Baha'i Prayers:

[BruceDLimber]

Originally Posted by Popeyesays

It is amongst the Tablets to the Kings. I am on a laptop for awhile and I can't download Ocean to it, so someone with Ocean on their computer could do a search using some key words and find the original citation.

Hi, Scott!

For the record, you can reach Ocean online at:

www.bahairesearch.com

Best, :-)

Bruce

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by BruceDLimber

ttp://www.bahairesearch.com"]www.bahairesearch.com[/URL]

Hi Bruce!

I was going to say it didn't work on a Mac but it turns out it's just Safari - Firefox on the Mac works!

Except I can't bring up a phrase like "Cloud of Unknowning" - can on several other sites like True Seeker (but doesn't have as much stuff); Baha'i-Reference which because it's associated with the World Center will tend to have the most current version of everything official; and Baha'i-Library which will have just about everything else available.

All come up pretty empty on the phrase. Almost all the hits at bahai-library refer to the tablet I linked. Except for one slight elaboration

"Izutsu's translation, "abysmal darkness"( Sufism and Taoism, pp.119) and Austin's "The Dark Cloud" (Bezels, p.134) do not convey the diaphanous quality which al-Káshání emphasizes, suggesting a thin cloud at such a high altitude that it seems to appear and disappear from one moment to the next. A recent discussion of the use of the term in Bábí and Bahá'í literature is Lambden, "The Cloud of Unknowing"." part of Footnote 318

As a side note the only search form I really would like to have that MARS used to do - not sure about Ocean cause there is no Mac version and I've gone pretty Mac since MARS - is unusual searches like skip every other work or every dozen letters.... esoteric stuff like that.

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by smkolins

"Cloud of Unknowning"

I noticed my typo, repeated the search and still found nothing except my post - I also tried editing the page to fix the typo but it just kept spinning.....

[arthra]

I just thought your description of the quest reminded me of a book "The Cloud of Unknowing" by a Christian mystic:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.html

- Art

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by arthra

I just thought your description of the quest reminded me of a book "The Cloud of Unknowing" by a Christian mystic:

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/anonymous2/cloud.html

- Art

Interesting! That a treatise from 500AD... in Spain? should connect so well with a theme picked up in Sufi/Muslim lit. and then by Baha'u'llah Himself in one of His earliest works!

Very interesting.... Add that to my reading list....

Anyone else pulled some angles and tangents out of Seven Valley themes? Perhaps we could make it it's own thread?

[BruceDLimber]

Originally Posted by smkolins

Anyone else pulled some angles and tangents out of Seven Valley themes?

Hi!

Speaking of angles and tangents, this isn't Seven Valleys (and indeed isn't even the same author), but given the sort of metaphors the Bab likes to use, I've always thought that if He weren't a Divine Messenger He should have been a geographer! :-)

Best,

Bruce

[arthra]

O PEOPLES of the earth! By the righteousness of God, this Book hath, through the potency of the sovereign Truth, pervaded the earth and the heaven with the mighty Word 60 of God concerning Him Who is the supreme Testimony, the Expected Qá’im, and verily God hath knowledge of all things. This divinely-inspired Book hath firmly established His Proof for all those who are in the East and in the West, hence beware lest ye utter aught but the truth regarding God, for I swear by your Lord that this supreme Proof of Mine beareth witness unto all things…
O servants of God! Be ye patient, for, God grant, He Who is the sovereign Truth will suddenly appear amongst you, invested with the power of the mighty Word, and ye shall then be confounded by the Truth itself, and ye shall have no power to ward it off; and verily I am a witness over all mankind.

From "Selections fron the Writings of the Bab" Chapter LIX.

[arthra]

Lauded be Thy Name, O Lord our God! Thou art in truth the Knower of things unseen. Ordain for us such good as Thine all-embracing knowledge can measure. Thou art the sovereign Lord, the Almighty, the Best-Beloved.

All praise be unto Thee, O Lord! We shall seek Thy grace on the appointed Day and shall put our whole reliance in Thee, Who art our Lord. Glorified art Thou, O God! Grant us that which is good and seemly that we may be able to dispense with everything but Thee. Verily, Thou art the Lord of all worlds.

O God! Recompense those who endure patiently in Thy days, and strengthen their hearts to walk undeviatingly in the path of Truth. Grant then, O Lord, such goodly gifts as would enable them to gain admittance into Thy blissful Paradise. Exalted art Thou, O Lord God. Let Thy heavenly blessings descend upon homes whose inmates have believed in Thee. Verily, unsurpassed art Thou in sending down divine blessings. Send forth, O God, such hosts as would render Thy faithful servants victorious. Thou dost fashion the created things through the power of Thy decree as Thou pleasest. Thou art in truth the Sovereign, the Creator, the All-Wise.

Say: God is indeed the Maker of all things. He giveth sustenance in plenty to whomsoever He willeth. He is the Creator, the Source of all beings, the Fashioner, the Almighty, the Maker, the All-Wise. He is the Bearer of the most excellent titles throughout the heavens and the earth and whatever lieth between them. All do His bidding, and all the dwellers of earth and heaven celebrate His praise, and unto Him shall all return.

