THE FOUR VALLEYS, AN OVERVIEW

The Word of God may be likened unto a sapling,

 whose roots have been implanted in the hearts of men. 

It is incumbent upon you to foster its growth...  

so that its root may become firmly fixed

 and its branches may spread out as high as the heavens and beyond.

- Baha'u'llah -

Dear Ones,

This article introduces Baha'u'llah's Four Valleys, recalling the dramatic ending of the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness (from the Seven Valleys). It explores the four stages of spiritual travelers and their quest toward the Divine. Necessarily, this is a very limited effort to decipher one of Baha'u'llah's most mystical texts: the Four Valleys, His peerless depiction of the last four stages of the soul's journey to God after those He described and named in the Seven Valleys. In this, Baha'u'llah invites us to transcend the conventional perception that the pinnacle of perfection lies in achieving the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness. Listen:

"They who soar in the heaven of singleness and reach to the sea of the Absolute, reckon this city—which is the station of life in God—as the furthermost state of mystic knowers, and the farthest homeland of the lovers. But to this evanescent One of the mystic ocean, this station is the first gate of the heart’s citadel, that is, man’s first entrance to the city of the heart; and the heart is endowed with four stages, which would be recounted should a kindred soul be found."

Can we not see in this a CLAIRION CALL to pursue our growth to the heights our soul is enabled to ascend when we genuinely embrace His Ways—yet which are seldom attained for lack of dedication or understanding?

"It is for thee to direct thyself towrds the Ultimate Goal, and the Supreme End, and the Most Sublime Pinnacle..."

Since that essay is lengthy and quite complex, please ensure you first read Baha'u'llah's description of each Valley before turning to our text. This will make it more intelligible and allow a host of insights to flood your consciousness, enriching my very limited observations on this intricate subject.

Let's get started.


INTRODUCTION TO THE FOUR VALLEYS

Assuming the reader is already familiar with Baha'u'llah's Seven Valleys preceding His Four Valleys, let us nevertheless recall the dramatic ending of the Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness, as it concerns every devoted believer and aptly depicts the caliber of the travelers whose lofty flights we will soon witness:

"O My friend! Many a hound pursueth this gazelle of the desert of oneness; many a talon claweth at this thrush of the eternal garden. Pitiless ravens do lie in wait for this bird of the heavens of God, and the huntsman of envy stalketh this deer of the meadow of love."

As history amply demonstrates, and as Baha'u'llah confirms here, the stings of misunderstanding, malice, or jealousy are inevitably directed at God's beloveds for what they have dared to offer Him so sacrificially in completing this last of the Seven Valleys. These stings are perceptible to mystic companions who also see with the eye of God and who are called to shield these fiery hearts from undeserved misfortune or even death—though not infrequently in vain...

"O Shaykh! Make of thine effort a glass, perchance it may shelter this flame from the contrary winds; albeit this light doth long to be kindled in the lamp of the Lord, and to shine in the globe of the spirit. For the head raised up in the love of God will certainly fall by the sword, and the life that is kindled with longing will surely be sacrificed, and the heart which remembereth the Loved One will surely brim with blood. How well is it said:

Live free of love, for its very peace is anguish;
Its beginning is pain, its end is death.

Peace be upon him who followeth the Right Path!"

With this point made, we can move on to the subject at hand: THE FOUR VALLEYS, where Baha'u'llah's introduction carries special significance. It can be seen as a recommendation to sustain a communion of saints as a helping hand in the fierce struggle ahead.

"I am wondering why the tie of love was so abruptly severed, and the firm covenant of friendship broken."

Drawing from the Qur’an, Baha’u’llah then reminds His addressee:

"Have they not told thee that faithfulness is a duty on those who follow the mystic way, that it is the true guide to His Holy Presence? “But as for those who say, ‘Our Lord is God,’ and who go straight to Him, the angels shall descend to them….”

