Baha'i Prayers:

The Master Hero arose meteor like above Shiraz...

The Birth of the Bábí Revelation ​
May 23, 1844, signalizes the commencement of the most turbulent period of the Heroic Age of the Bahá'í Era, an age which marks the opening of the most glorious epoch in the greatest cycle which the spiritual history of mankind has yet witnessed. No more than a span of nine short years marks the duration of this most spectacular, this most tragic, this most eventful period of the first Bahá'í century. It was ushered in by the birth of a Revelation whose Bearer posterity will acclaim as the "Point round Whom the realities of the Prophets and Messengers revolve," and terminated with the first stirrings of a still more potent Revelation, "whose day," Bahá'u'lláh Himself affirms, "every Prophet hath announced," for which "the soul of every Divine Messenger hath thirsted," and through which "God hath proved the hearts of the entire company of His Messengers and Prophets." Little wonder that the immortal chronicler of the events associated with the birth and rise of the Bahá'í Revelation has seen fit to devote no less than half of his moving narrative to the description of those happenings that have during such a brief space of time so greatly enriched, through their tragedy and heroism, the religious annals of mankind. In sheer dramatic power, in the rapidity with which events of momentous importance succeeded each other, in the holocaust which baptized its birth, in the miraculous circumstances attending the martyrdom of the One Who had ushered it in, in the potentialities with which it had been from the outset so thoroughly impregnated, in the forces to which it eventually gave birth, this nine-year period may well rank as unique in the whole range of man's religious experience. We behold, as we survey the episodes of this first act of a sublime drama, the figure of its Master Hero, the Báb, arise meteor-like above the horizon of Shíráz, traverse the sombre sky of Persia from south to north, decline with tragic swiftness, and perish in a blaze of glory. We see His satellites, a galaxy of God-intoxicated heroes, mount above that same horizon, irradiate that same incandescent light, burn themselves out with that self-same swiftness, and impart in their turn an added impetus to the steadily gathering momentum of God's nascent Faith.

~ From "God Passes By" Shoghi Effendi
 
Re: O ye rulers of the earth!

arthra said:
O ye rulers of the earth! Wherefore have ye clouded the radiance of the Sun, and caused it to cease from shining? Hearken unto the counsel given you by the Pen of the Most High, that haply both ye and the poor may attain unto tranquillity and peace. We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on earth. He, verily, doth what He willeth.

O kings of the earth! We see you increasing every year your expenditures, and laying the burden thereof on your subjects. This, verily, is wholly and grossly unjust. Fear the sighs and tears of this Wronged One, and lay not excessive burdens on your peoples. Do not rob them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose for them that which ye choose for yourselves. Thus We unfold to your eyes that which profiteth you, if ye but perceive. Your people are your treasures. Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver your wards to the hands of the robber. By them ye rule, by their means ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfull ye look y upon them! How strange, how very strange!


~ Baha'u'llah
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Is this a prayer or is it what he wrote to the rulers?
 
Re: O ye rulers of the earth!

Postmaster said:
Is this a prayer or is it what he wrote to the rulers?
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Hi, Peter! :)

Unfortunately Art didn't provide the cites, but these appear to be from The Hidden Words, which is Baha'u'llah's first (earliest) volume of what we now consider the Baha'i scxriptures.

This consists of 153 exhortations, primarily to humanity in general but some addressed to specific groups (such as "O rich ones on earth!"). He says in the introduction that these are a brief recap of spiritual teachings of the past.

You can find them at: Bahá'í Reference Library - The Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh

Best regards, :)

Bruce
 
I believe the quote is from the newly published Summons of the Lord of Hosts... Yes in a sense it isn't worded like a prayer but it does I think answer the prayers and aspirations of mankind!

We beseech God to assist the kings of the earth to establish peace on earth. He, verily, doth what He willeth.

- Art
 
Re: O ye rulers of the earth!

Postmaster said:
Is this a prayer or is it what he wrote to the rulers?
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It is amongst the Tablets to the Kings. I am on a laptop for awhile and I can't download Ocean to it, so someone with Ocean on their computer could do a search using some key words and find the original citation.

Regards,
Scott
 
Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world ...

Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world, when the day star of My beauty is set, and the heaven of My tabernacle is concealed from your eyes. Arise to further My Cause, and to exalt My Word amongst men. We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. We are truly almighty. Whoso hath recognized Me, will arise and serve Me with such determination that the powers of earth and heaven shall be unable to defeat his purpose.
The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. They would cast away everything they possess, be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may remember them to the extent of addressing to them but one word. Such is the instruction given you by Him Who holdeth the knowledge of things hidden, in a Tablet which the eye of creation hath not seen, and which is revealed to none except His own Self, the omnipotent protector of all worlds. So bewildered are they in the drunkenness of their evil desires, that they are powerless to recognize the Lord of all being, Whose voice calleth aloud from every direction: “There is none other God but Me, the Mighty, the All-Wise.”

