# Thoughts on the City of Certitude

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Rouha Rose, Thoughts on the City of Certitude, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Thoughts on the City of Certitude
> 
> Rouha Rose
> 
> 1998-03
> 
> ContentsWhat do we know about the City of Certitude? How
> do we progress in the City of God? What is the outcome of all this?
> Where is the City of Certitude?
> 
> What do we know about the City of Certitude?
> 
> Within this City, the City of God (KI 196, 7), the New Jerusalem, the
> Kingdom of God on earth, the spiritual world, the eternal kingdom, we
> become truly alive: "Life is Faith, death is unbelief" (KI 114). Within
> this City there are not imperfections. Things are known by their Godly
> attributes. "The wayfarer in this Valley seeth in the fashionings of the
> True One nothing save clear providence, and at every moment saith: 'No
> defect canst thou see in the creation of the God of Mercy: Repeat the
> gaze: Seest thou a single flaw?'" (SVFV 12)
> 
> "Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee. ... No thing have I
> perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or God
> after it.'" (KI 102) "Know thou that every created thing is a sign of the
> revelation of God. Each, according to its capacity, is, and will ever
> remain, a token of the Almighty. Inasmuch as He, the sovereign Lord of
> all, hath willed to reveal His sovereignty in the kingdom of names and
> attributes, each and every created thing hath, through the act of the
> Divine Will, been made a sign of His glory. So pervasive and general is
> this revelation that nothing whatsoever in the whole universe can be
> discovered that doth not reflect His splendor. Under such conditions every
> consideration of proximity and remoteness is obliterated...." (G 184) In
> this City we are always in the presence of God.
> 
> 2. How do we progress in the City of God?
> 
> A. Bahá'u'lláh defines the seeker on page192 - 199 of the Kitab-i-Iqan.
> 
> B. Renunciation: "When the channel of the human soul is cleansed of all
> worldly and impeding attachments, it will unfailingly perceive the breath
> of the Beloved across immeasurable distances and will, led by its perfume,
> attain and enter the City of Certitude." (KI 197)
> 
> It seems to me, maybe, that entry into the City of God is not an event but
> a process. Tearing free of the physical world, becoming a soul equipped
> with a body instead of a body with an obscure soul, takes, for some of us,
> a lot of time and effort. We recognize the godly attributes and practice
> them. We discover, (one by one, fortunately) our fears and resolve them.
> It is a matter of giving up our own will for God's will; "... arise to the
> station of sacrifice ...sacrifice his own station for those of God." (BWF
> 384) This change is rebirth. (KI 156) Perhaps every step is a new world, a
> rebirth.
> 
> It seems to me we have to know about the physical world to extract
> ourselves from it. It has a firm grip on us. Just under our skins, ready
> to leap into action, are the almost reflexive responses necessary to keep
> us alive in a dog-eat-dog world. Fight, flight and attraction to that
> which promotes physical life (feeling good, food, reproduction, etc.).
> All of the misery on earth comes from these once valuable drives. "This
> matter of the struggle for existence is the fountain-head of all
> calamities and is the supreme affliction." (SWA 302)
> 
> What are these impeding attachments from which we must free ourselves?
> What causes our misery; what is Satan (KI 257); what is perdition? The
> things of the animal world, the world without faith, from which we are all
> coming. Life is faith, death is unbelief (KI 114). The world of nature is
> breakable. All in it, including our bodies, will be recycled. If we want
> them to endure, if we depend upon them, we are assured disappointment,
> loss and misery.
> 
> It is a world of survival of the fittest, death of the weak, and all of us
> weaken as we age. One hundred percent loss, one way or another. At base
> the impeding attachment is the fear of death, loss, annihilation manifest
> myriad ways: embarrassment, idle talk(escape) , vain imaginings (fantasy),
> worldly affections, attachment to things that perish (KI 3); regarding the
> words and deeds of humans (KI 4); heedlessness and doubt (KI 6); envy
> ("the heart wherein the least remnant of envy yet lingers, shall never
> inhale the sweet savors of holiness breathing from My kingdom." (PHW 6),
> rebellion (KI 10); petty misunderstandings, arrogance, pride, remoteness,
> following leaders, attitude of opposition, desire to ignore the truth,(KI
> 13-14); preconceived, unchallenged beliefs, limited understanding; lust
> of leadership, want of knowledge (KI 15), anger (PUP 89), fear, anxiety,
> greed (AHW 56), being offended (PUP 448- 49), uncertainty, etc..