Now comes the moment when Baha'u'llah presents His next treatise to His Sufi interlocutor, a mystic and a scholar:

"O My eminent friend! Those who progress in mystic wayfaring are of four kinds. I shall describe them in brief, that the grades and qualities of each kind may become plain to thee."

The reference to four “kinds” of travelers—after He had previously spoken of four “stages”—may well suggest that each Valley requires a particular attitude or mode of behavior. The term “stages,” in contrast, implies that once this is permanently acquired, the next stage naturally opens. Therefore, from my perspective, these Four Valleys do not necessarily form a single, irreversible linear sequence once the citadel of the heart has been entered. Rather, they may be experienced as passing or more stationary modes of being, activated according to the divine call of the moment, the soul’s particular needs, and the forms of service, love, or contemplation to which it is summoned—rigorous purification in one instance, active and attractive love in another, pure guidance in yet another. This is, of course, one possible reading among others; it is not presented as the only valid interpretation, and each seeker remains free to discern what resonates through their own inner experience.

THE FIRST VALLEY

In this first stage, "the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One (maqṣúd)."

But are these spiritual travelers truly primed for this sanctuary of sanctuaries?

They will at some point, the guarantee being that "Although at the beginning, this plane is the realm of conflict, yet it endeth in attainment to the throne of splendor."

The conflict alluded to is well described at the end of The Valley of True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness. It concerns the remains of the "four birds of prey" which must be eradicated thoroughly:

“Free thyself from that which thy passion desireth; then advance unto thy Lord.”

“Purify thyself from all else save Him, that thou mayest surrender thy life in His love.”

“Draw back from the threshold of the True One if thou still possessest earthly attributes.” '

“Take off from thyself the wrappings of limitations, that thou mayest come to know what thou hast not known of the states of Sanctity.”

Passion... Attachment... Earthly attributes... Limitations...

Or else said:

Káf... Kuffi... Jím... and Shín...

Vestiges to obliterate one by one at this advanced stage of purification. To that end, let us review some of the helpful hints provided in previous Valleys or in other Writings of Baha'u'llah.

Passion...

"...in consequence of the efforts which every man may consciously exert and as a result of the exertion of his own spiritual faculties, this mirror can be so cleansed from the dross of earthly defilements and purged from satanic fancies as to be able to draw nigh unto the meads of eternal holiness and attain the courts of everlasting fellowship."

In this line of thought:

"He said: « O Son, if thou art able not to sleep, then thou art able not to die. And if thou art able not to waken after sleep, then thou shalt be able not to rise after death.» "

In other words, better not to sleep than to abandon the Path in thy dreams, for thy soul must attain this degree of perfection in order to live eternally.

Attachment...

"...were He to decree the sea to be land, or to pronounce earth to be heaven, or that the former lieth above the latter or below it, or to ordain any change or transformation, for He, verily, is aware of the celestial mysteries, the unseen subtleties, and the ordinances of God."

Have absolute faith in God, even were He to overturn all known truth.

Earthly attributes...

"O friend, the heart is the dwelling of eternal mysteries, make it not the home of fleeting fancies; waste not the treasure of thy precious life in employment with this swiftly passing world. Thou comest from the world of holiness—bind not thine heart to the earth; thou art a dweller in the court of nearness—choose not the homeland of the dust."

No longer look to the Earth and its riches, but to Heaven, where an invaluable treasure awaits thee.

Limitations...

"...draw thee from the realms of contradiction unto the retreats of oneness, and to lead thee to the sacred streams of His Law. Perchance thou mayest quaff therefrom, repose therein, quench thy thirst, refresh thy soul..."

Leave this world of limitations to attach thyself to the world of perfections, where thy soul will find rest at last, thanks to His laws.

What is intended here is obviously complete obedience to the laws revealed by Baha'u'llah in His Kitab-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book (the Book of His laws), if one is to further one's growth. As we will see, these laws serve as the guiding thread of the coming Four Valleys and are their viaticum: complete submission to God's commands.

