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The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys
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Pages 43-50
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The Four Valleys
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1 |
He is the Strong, the Well-Beloved!
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2 |
O light of truth, Hisám-i-Dín, the bounteous,
No prince hath the world begot like unto
Thee!
[1]
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3 |
I am wondering why the tie of love was so
abruptly severed, and the firm covenant of
friendship broken. Did ever, God forbid, My
devotion lessen, or My deep affection fail, that
thou hast thus forgot Me and blotted Me from
thy thoughts?
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4 |
What fault of Mine hath made thee cease thy
favors?
Is it that We are lowly and thou of high
degree?
[2]
Or is that a single arrow hath driven thee
from the battle?
[3]
Have they not told thee that
faithfulness is a duty on those who follow the
mystic way, that it is the true guide to His
Holy Presence? "But as for those who say,
`Our Lord is God,' and who go straight to
Him, the angels shall descend to them...."
[4]
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5 |
Likewise He saith, "Go straight on then as
thou hast been commanded."
[5]
Wherefore, this
course is incumbent on those who dwell in the
presence of God.
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6 |
I do as bidden, and I bring the message,
Whether it give thee counsel or offense.
[6]
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7 |
Albeit I have received no answer to My letters
and it is contrary to the usage of the wise
to express My regard anew, yet this new love
hath broken all the old rules and ways.
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8 |
Tell us not the tale of Laylí or of Majnún's
woe--
Thy love hath made the world forget the
loves of long ago.
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9 |
When once thy name was on the tongue, the
lovers caught it
And it set the speakers and the hearers dancing
to and fro.
[7]
And of divine wisdom and heavenly counsel,
[Rúmí says]:
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10 |
Each moon, O my beloved, for three days I
go mad;
Today's the first of these--'Tis why thou
seest me glad.
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11 |
We hear that thou hast journeyed to Tabríz
and Tiflis to disseminate knowledge, or
that some other high purpose hath taken thee to
Sanandaj.
[8]
,
[9]
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12 |
O My eminent friend! Those who progress
in mystic wayfaring are of four kinds. I shall
describe them in brief, that the grades and
qualities of each kind may become plain to
thee.
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Notes
1. [Mathnaví of Rúmí.]
2. [Sa'dí, Muslihu'd-Dín of Shíráz (ca. 1184-1291), famed author of the Gulistán and other poetical works.]
3. [Persian proverb describing a man who gives up easily. As used here one connotation is that the Shaykh might have considered his station as a mystic leader compromised by the fact of his being taught the new truth by Bahá'u'lláh.]
4. [Qur'án 41:30]
5. [Qur'án 11:114; 42:14]
6. [Sa'dí.]
7. [Ibid.]
8. [Senna, capital of Persian Kurdistán.]
9. [This preamble to The Four Valleys is written in the finest Persian epistolary style. The rules of classical letter writing in Persian require quotations from literary works, and assertions of abiding love for the one addressed, who is chided for having neglected the writer.]
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