> 
> We sense impeding attachments with feelings of hesitation, uneasiness,
> wariness, dread, worry, fear; terror; depression, sadness, anger - any
> unpleasant feeling warns of an attachment. There are many. An idle fancy
> (which I think means an incorrect belief or fruitless fantasy), an
> incorrect teaching of leaders, for example: "God is good and He will burn
> you in hell forever if you don't believe in Him." They add, "If you doubt
> me that is the Devil influencing you." God is good and He's a sadist? The
> person who has based his religious belief framework on this dares not use
> his faculty for reason. It is too frightening. It will take a lot of
> loving patience to help this person even begin to use his own mind. Much
> of the violence in the world rises out of this terrible, blasphemous
> concept.
> 
> Another example of the destructive power of preconceived ideas is the
> belief in hell and the immediate terror that it arouses in the mind of
> someone taught a vivid and horrid envisionment of hell or satan. Fear and
> love cannot live in the same heart (SVFV 58). Where fear is present, the
> anticipation (love) that the Writings elicit and the logic that they
> require are shut off, thereby stalling search. An example is a statement
> such as, "fall into nethermost fire." (KI 194) In the Faith, nethermost
> fire is unbelief - the condition that most people are now living in.
> 
> The way to avoid nethermost fire, to maintain faith, is to study (reflect
> and meditate upon, internalize) and then live the truths in the Writings.
> This requires logical and loving thought and behavior. The loving soul,
> were it the will of God, would actually chose nethermost fire for himself
> instead of for someone else. Without fear, the outcome of such a statement
> is to teach the Faith more vigorously and to study and pray for steadfast
> faith, that is, firmness in the Covenant.
> 
> Study is necessary because any belief that does not have a solid framework
> of logical conclusions supporting it will fall when stressed. "Recite ye
> the verses of God every morn and eventide. Whoso faileth to recite them
> hath not been faithful to the Covenant of God and His Testament ..." (KA
> 73) "The prime requisite is the eagerness and love of sanctified souls to
> read the Word of God. (It is the love that allows us to understand the
> hidden language and causes us to want to live, to come at one with the
> Writings) To read one verse, or even one word, in a spirit of joy and
> radiance, is preferable to the perusal of many Books. (KA 126-127)
> 
> Fear is an attribute of the world of nature. Certitude is an attribute of
> God. Obedient effort is the bridge. "And if he feareth not God, God will
> make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth
> God."(36) (SVFV 58)
> 
> "You ask him about the fear of God: perhaps the friends do not realize
> that the majority of human beings need the element of fear in order to
> discipline their conduct? Only a relatively very highly evolved soul would
> always be disciplined by love alone. (LG239) The fear of God, perhaps,
> means fear of the logical outcome of disobeying Him. There is always a
> negative outcome - why else would He have made a law? If He says, "Thou
> shalt not walk off a cliff." and we play brinkmanship, or say we don't
> believe in gravity, does it make any difference in the outcome? Does He
> reach down and shove us? Does He vengefully bash us against the rocks at
> the bottom? No, the punishment is the natural outcome that is built into
> the natural system. Everything can be a cause for good or for bad. We
> need gravity and if we are not heedless, we can live with it.
> 
> After all, God made the universe. He knows how it works. He knows what
> goes well and He knows how bad it can go for us. Once truly believing in
> God, one would be crazy to not obey. His laws free us from the pain of the
> world of nature. "Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of
> laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of
> might and power. To this beareth witness that which the Pen of Revelation
> hath revealed. Meditate upon this, O men of insight!" KA 21) Beside, the
> more we are living in the City of Certitude, the greater our love and
> appreciation for Bahá'u'lláh is, and even the thought of disobeying Him
> would break our hearts.