"In all these journeys the traveler must stray not the breadth of a hair from the “Law,” for this is indeed the secret of the “Path” and the fruit of the Tree of “Truth”; and in all these stages he must cling to the robe of obedience to the commandments, and hold fast to the cord of shunning all forbidden things, that he may be nourished from the cup of the Law and informed of the mysteries of Truth."

"Likewise is it written, “And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves. These are the wicked doers.” "

With this point made for all the Valleys to come, Baha'u'llah addresses now the problem of self—the lower one and the divine one.

"If the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One (maqṣúd), this station appertaineth to the self—but that self which is “The Self of God standing within Him with laws.” "

"One must, then, read the book of his own self, rather than some treatise on rhetoric. Wherefore He hath said, “Read thy Book: There needeth none but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.” "

"The death of self is needed here, not rhetoric: Be nothing, then, and walk upon the waves."

In other words, the believer must now uncover his deepest reality, yet he faces a problem of duality:  how to look inside oneself without the veil of the ego? The answer is that to which it is answered that self-knowledge must be apprehended spiritually rather than intellectually (with the Spirit, not the mind), for in the first lies the liberation and in the second the trap of the ego:

"The knower straightway flung himself into the waves, but the grammarian stood lost in his reasonings..."

That is to say: silence the mind and the spirit will speak—as is often the case during meditation and dreaming, where the lessons of the spirit, rather than human reasoning, help to perceive the remaining frailties and obscurities.

"This station hath many signs, unnumbered proofs. Hence it is said: “Hereafter We will show them Our signs in the regions of the earth, and in themselves..." ”

Once this conflict between logic and intuition has been resolved through obedience to the daily law of reading, prayer, and meditation on the revealed Word, the intense preparations for the celestial wedding (union with the Manifestation of God) begin. An immaculate spirit is essential in the rarefied atmosphere of the highest Valleys. Depending on the degree of purification still to be accomplished—and on whether personal work is resolutely accepted or not—this delightful place may at times resemble hell itself. Here, suspended between heaven and earth, the eagle still struggles to reach its goal, not always knowing which realm to fly toward: the easier one behind or the one ahead—a dichotomy whose results and torments, when unresolved, are vividly described elsewhere by Abdu'l-Baha:

"O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves—a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of My loving-kindness and bounty moving within you. Suffer not your idle fancies, your evil passions, your insincerity and blindness of heart to dim the luster, or stain the sanctity, of so lofty a station. 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. Wherefore, O My servants, defile not your wings with the clay of waywardness and vain desires, and suffer them not to be stained with the dust of envy and hate, that ye may not be hindered from soaring in the heavens of My divine knowledge." 

While we are aware that it is impossible to fully grasp the profound significance of this Valley and its requirements, let us make a humble attempt. We do so by remembering the following statement by Shoghi Effendi, which also helps to explain the superpowers available to the passionate and persevering lover once the embrace of the First Valley is secured:

"For the core of religious faith, is that mystical feeling which unites man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer," the Guardian adding that the chief goal of the Bahai Faith is "the development of the individual and society through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers."

THE SECOND VALLEY

"If the wayfarer’s goal be the dwelling of the Praiseworthy One (Maḥmúd), this is the station of primal reason which is known as the Prophet and the Most Great Pillar. Here reason signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created things—nor doth it refer to every feeble brain..."

"In this realm, to search after knowledge is irrelevant, for He hath said concerning the guidance of travelers on this plane, “Fear God, and God will instruct thee.”

" “Wouldst thou that the mind should not entrap thee?
Teach it the science of the love of God!” " 

"Wherefore, a man should make ready his heart that it be worthy of the descent of heavenly grace, and that the bounteous Cup-Bearer may give him to drink of the wine of bestowal from the merciful vessel."

