’s, 1928.
Baha’i Studies Review. Bahá’í Studies Review. Association for
Bahá’í Studies for English-speaking Europe. London, 1991.
Bahá’u’lláh. Ad‘íyyiy-i-Óa∂rat-i-Ma˙búb [Prayers of Bahá’u’lláh].
Reprinted from the original edition, Egypt, Bahá’í Year 76.
Hofheim-Langenhain: Bahá’í-Verlag, 1980.
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N OTES
The poems are listed according to their growing length.
See also excerpts in Mázandarání 142-43.
See also Majmú’iy-i-Áthár 36:455; and excerpts in Mázandarání 141-42.
See Julio Savi, “The Inebriation of His Enrapturing Call,” in Lights of
‘Irfán 15 (2014):311-54.
See GPB120, sec.7, para.35.
“Ghazal. ii. In Persian literature,” from now on in this section Bausani.
Majmú‘ih 30 omits this invocation.
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“Ahriman, the principle of Evil, opposed to Ormuzd, the principle of
Good; the devil; a seducer; a demon” (Steingass 124).
Surúsh means “An angel; Gabriel” (Steingass 680).
Referred to “a certain Shaykh ‘Abdu’l-Óusayn, a crafty and obstinate
priest, whose consuming jealousy of Bahá’u’lláh was surpassed only by his
capacity to stir up mischief both among those of high degree and also
amongst the lowest of the low, Arab or Persian, who thronged the streets
and markets of Kazimayn, Karbilá and Baghdad” (GPB141, sec.8, para.30).
Majmú‘ih 30 writes jilvihí.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes az.
Majmú‘ih 30 omits shud.
See Aristotle, De Anima [On the soul], 3:4, 430-31.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes ‘ishq-u.
Mítháq means “A promise, agreement, bargain, compact, confederacy,
alliance, league” (Steingass 1359).
Shay†án means “Satan” (Steingass 776).
Majmú‘ih 30 writes ˙ayrat.
Personal provisional translation by the author with Ms. Faezeh Mardani,
added terms in brackets.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes gúyam.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes ayat.
Majmú‘ih 30 omits az-Tú.
The word “lover” translates both al-˙abíb and al-áshiq.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes Mißr-i-bahar, that is the city of springtime.
In Persian Mißr-i-Iláhí, “Divine Egypt.”
In Persian qamíß, literally, shirt.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes zi.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes gah.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes gah.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes shu‘lihí.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes az.
Majmú‘ih 30 writes ján-bakhsh, that is soul-refreshing.
See moreover GPB253-54; CF30; PT23, sec.8, para.3; PUP289.
A Tablet by Bahá’u’lláh, revealed in the early ‘Akká period and addressed
to ‘Alí Páshá, the Grand Vizir of Turkey. See SLH159-73.
-- A Hymn to Love (Sáqí, bi-dih ábí) (Used by permission of the curator)