Hidden Words, #44

All right. All right. I hear you, dear Reader. I know it's been a while since I've posted. I'm sorry, but it's been a very busy past few months.

That's not why you're complaining?

The title? Oh, my mistake. Which Hidden Word #44? Arabic or Persian? Why, yes, I'm glad you asked.

Well, let's see shall we? We'll start with the Arabic.

"O Son of the Throne!"

That's a nice beginning. It is like a reminder of that other Hidden Word half the book ago, # 22: "Noble have I created thee..."

But then there is the Persian #44:

"O Companion of My Throne!"

Hmm. I notice a trend. Probably just a coincidence, right? Let's move on with a bit of each, Arabic and Persian, and see what happens.

"Thy hearing is My hearing, hear thou therewith." "Hear no evil..."

Now wait a second. My Spidey sense is tingling.

"Thy sight is My sight, do thou see therewith..." ...and see no evil..."

Okay. There's something going on here.

Now He asks us to take it a step further, moving from our passive senses to our actions.

"...that in thine inmost soul thou mayest testify unto My exalted sanctity." "...neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed. Live then the days of thy life, that are less than a fleeting moment, with thy mind stainless, thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified..."

 Finally, He hints at what will be our reward.

"...and I within Myself may bear witness unto an exalted station for thee." "...so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame, and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom forevermore."

* * * * *

Alright. Let's go back to the beginning and I'll share some thoughts. Of course, these thoughts are nothing official. They're only my personal thoughts, so you can take them or leave them, as you will.

First, as mentioned above, we are given the reminder in both of these Hidden Words that we are inherently noble. This is a fact of our creation. The question, though, may be why we don't always act like it. And for that, we need to continue reading.

Actually, we can go back to that other Hidden Word, #22, where it continues "yet thou hast abased thyself." It is we, through our own actions, that have brought ourselves down. Of course, it's also stated there in the Persian Hidden Word, "...abase not thyself..."

But now, with these other two, we can see a solution, a way out, a way back up to our noble station. Our hearing is God's hearing, "here thou therewith". But how do we do this? "Speak no evil, that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee..."

That seems simple enough, but as I'm sure you know, it's far more difficult in practice.

For me, it means simply walking away when people begin backbiting or gossiping, and being careful to which media and arts I subject myself. Of course, I'm certain it requires far more than just that, but this is a beginning. I could easily go on with quotes from the Guardian about the importance and implications of chastity, as found in The Advent of Divine Justice (page 24, if you really want to know), or even Baha'u'llah's statement in The Epistle to the Son of the Wolf about the purpose of the arts, "productive of good results... and... conducive to... well-being and tranquility". But I am sure I've said enough about it already. Be careful what you expose yourself to, for it has an influence on your spirit.

I'm more curious about what it would be like to see the world through His eyes. What does it mean to "see no evil"?

I believe we get a hint from 'Abdu'l-Baha when He speaks of the scorpion and snake, in Some Answered Questions, 74.5. "...(S)corpions and snakes are evil, but only in relation to us and not to themselves, for their venom is their weapon and their sting their means of defence. But as the constituent elements of their venom are incompatible with those of our bodies... the venom is evil, or rather, those elements are evil in relation to each other, while in their own reality they are both good."

Imagine if we could see the world like this. How differently would we view the world when we understood purpose? We would understand how those pesky mosquitoes feed the birds, and while we would still not want them to take a drop of our blood, we might not vilify them as much.

Of course, there are those who are purposefully evil, such as the tyrant or the thief. 'Abdu'l-Baha cautions us, in Selections 138: 

Strive ye then with all your heart to treat compassionately all humankind—except for those who have some selfish, private motive, or some disease of the soul. Kindness cannot be shown the tyrant, the deceiver, or the thief, because, far from awakening them to the error of their ways, it maketh them to continue in their perversity as before. No matter how much kindliness ye may expend upon the liar, he will but lie the more, for he believeth you to be deceived, while ye understand him but too well, and only remain silent out of your extreme compassion.

Here we find that balance between justice and compassion. But when we understand where they are coming from, why they are lying or whatever, we can see them more as an unruly child. It doesn't change the punishment meted out to them, but rather removes the burden of hatred from our own soul.

After the parts in those Hidden Words about sight, we then get to that reminder of our own noble station. It is as if by viewing the world with His eyes, and coming to an understanding of the motivation of others, that we return to the "exalted station" mentioned in the 44th Arabic Hidden Word.

When we turn to the Persian Hidden Word, it picks up where the Arabic has left off. We are being shown our reward for striving to act in this lofty manner. We will be "free and content", as that aforementioned burden is removed.

 In that same Persian Hidden Word, we are also reminded of the "fleeting moment" that is our life. Why would we want to waste any of that short time carrying around such a burden? Wouldn't we rather be free of it? Light of heart and soul?

I think the word "unsullied" is also very purposeful. It brings to mind Baha'u'llah's story of the bird, found in Gleanings, #153:

Ye are even as the bird which soareth, with the full force of its mighty wings and with complete and joyous confidence, through the immensity of the heavens, until, impelled to satisfy its hunger, it turneth longingly to the water and clay of the earth below it, and, having been entrapped in the mesh of its desire, findeth itself impotent to resume its flight to the realms whence it came. Powerless to shake off the burden weighing on its sullied wings, that bird, hitherto an inmate of the heavens, is now forced to seek a dwelling-place upon the dust.

When we listen with God's ears, and strive to see with His eyes, we shake off that dust. We are far less likely to become sullied, or burdened, with our own limited and obscured vision.

Just imagine how liberating it would feel to have no hatred for anyone, no anger in our life. We would still grieve at the injustices of the world, but we would not be weighed down with our own unworthy reaction. Can we not imagine ourselves soaring easily without that weight on our soul? Perhaps it is with this freedom that we can go on to "the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal kingdom for evermore."