In this lofty Valley, although the gifts of divine guidance and knowledge are given freely to God’s ardent lovers, the quality of their love is at times challenged to verify whether any dust remains:

"On this plane, the traveler meeteth with many a trial and reverse. Now is he lifted up to heaven, now is he cast into the depths. As it hath been said: “Now Thou drawest me to the summit of glory, again Thou castest me into the lowest abyss.” " 

This complete severance from the promptings of self and passion—often witnessed in the dreamworld—certainly calls for the “fear of God” and the swift vehicle of prayer for detachment, so as to become such “Men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of God….”
After this process of trial and testing by the divine Assayer, a delicious fruit from the Tree of Life is harvested, and the bird can now soar upward.

"This station conferreth the true standard of knowledge, and freeth man from tests."

" And now do I say, “Verily we are from God, and to Him shall we return.” "

Should he fail and remain entrapped in the web of the lower self, the following may well apply:

" “Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron.” "


THE THIRD VALLEY

The introduction to the Third Valley begins as follows: 

"If the loving seekers wish to live within the precincts of the Attracting One (Majdhúb), no soul may dwell on this Kingly Throne save the beauty of love. This realm is not to be pictured in words."

Love shunneth this world and that world too,
In him are lunacies seventy-and-two.
The minstrel of love harpeth this lay:
Servitude enslaveth, kingship doth betray.
This plane requireth pure affection and the bright stream of fellowship. In telling of these companions of the Cave He saith: “They speak not till He hath spoken; and they do His bidding.”

From the outset, do not the words "love" and "Attracting One" suggest a solution to the enigma—that the magnet of this Valley is fervent love? If so, what kind of love?

"to them beauty’s bower differeth not from the field of a battle fought in the cause of the Beloved"

"The denizens of this plane speak no words—but they gallop their chargers."

As a possible explanation, I offer another excerpt from the Master's wisdom:

"Today the greatest of all divine bestowals is teaching the Cause of God for it is fraught with confirmations. Every teacher is confirmed and is favored at the Divine Threshold. In the estimation of the Ideal King, the army which is in the front of the battlefield is encircled with the glances of His mercifulness and in the sight of the Divine Farmer, the sower of the seed is accepted and favored."

If this is the case, the question arises: under what conditions will this teaching really succeed?

"On this plane, neither the reign of reason is sufficient nor the authority of self."

"In this realm, instruction is assuredly of no avail.
The lover’s teacher is the Loved One’s beauty,
His face their lesson and their only book."

Have we not already received our answer? It is strict obedience to God’s guidance rather than complacency toward the ego—guidance that comes in many forms, sometimes subtle, sometimes direct. Perhaps this “supplication to God, the Exalted, the Glorified” is itself the magnet that draws the soul to this exalted state, provided we do not neglect the tool of contemplation and the affection that must bind the companions together, as we have already seen.

"O Lord! O Thou Whose bounty granteth wishes!
I stand before Thee, all save Thee forgetting.
Grant that the mote of knowledge in my spirit
Escape desire and the lowly clay;
Grant that Thine ancient gift, this drop of wisdom,
Merge with Thy mighty sea."

The surest way to find out is certainly to become such a lover. Would a meditation on this other statement by the Master serve as an incentive?

"...when the soul hath unfolded the wings of the spirit, been attracted by the Joy of God, hath soared to the most exalted horizon, hath sought the most glorious Companion, it doth ascend to the divine station of Jabarut... It becomes aware of the secrets of hidden and invisible realities which consumes in envy the hearts of the mystic knowers."

It must be noted that Jabarut is the third world of God  attainable to the human soul after Nasut and Malakut—an enviable station.

In my opinion, Baha'u'llah beautifully summarized the results of this entire SPIRITUALIZING PROCESS in the following sentence.

"Great indeed is the blessedness of him who attaineth Thy presence, drinketh the wine of reunion proffered by the hand of Thy bounteousness, inhaleth the fragrance of Thy signs, unlooseth his tongue in celebrating Thy praise, soareth high in Thy heavens, is carried away by the sweetness of Thy Voice, gaineth admittance into the most exalted Paradise and attaineth the station of revelation and vision before the throne of Thy majesty."

Let us see.


