Category: Baha’i Scripture Deep Dive

A poem of great beauty not known to English speakers is now available in English translation. The poem is Az Bágh-i-Iláhí (Hailing from the Godly Garden) and the translator is Adib Masumian. It is among the most well-known works of Baha’u’llah. Adib Taherzadeh describes it as follows: “Az-Bágh-i-Iláhí is an ode revealed not long before the Declaration…

For most of this year, I have been slowing writing a commentary on Baha’u’llah’s Tablet of the Son. The commentary is not a long complicated affair – it’s just short notes of interest on each paragraph. The tablet is reasonably lengthy, running to 33 paragraphs. I chose to do this commentary because I think Tablet…

I think one the most crucial sentences in the Seven Valleys comes at the beginning of the Valley of Unity, where Baha’u’llah says that the Valley of Knowledge is “the last station of limitation”: “After passing through the Valley of Knowledge, which is the last station of limitation, the wayfarer cometh to the First Station…

Baha’u’llah often refers to hell as “the fire”, which is how the world feels when it deals a serious blow. He counsels people to stay out of the world’s affairs so that they are not caught up in its deceptions and tribulations. In the following hidden word, he makes some subtle, and very important points…

The hidden word below illustrates the difficulty Baha’u’llah faced when it came to delivering his message to his audience. Just think about it for a moment. If his message came from God, that would mean that it came from a wholly creative and innovative source. And a message coming from such a source would be…

The quote below is a provisional translation of a question-and-answer interaction between Baha’u’llah and his amanuensis (that is, the man who wrote down the words Baha’u’llah dictated to him). It begins with the amanuensis asking Baha’u’llah about a hypothetical situation where a person, during prayer, changes a pronoun from “him” to “me” in order to…

The relationship between Baha’u’llah and the heart is a tricky one to grasp because it involves spiritual concepts of nearness and distance and not everyday ones. Typically, a person on the other side of the world is considered far away, and the person next door is considered near. But when looked at from the point…

Is there a Baha’i mysticism? Strictly speaking, Baha’u’llah has rendered the question redundant by making the process of acquiring mystical insight into God fundamental to his religion. One of the most important books Baha’u’llah wrote is called the Most Holy Book. In it, he sets out the principles, observances, exhortations and laws of his faith….