~ Baha'u'llah from Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
 
Re: Be not dismayed, O peoples of the world ...

arthra said:
... We are with you at all times, and shall strengthen you through the power of truth. ...

With a couple background ideas in play, at least one of which is that the sheer number of people who proceed ultimately through the various valleys are fewer and fewer valley by valley....

I have wondered about a generalized perspective about one's life as a believer, even to that some become inactive, that people are wistful of their early days, somehow feeling closer to God then.... That the "power of truth" is less fulfilling and one feels God "with" us less.

I have thought to examine the Seven Valleys (and where those valleys are referenced in Gems of Divine Mysteries) for descriptions of experiences or "active" connections with spiritual feelings from the next world or God....

Consider...

The Valley/City of Search
(Seven Valleys)
At every step, aid from the Invisible Realm will attend him and the heat of his search will grow.
(Gems of Divine Mysteries)
God may guide him in the paths of His favour and the ways of His mercy...He beholdeth the wonders of Divinity in the mysteries of creation and discovereth the paths of guidance and the ways of His Lord.


Those mysterious alignments - "there are no accidents", coincidences that seem too meaningful to be coincidences.

The Valley/City of Love...
(Seven Valleys)
until thou burn with the fire of love, thou shalt never commune with the Lover of Longing.
Be as naught, if thou wouldst kindle the fire of being and be fit for the pathway of love.
(Gems of Divine Mysteries)
He yieldeth up spirit, soul, and body in the path of his Lord, and yet he doeth so by the leave of his Beloved and not of his own whim and desire....consumed by the onslaught of separation in this world.... His eyes are ever expectant to witness the wonders of God’s mercy and eager to behold the splendours of His beauty.


Here there seems to be a paucity of experiences - at best delayed until later. If this is a stage where voyagers "get religion" then they also discover they don't "feel" God like they may reflect they did during their search even if they didn't really "get it" then. They struggle to be obedient and may in fact be, but feel the separation.


The Valley of Knowledge
(Seven Valleys)
His inner eyes will open and he will privily converse with his Beloved... and consorteth with the people of the immortal realm.
(Gems of Divine Mysteries skips)


Again some kind of active experience, but directly consciously, very real.


The Valley/City of Unity
(Seven Valleys)
seeth the brilliant rays of the divine sun shining from the dawning-point of Essence alike on all created things, and the lights of singleness reflected over all creation.... His shining becometh visible in every limb and member.
(Gems of Divine Mysteries)
beholdeth all things with an eye illumined by the effulgent lights which God Himself hath shed upon him.



and so on through the rest of the Valleys. Let's suppose that most of the people who look to change their religion get the Valley of Search, and a good number of them ( who can overcome reasons not to change) get to the Valley of Love and "get religion". They then can loose their "heat" as they obey without seeming aid which they now feel they have lost - they know God and His Faith but it's not as alive as it was when they were looking.... Not until they pass the Valley of Love do they again engage personal experience, but this time selflessly, a spiritual internal connection. But they do so selflessly only because of the Love they have felt - the binding to God. And the experience gets even more powerful after that...

What do you think? Totally off base or "onto" something?
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Re: O ye rulers of the earth!

Popeyesays said:
It is amongst the Tablets to the Kings. I am on a laptop for awhile and I can't download Ocean to it, so someone with Ocean on their computer could do a search using some key words and find the original citation.
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Hi, Scott!

For the record, you can reach Ocean online at:

www.bahairesearch.com

Best, :)

Bruce
 
Re: O ye rulers of the earth!

BruceDLimber said:
ttp://www.bahairesearch.com"]www.bahairesearch.com[/URL]
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Hi Bruce!

I was going to say it didn't work on a Mac but it turns out it's just Safari - Firefox on the Mac works!

Except I can't bring up a phrase like "Cloud of Unknowning" - can on several other sites like True Seeker (but doesn't have as much stuff); Baha'i-Reference which because it's associated with the World Center will tend to have the most current version of everything official; and Baha'i-Library which will have just about everything else available.

All come up pretty empty on the phrase. Almost all the hits at bahai-library refer to the tablet I linked. Except for one slight elaboration

"Izutsu's translation, "abysmal darkness"( Sufism and Taoism, pp.119) and Austin's "The Dark Cloud" (Bezels, p.134) do not convey the diaphanous quality which al-Káshání emphasizes, suggesting a thin cloud at such a high altitude that it seems to appear and disappear from one moment to the next. A recent discussion of the use of the term in Bábí and Bahá'í literature is Lambden, "The Cloud of Unknowing"." part of Footnote 318

As a side note the only search form I really would like to have that MARS used to do - not sure about Ocean cause there is no Mac version and I've gone pretty Mac since MARS - is unusual searches like skip every other work or every dozen letters.... esoteric stuff like that.
 
arthra said:
I just thought your description of the quest reminded me of a book "The Cloud of Unknowing" by a Christian mystic:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.html

- Art

:)
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Interesting! That a treatise from 500AD... in Spain? should connect so well with a theme picked up in Sufi/Muslim lit. and then by Baha'u'llah Himself in one of His earliest works!