> 
> Bahá'u'lláh has told us life is eternal: the bounty of God provides for
> all - there is nothing to fear; there is nothing to compete for; and to
> put our Faith in Him, who is eternal, and not in the physical world, which
> is transitory. The law of the struggle for existence is abrogated: "...
> the Collective Center of the Kingdom (the City of Certitude), embodying
> the institutions and divine teachings, is the eternal Collective Center.
> It establishes relationship between the East and the West, organizes the
> oneness of the world of humanity, and destroys the foundation of
> differences. It overcomes and includes all the other collective centers.
> Like unto the ray of the sun, it dispels entirely the darkness
> encompassing all the regions, bestows ideal life, and causes the
> effulgence of divine illumination. Through the breaths of the Holy Spirit
> it performs miracles; the Orient and the Occident embrace each other, the
> North and South become intimates and associates, conflicting and
> contending opinions disappear, antagonistic aims are brushed aside, the
> law of the struggle for existence is abrogated, and the canopy of the
> oneness of the world of humanity is raised on the apex of the globe,
> casting its shade over all the races of men. (TDP102)
> 
> C. Loving understanding service: "The root cause of wrongdoing is
> ignorance ..." (SW"A 136) While we struggle to grow spiritually and be of
> service, we must be patient with ourselves and others (even should it take
> 100,000 years (SVFV 5). "A wide latitude for action must be allowed them,
> which means that a large margin for errors must also be allowed ... human
> beings are not perfect." (Universal House of Justice to NSA US, May 19,
> 94). Any one of them might traverse the Seven Valleys in one breath and be
> giving us a hand up.
> 
> "Wherefore must the loved ones of God associate in affectionate fellowship
> with stranger and friend alike, showing forth to all the utmost
> loving-kindness, disregarding the degree of their capacity, never asking
> whether they deserve to be loved." (SWA 24) Who's work is this? Who has
> the information the world needs? Who has the responsibility of letting the
> world know the truth? Loving service is teaching by deeds. Often good and
> pleasant deeds can make an inroad where words might raise a barrier.
> 
> 3. Study and think: "The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we
> must therefore hold fast to the tools of perception and knowledge." (SWA
> 136) "One hour's reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious
> worship" Reflection is how we figure out applications. (KI 238) "Move from
> heedlessness to Faith and certainty." (KI 6) Ponder with detachment ...
> Strive to grasp meaning ... Examine wondrous behavior of Manifestations
> ... Recall denials of negators ... (KI 5)
> 
> 4. Teach: "... with a resounding voice, with a miraculous power, and with
> the magnetism of the Love of God, teach thou the Cause of God and rest
> assured that the Holy Spirit shall confirm thee." (JWTA 18)
> 
> 5. Fast, pray, take one's self into account each day, read the Writings
> each morn and eve, give to the Fund, support and serve the Administrative
> Order of the City of Certitude, i.e.. attend Feast, serve when elected,
> support Assembly decisions, etc., give to the Fund, avoid backbiting and
> criticism, strive to increase the love of God, "O SON OF BEING! Love Me,
> that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach
> thee. Know this, O servant." (AHW 5), etc..
> 
> 6. Overcome the habit of criticism and complaint. Accept in times pleasant
> and unpleasant, that "God doeth whatsoever He willeth, and ordaineth
> whatsoever He pleaseth." (170) "He shall not be asked of His doings."
> (KI171) 7 Remember "... the assurance which Bahá'u'lláh Himself has given
> the believers that they will never be called upon to meet a test greater
> than their capacity to endure." (LG 342)
> 
> 3. What is the outcome of all this?
