# 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
> 242                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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
> 244                                               Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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
> 252                                              Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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:
> 258                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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
> 260                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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
> 262                                            Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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.
> 264                                             Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> 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)
> 
> B IBLIOGRAPHY
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> A Hymn to Love                                                      269
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> A Hymn to Love                                                                  271
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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.
> 272                                                      Lights of Irfán vol. 16
> 
> “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)*