Four Valleys: Tablet study outline
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-06-21 - 1 clipping

Note: my comments here are only partial, for two reasons: (1) much of the 
information that could be included here has already been posted, in the Tablet study outline for the Seven Valleys; (2) 
since the Tablet is available in translation, most students entered sufficient answers 
for sections like "contents" and "themes," thereby obviating a list here. 

 Name of Tablet in Arabic or Persian: Chahár Vádí

 Translation into English: 
The Four Valleys. Most of the bibliographic material relevant to Bahá'í mysticism, 
as well as some of the translation history of the Four Valleys, has been listed in the 
previous masterkey for the Seven Valleys. _Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory_ mentions it 
only briefly, on p. 163, as does _God Passes By_ on pp. 122 and 140. Julio Savi 
explores the themes and symbolism in the Four Valleys in his "Will, Knowledge, and 
Love as Explained in Bahá'u'lláh's Four Valleys," from the _Journal of Bahá'í 
Studies_ 6:1 (1994). John Walbridge discusses these in _Sacred Acts, Sacred 
Space, Sacred Time_, 157-158 and 288. David Langness also meditates on the 
work in his "Mystical Content and Symbology of Bahá'u'lláh's Four Valleys," 
available on the internet at Bahái-library.org/essays/four.valleys.html. 

 Significance of Name: 
 Describes four successive stages of the mystic's path from which he or she 
journeys toward the goal of the Divine. Dr. Ayman adds: "The word "valley" is 
translation of "vaadi". Vaadi has several meanings or connotations. It may refer to 
a stretch of land between hills or mountains, often with a river flowing through it 
(Oxford Dic.) or path. There are other connotations for this word in both Arabic 
and Persian such as , a way of thinking, a sect or school of thought, a plain, a 
desert, a stage, ...etc.. Therefore we should not always expect "vaadis" to come 
one after the other. One usage of this word, in oriental Mysticism, is to refer to 
consecutive stages in the path of true knowledge." 

 Tablet was revealed in: Persian 

 Name of Recipient: Shaykh 'Abdu'r-Rahman-i-Talabani of Karkuk 

 Reason for Revelation of the Tablet: Shaykh 'Abdu'r-Rahman, who had 
met Bahá'u'lláh in Sulaymaniyyih, wrote to Him with some questions, which 
unfortunately are not preserved. 

 Questions asked that are answered in Tablet: The (lost) questions 
mentioned above. 

 Date of Revelation: Though Taherzadeh does not specify, Walbridge, in 
_Sacred Acts_ 157, places the date of this work at 1857. 

 Place of Revelation: Baghdad 

 Role of Amaneuensis or Secretary: As a letter, it is possible that 
Bahá'u'lláh penned the Four Valleys Himself. And, on pp. 64-65, He writes: "When I 
entrusted this message of love to My pen, it refused the burden, and it swooned 
away. ... What I had written ere this hand hath been eaten by the flies, so sweet is 
the ink. ...And now the hand can write no more, and pleadeth that this is enough." 

 Other Tablets revealed at about the same time: See list in masterkey for 
Seven Valleys. 

 Style, subject, and genre of the Tablet: [?] 
Style: This tablet seems to have been written mostly in the tone of 
"command and authority."
 Subject: This tablet seems to contain many subjects, such as "Writings 
dealing with interpretation of the old Scriptures, religious beliefs and doctrines of 
the past"; Mystical Writings"; "Tablets dealing with subjects of learning and 
knowledge, divine philosophy, mysteries of creation, medicine, alchemy, etc."; and 
"Tablets exhorting men to education, goodly character and divine virtues."
 Genre: "Essay or book revealed as a letter to an individual." 
 
Voice of Tablet: [?] Bahá'u'lláh, using also quotations from the Qur'an to 
speak for God and Muhammad, and quotations from Sufis to provide Sufi 
viewpoints. 

 Outline Contents of Tablet (if possible): See other student lists 

 List the Principal themes of the Tablet: See other student lists 

 Tablet's relationship to other tablets:
 At the end of the Seven Valleys, Bahá'u'lláh writes that "the heart is endowed with 
four stages, which would be recounted should a kindred soul be found" (41). While 
Savi speculates that the Four Valleys are those Bahá'u'lláh had here promised, this 
connection is not known for sure.
-- Four Valleys: Tablet study outline (Used by permission of the curator)