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Mystic Gems – the Hidden Words of Bahá’u’lláh
Among the most well-known works of Bahá’u’lláh are the Hidden Words. They are written in brief “gem-like utterances”,[1] 71 in Arabic and 82 in Persian. They are at once of crystalline clarity and yet impenetrable in their allusion to a spiritual reality beyond our day-to-day experience. The Hidden Words are among the works which Bahá’u’lláh wrote in the voice of the “truth-seeker and mystic”.[2] 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. Bahá’u’lláh introduces them as follows: This is that which hath descended from the Realm of Glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the…
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Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings – An Introduction
At one time We spoke in the language of the lawgiver; at another in that of the truth-seeker and the mystic…. [1] This phrase was written by Bahá’u’lláh almost at the end of his life, in his own summation of his life’s work. If you are new to Bahá’u’lláh’s writings, it might not be obvious where to begin. Indeed, it is likely that where to begin is different for each individual. The aim of this article is to provide a broad description of some of Bahá’u’lláh’s key works which span a forty-year period from the 1850s to the 1890s. Also provided below are some online resources, including ebooks. If you haven’t read Bahá’u’lláh’s writings before, perhaps one…