Very interesting.... Add that to my reading list....

Anyone else pulled some angles and tangents out of Seven Valley themes? Perhaps we could make it it's own thread?
 
smkolins said:
Anyone else pulled some angles and tangents out of Seven Valley themes?
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Hi!

Speaking of angles and tangents, this isn't Seven Valleys (and indeed isn't even the same author), but given the sort of metaphors the Bab likes to use, I've always thought that if He weren't a Divine Messenger He should have been a geographer! :)

Best,

Bruce
 
O PEOPLES of the earth!

O PEOPLES of the earth! By the righteousness of God, this Book hath, through the potency of the sovereign Truth, pervaded the earth and the heaven with the mighty Word 60 of God concerning Him Who is the supreme Testimony, the Expected Qá’im, and verily God hath knowledge of all things. This divinely-inspired Book hath firmly established His Proof for all those who are in the East and in the West, hence beware lest ye utter aught but the truth regarding God, for I swear by your Lord that this supreme Proof of Mine beareth witness unto all things…
O servants of God! Be ye patient, for, God grant, He Who is the sovereign Truth will suddenly appear amongst you, invested with the power of the mighty Word, and ye shall then be confounded by the Truth itself, and ye shall have no power to ward it off; and verily I am a witness over all mankind.

From "Selections fron the Writings of the Bab" Chapter LIX.
 
Lauded be Thy Name...

Lauded be Thy Name, O Lord our God! Thou art in truth the Knower of things unseen. Ordain for us such good as Thine all-embracing knowledge can measure. Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.

All praise be unto Thee, O Lord! We shall seek Thy grace on the appointed Day and shall put our whole reliance in Thee, Who art our Lord. Glorified art Thou, O God! Grant us that which is good and seemly that we may be able to dispense with everything but Thee. Verily, Thou art the Lord of all worlds.

O God! Recompense those who endure patiently in Thy days, and strengthen their hearts to walk undeviatingly in the path of Truth. Grant then, O Lord, such goodly gifts as would enable them to gain admittance into Thy blissful Paradise. Exalted art Thou, O Lord God. Let Thy heavenly blessings descend upon homes whose inmates have believed in Thee. Verily, unsurpassed art Thou in sending down divine blessings. Send forth, O God, such hosts as would render Thy faithful servants victorious. Thou dost fashion the created things through the power of Thy decree as Thou pleasest. Thou art in truth the Sovereign, the Creator, the All-Wise.

Say: God is indeed the Maker of all things. He giveth sustenance in plenty to whomsoever He willeth. He is the Creator, the Source of all beings, the Fashioner, the Almighty, the Maker, the All-Wise. He is the Bearer of the most excellent titles throughout the heavens and the earth and whatever lieth between them. All do His bidding, and all the dwellers of earth and heaven celebrate His praise, and unto Him shall all return.

—The Báb
 
A meditation by Abdul-baha

"The souls who hearkened to these teachings among the various oriental nations immediately renounced the spirit of strife and hostility and began to associate in goodwill and fellowship. From extremes of animosity they attained the acme of love and brotherhood. They had been warring and quarreling; now they became loving and lived together in complete unity and agreement. Among them today you will find no religious, political or patriotic prejudice; they are friendly, loving and associate in the greatest happiness. They have no part in the war and strife which take place in the East; their attitude toward all men is that of goodwill and loving-kindness. A standard of universal peace has been unfurled among them. The light of guidance has flooded their souls. It is light upon light, love upon love. This is the education and training of Bahá’u’lláh. He has led these souls to this standard and given them teachings which ensure eternal illumination. Anyone who becomes well versed in His teachings will say, “Verily, I declare that these words constitute the illumination of humanity, that this is the everlasting honor, that these are heavenly precepts and the cause of never-ending life among men.”

- Abdul-Baha
 
Meditation on brotherhood:

The real brotherhood is spiritual, for physical brotherhood is subject to separation. The wars of the outer world of existence separate humankind, but in the eternal world of spiritual brotherhood separation is unknown. Material or physical association is based upon earthly interests, but divine fellowship owes its existence to the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual brotherhood may be likened to the light, while the souls of humankind are as lanterns. The incandescent lamps here are many, yet the light is one.

~ Abdul-Baha
 
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