> 
> "The reality of man is his thought ..."(PT 17) Our thought will come to
> reflect the City of Certitude so our behavior can manifest it "Then will
> the manifold favours and outpouring grace of the holy and everlasting
> Spirit confer such new life upon the seeker that he will find himself
> endowed with a new eye, a new ear, a new heart, and a new mind. He will
> contemplate the manifest signs of the universe, and will penetrate the
> hidden mysteries of the soul. Gazing with the eye of God, he will perceive
> within every atom a door that leadeth him to the stations of absolute
> certitude. He will discover in all things the mysteries of divine
> Revelation and the evidences of an everlasting manifestation. (KI 196)
> 
> "The God of Mercy hath ... taught him articulate speech." (ESW 1) Now He
> is teaching us a new language: "It is evident unto thee that the Birds of
> Heaven and Doves of Eternity speak a twofold language. One language, the
> outward language, is devoid of allusions, is unconcealed and unveiled;
> that it may be a guiding lamp and a beaconing light whereby wayfarers may
> attain the heights of holiness, and seekers may advance into the realm of
> eternal reunion. Such are the unveiled traditions and the evident verses
> already mentioned. The other language is veiled and concealed. ... None
> apprehendeth the meaning of these utterances except them whose hearts are
> assured, whose souls have found favour with God, and whose minds are
> detached from all else but Him. In such utterances, the literal meaning,
> as generally understood by the people, is not what hath been intended."
> (KI 254-255)
> 
> "God hath a people beneath the dome of glory, whom He hideth in the
> clothing of radiant poverty." These are they who see with His eyes, hear
> with His ears, as it is written in the well-known tradition. (SVFV
> 62-63)
> 
> "O My Servant! Obey Me and I shall make thee like unto Myself. I say
> `Be,' and it is, and thou shalt say `Be,' and it shall be." (SVFV 63) "...
> even the servant of His threshold ruleth over all created things! (KI
> 124)
> 
> Many of the Hidden Words have to do with this City: Among them, "O SON OF
> BEING! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My
> place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation." (AHW 59), again,
> "O SON OF MAN! The temple of being is My throne; cleanse it of all things,
> that there I may be established and there I may abide." (AHW 58), "O SON
> OF BEING! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is
> My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation. (AHW 59) O SON OF
> UTTERANCE! Thou art My stronghold; enter therein that thou mayest abide in
> safety. My love is in thee, know it, that thou mayest find Me near unto
> thee. (AHW 10) and "...thou mayest be to all eternity the revelation of
> My everlasting being." (AHW 64).
> 
> "O MY SON! The company of the ungodly increaseth sorrow, whilst fellowship
> with the righteous cleanseth the rust from off the heart. He that seeketh
> to commune with God, let him betake himself to the companionship of His
> loved ones; and he that desireth to hearken unto the word of God, let him
> give ear to the words of His chosen ones. (PHW 56) "O SON OF WORLDLINESS!
> Pleasant is the realm of being, wert thou to attain thereto; glorious is
> the domain of eternity, shouldst thou pass beyond the world of mortality;
> sweet is the holy ecstasy if thou drinkest of the mystic chalice from the
> hands of the celestial Youth. Shouldst thou attain this station, thou
> wouldst be freed from destruction and death, from toil and sin. (PHW
> 70)
> 
> 4. Where is the Celestial City, the City of Certitude?
> 
> It is right here. "He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and
> in the world to come." (KI 120) "This most great, this fathomless and
> surging ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer
> to you than your life vein!" (PDC 16) In fact, "The holy realities of the
> Concourse on high," writes Abdu'l-Bahá, "yearn, in this day, in the Most
> Exalted Paradise, to return unto this world, so that they may be aided to
> render some service to the threshold of the Abha Beauty, and arise to
> demonstrate their servitude to His sacred Threshold." (ADJ 47) and "
> ...Enter thou among My servants, And enter thou My paradise." (SVFV 50)
> 
> I beseech Thee, O my God, ... to nourish their souls with what Thou hast
> ordained for Thy loved ones on whom shall come no fear and who shall not
> be put to grief. (PM 3)
> 
> Notes
> 
> ADJ Advent of Divine Justice AHW Arabic
> Hidden Words BWF Bahá'í World Faith ESW Epistle to the
> Son of the Wolf G Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
> JWTA Japan Will Turn Ablaze KA Kitab-i-Aqdas KI
> Kitab-i-Iqan LG Lights of Guidance PDC Promised Day is
> Come PM Prayers and Meditations PUP Promulgation of
> Universal Peace SVFV Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys SWA
> Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá TDP Tablets of
> the Divine Plan
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views12497 views since posted 1998-03; last edit 2026-04-27 07:15 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../rose_city_certitude;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
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> — *Thoughts on the City of Certitude (Used by permission of the curator)*