—The Báb

[arthra]

"The souls who hearkened to these teachings among the various oriental nations immediately renounced the spirit of strife and hostility and began to associate in goodwill and fellowship. From extremes of animosity they attained the acme of love and brotherhood. They had been warring and quarreling; now they became loving and lived together in complete unity and agreement. Among them today you will find no religious, political or patriotic prejudice; they are friendly, loving and associate in the greatest happiness. They have no part in the war and strife which take place in the East; their attitude toward all men is that of goodwill and loving-kindness. A standard of universal peace has been unfurled among them. The light of guidance has flooded their souls. It is light upon light, love upon love. This is the education and training of Bahá’u’lláh. He has led these souls to this standard and given them teachings which ensure eternal illumination. Anyone who becomes well versed in His teachings will say, “Verily, I declare that these words constitute the illumination of humanity, that this is the everlasting honor, that these are heavenly precepts and the cause of never-ending life among men.”

- Abdul-Baha

[arthra]

The real brotherhood is spiritual, for physical brotherhood is subject to separation. The wars of the outer world of existence separate humankind, but in the eternal world of spiritual brotherhood separation is unknown. Material or physical association is based upon earthly interests, but divine fellowship owes its existence to the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Spiritual brotherhood may be likened to the light, while the souls of humankind are as lanterns. The incandescent lamps here are many, yet the light is one.

~ Abdul-Baha

[arthra]

Blessed is the spot, and the house,
and the place, and the city,
and the heart, and the mountain,
and the refuge, and the cave,
and the valley, and the land,
and the sea, and the island,
and the meadow where mention
of God hath been made,
and His praise glorified.

—Bahá’u’lláh

[arthra]

Establishing Peace:

We pray God—exalted be His glory—and cherish the hope that He may graciously assist the manifestations of affluence and power and the daysprings of sovereignty and glory, the kings of the earth—may God aid them through His strengthening grace—to establish the Lesser Peace. This, indeed, is the greatest means for ensuring the tranquillity of the nations. It is incumbent upon the Sovereigns of the world—may God assist them—unitedly to hold fast unto this Peace, which is the chief instrument for the protection of all mankind. It is Our hope that they will arise to achieve what will be conducive to the well-being of man. It is their duty to convene an all-inclusive assembly, which either they themselves or their ministers will attend, and to enforce whatever measures are required to establish unity and concord amongst men. They must put away the weapons of war, and turn to the instruments of universal reconstruction. Should one king rise up against another, all the other kings must arise to deter him. Arms and armaments will, then, be no more needed beyond that which is necessary to ensure the internal security of their respective countries. If they attain unto this all-surpassing blessing, the people of each nation will pursue, with tranquillity and contentment, their own occupations, and the groanings and lamentations of most men would be silenced.

~ Baha'u'llah

[Mick]

Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that..."

Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen Ones and Thy Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.

I beseech Thee, O my Lord, by the name of Him round Whom circleth in adoration the kingdom of Thy names, that Thou wilt graciously assist them that are dear to Thee to glorify Thy word among Thy servants, and to shed abroad Thy praise amidst Thy creatures, so that the ecstasies of Thy revelation may fill the souls of all the dwellers of Thine earth.

Since Thou hast guided them, O my Lord, unto the living waters of Thy grace, grant, by Thy bounty, that they may not be kept back from Thee; and since Thou hast summoned them to the habitation of Thy throne, drive them not out from Thy presence, through Thy loving-kindness. Send down upon them what shall wholly detach them from aught else except Thee, and make them able to soar in the atmosphere of Thy nearness, in such wise that neither the ascendancy of the oppressor nor the suggestions of them that have disbelieved in Thy most august and most mighty Self shall be capable of keeping them back from Thee.

- Bahá'u'lláh

[arthra]

“O God! This is a Branch which has sprung forth from the Tree of Oneness, the Sadrat of Thy Unity. O God! Thou seest Him looking to Thee and clinging to the rope of Thy Bounties. Protect Him in the shelter of Thy Mercy! Thou knowest, O My God, that I do not desire Him save for what Thou dost desire Him, and I do not choose Him save for what Thou dost choose Him. Assist Him with the Hosts of Thy earth and Thy heaven. Assist, O God, those who assist Him, and choose those who choose Him. Confirm those who draw nigh unto Him, and debase those who deny Him and do not want Him. O God, Thou seest that at this moment of Revelation My Pen shakes and My Being trembles. I ask Thee, By My impatience in Thy Love and My willingness to proclaim Thy Cause, to ordain for Him and His friends, what Thou hast ordained for Thy Messengers and the faithful ones of Thy Revelation. Verily, Thou art the powerful and the omnipotent! By God, O people, My eye weeps, and the eye of ‘Alí weeps in the Supreme Concourse; My heart throbs, and the heart of Muhammad throbs in the Courts of Abhá; My heart and the hearts of the Prophets lament with the people of knowledge, if you are those who are possessed of sight. My sorrow is not for Myself, but for the One Who comes after Me in the Shadow of the Cause with a clear, undeniable reign; because these will not acknowledge His Manifestation and will deny His evidences and verses, will dispute His power, will antagonize Him and will be traitors to His Cause—as they did to His Person in those days—and ye were witnesses.”

~ Abdul-Baha

[arthra]

O PEOPLE of Persia! Are ye not satisfied with this glorious honour which the supreme Remembrance of God hath conferred upon you? Verily ye have been especially favoured by God through this mighty Word. Then do not withdraw from the sanctuary of His presence, for, by the righteousness of the One true God, He is none other than the sovereign Truth from God; He is the most exalted One and the Source of all wisdom, as decreed in the Mother Book…

O peoples of the earth! Cleave ye tenaciously to the Cord of the All-Highest God, which is but this Arabian Youth, Our Remembrance—He Who standeth concealed at the point of ice amidst the ocean of fire.

~ The Bab "Selections from the Writings of the Bab" Chapter XXIX.