Our concepts of time, self and memory are conditioned by a material reality in which we are yet trapped. Would ye but sanctify your souls, ye would at this present hour recall that place and those surroundings, and the truth of My utterance should be made evident unto all of you. Have ye forgotten that true and radiant morn, when in those hallowed and blessed surroundings ye were all gathered in My presence beneath the shade of the tree of life, which is planted in the all-glorious paradise? Awestruck ye listened as I gave utterance to these three most holy words: O friends! Prefer not your will to Mine, never desire that which I have not desired for you, and approach Me not with lifeless hearts, defiled with worldly desires and cravings.

We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue.Įach verse begins with an address, such as “O Friend”, “O Son of Man”, “O Fleeting Shadow”, “O My Servant”, “O Moving Form of Dust”, among others, each framing a particular relation between the soul and the divine.Īmong the most striking is the following: This is that which hath descended from the Realm of Glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. They were written in 1857–58 and were the fruit of Bahá’u’lláh’s meditations while walking the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad. The Hidden Words are among the works which Bahá’u’lláh wrote in the voice of the “truth-seeker and mystic”.

They are at once of crystalline clarity and yet impenetrable in their allusion to a spiritual reality beyond our day-to-day experience. They are written in brief “gem-like utterances”, 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian.

Among the most well-known works of Bahá’u’lláh are the Hidden Words.

The Hidden Words by Bahá'u'lláh