THE FOURTH VALLEY

"If the mystic knowers be of those who have reached to the beauty of the Beloved One (Mahbúb), this station is the apex of consciousness and the secret of divine guidance. This is the center of the mystery: “He doth what He willeth, ordaineth what He pleaseth.”"

At last divested of any earthly attributes, the attracted lover of the Third Valley is now primed to be entrusted with the divine might and power of the highest paradise, without ever abusing it. Did He not say elsewhere that "The station of absolute self-surrender... will ever remain exalted above every other station"? To be that rich in God, one must become absolutely selfless.

"God hath a people beneath the dome of glory, whom He hideth" in the clothing of radiant poverty.”

In this “realm of Absolute Command,” the land “of mercy, not the realm of distinction,” where one becomes “free of all the attributes of earth” and any desire other than Him “becometh an obstruction and a barrier, and all else save Him is but a curtain,” one attains “the station of God’s immutable decree,” where one “shalt say ‘Be,’ and it shall be.”

Now receiving instructions directly from the Source and humbly obeying without hesitation or fear, this soul of the realm of Absolute Command sacrifices all for the glory of God.

"“ O My Servant! Obey Me and I shall make thee like unto Myself. I say ‘Be,’ and it is, and thou shalt say ‘Be,’ and it shall be.” "
 
"“Love is a light that never dwelleth in a heart possessed by fear.” "
 
"... agony’s arrows He hurls" while He "raineth grace like pearls."

Would not Abdu'l-Baha give us the explanation of these superhuman powers in the following passage, when speaking of the human spirit assisted by the Holy Spirit?

"...God has opened the doors of ideal virtues and attainments before the face of man. He has created in his being the mysteries of the divine Kingdom. He has bestowed upon him the power of intellect so that through the attribute of reason, when fortified by the Holy Spirit, he may penetrate and discover ideal realities and become informed of the mysteries of the world of significances. As this power to penetrate the ideal knowledges is superhuman, supernatural, man becomes the collective center of spiritual as well as material forces so that the divine spirit may manifest itself in his being, the effulgences of the Kingdom shine within the sanctuary of his heart, the signs of the attributes and perfections of God reveal themselves in a newness of life, the everlasting glory and eternal existence be attained, the knowledge of God illumine, and the mysteries of the realm of might be unsealed."

But we, who remain sons of man, are then reminded of our insignificance and our earthly attributes. Baha'u'llah declared: "Never the covetous heart shall come to the stealer of hearts, Never the shrouded soul unite with beauty’s rose." 

Thus He reminds us of our unfinished duty to utter no words, to gallop our chargers, and to develop the virtue of patience, since "THESE JOURNEYS have no visible end in the world of time," while cautioning these sacred birds not to endanger their hard-won triumph:

Howbeit some are led astray even in this station; for no sooner do they inhale the fragrance of reunion, and hearken unto the voice of the doves of heavenly grace, than they imagine themselves to have attained perfection and wander lost in the wilderness of self-conceit, thus depriving themselves of the soft-flowing stream of divine providence and the ethereal cup of heavenly delight. 

Therefore, let us all pray for our ultimate deliverance—if ever granted the grace to enter the citadel of the heart and to move freely, according to the divine call of each moment, through these Four Valleys.

May we consider that these may not be fixed stages to be conquered once and for all, but living modalities of being, recurring in spiral fashion through the infinite worlds of God, each passage deeper, subtler, and closer to the Beloved— sometimes as servants in absolute obedience, sometimes as lovers drawn irresistibly, sometimes as warriors on the battlefield of mutual love, and sometimes as souls guided directly by the Holy Spirit in the realm of Absolute Command.

In the end, whether we find ourselves in rigorous purification or in the pure guidance of the Source, may we remain utterly poor in ourselves so that God may be rich in us, and may we offer every breath, every silence, and every act of service for His glory alone.

O Divine Beloved, assist us to traverse these Valleys with a heart detached and a spirit aflame, until we reach the station where “Be” is uttered and it is, and beyond even that, into the unknowable depths of Thy Singleness.

Be wonderfully blessed!

Loesha

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