The rose, before it blooms,
dwells in the realm of Násút.
It has a particular being:
this exact rose has not been seen before
and never will be seen again.
Bounded by a single lifetime --
alive for but a moment --
it is mortal, fleeting,
and is then gone.
When it blooms, it takes on perfections:
beauty, fullness, fragrance and delicacy.
These qualities are not to be found
in the petals, stems and leaves.
Maturity has made it ready
for the descent of ethereal qualities --
appearing within it, but not abiding.
Admiring the rose, we see
its beauty, its angelic being,
shining from the realm of Malakút.
But these qualities have always existed,
and the Perfect Rose has always been.
This Rose has been seen before
and will be seen again.
Unbounded by time,
it is founded in the world of Jabarút:
immortal, and cannot die.
If we apply these terms to the
Manifestations of God, we see
first Their humanity and mission,
then Their glory and radiant being,
and finally, Their sovereignty and perfect unity.
In the Revelation of God, we see
first a prescription for every illness,
then the goal of every hope and desire,
and finally, The Mother Book,
the Source of all created things.This poem is meant as a reflection on the following, from the Seven Valleys:
In this Valley, the wayfarer leaveth behind him the stages of the “oneness of Being and Manifestation” and reacheth a oneness that is sanctified above these two stations.
Here I’m reading “Being” as divine qualities that shine from the heavenly realm of Malakút – the beauty of the rose – and “Manifestation” as their appearance in the medium of earthly things, in the realm of Násút – the particular rose of today’s season.
Seeing the oneness of these two, of earth and heaven, is to see how the material serves the spiritual in revealing divine attributes, and the spiritual fulfills the material as its “heaven”; that is, the heaven of every earthly thing is for it to become a place of perfections, and the appearence of angelic qualities.
Beyond this is the realm of Jabarút, or that all of these divine qualities emanate from a single Source, and are united with It, such that one sees only this same Reality, appearing in differing degrees according to the refinement of objects. The mortal heart at first reveals few qualities; by education and purification, it begins to reflect divine qualities; and finally, through understanding, it recognizes the Origin of these qualities, and reaches a stage where, looking upon the mirror of its own heart, it sees that Sun reflected – a Sun which is the source of all brightness, wherever it may appear.
Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee.
… within thee have I placed the essence of My light.
Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
Abide then in thy love for Me, that thou mayest find Me in the realm of glory.
In this station of Jabarút, the individual believer fades away, to partake of the pre-existent spirit of faith, just as every rose is subsumed in the Ideal Rose, and candles extinguish their light before the Sun, and the drop sacrifices its form to the Ocean. This station is an immortal sovereignty, but only visible if the heart is purified from all worldly attachments:
O Son of Spirit! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.
o Son of My Handmaid! Didst thou behold immortal sovereignty, thou wouldst strive to pass from this fleeting world. But to conceal the one from thee and to reveal the other is a mystery which none but the pure in heart can comprehend.
In this station, the pre-existent covenant is recalled, just as the rose finally recognizes in itself an incarnation of the Ideal, and gives up its identity to assume that role. It then acquires the knowledge known to that Rose, and recalls what was told to it before creation:
O My Friends! 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? Awe-struck 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. 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.
“Would you but sanctify your souls”: Like the children in the Chronicles of Narnia, our heart is a gateway to an ancient dominion, an immortal City, the progenitor of every lover, and the motivation behind every sigh.