Baha'is Under the Provisions of the Covenant - India

The universe is pregnant with these manifold bounties, awaiting the hour when the effects of Its unseen gifts will be made manifest in this world, when the languishing and sore athirst will attain the living Kawthar* of their Well-Beloved, and the erring wanderer, lost in the wilds of remoteness and nothingness, will enter the tabernacle of life, and attain reunion with his heart’s desire.  In the soil of whose heart will these holy seeds germinate?  From the garden of whose soul will the blossoms of the invisible realities spring forth?  Verily, I say, so fierce is the blaze of the Bush of love, burning in the Sinai** of the heart, that the streaming waters of holy utterance can never quench its flame.  Oceans can never allay this Leviathan’s burning thirst, and this Phoenix*** of the undying fire can abide nowhere save in the glow of the countenance of the Well-Beloved.  Therefore, O brother! kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it with the globe of understanding, that the breath of the infidel may extinguish not its flame nor dim its brightness.  Thus have We illuminated the heavens of utterance with the splendours of the Sun of divine wisdom and understanding, that thy heart may find peace, that thou mayest be of those who, on the wings of certitude, have soared unto the heaven of the love of their Lord, the All-Merciful.

Baha’u’llah, Kitab-i-Iqan/Book of Certitude


*Kawthar: A river of Paradise from which all the others flow.  Part of its waters are led into a great lake on the shores of which the souls of the faithful rest when they have crossed the terrible bridge which is laid over the midst of Hell.

**Sinai: the mountain where God gave the Law to Moses.  (Qur’án, súrih 7:139 and Exodus 19).

***Phoenix: A bird fabled to exist single, to be consumed by fire by its own act, and to rise again from its ashes.

63. O SON OF MAN!

The light hath shone on thee from the horizon of the sacred Mount and the spirit of enlightenment hath breathed in the Sinai of thy heart. Wherefore, free thyself from the veils of idle fancies and enter into My court, that thou mayest be fit for everlasting life and worthy to meet Me. Thus may death not come upon thee, neither weariness nor trouble.

Baha’u’llah, Hidden Words.