Read online at https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/call-divine-beloved/4#893325872
Reviews/Discussion[edit]
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050816101728/http://johnwiegley.com:80/rhapsody.on.seven.valleys.html (archive of dead link http://www.newartisans.com/johnw/rhapsody.on.seven.valleys.html)
- https://web.archive.org/web/20050516221943/http://johnwiegley.com:80/questions.on.seven.valleys.html (archive of dead link http://www.newartisans.com/johnw/questions.on.seven.valleys.html)
- https://bahai-library.com/townshend_seven_valleys_meditation
Cross-reference (to "Seven Cities") with Gems of Divine Mysteries[edit]
- https://bahai-library.com/compilation_seven_cities_gems
- https://bahai-library.com/mazandarani_seven_cities_journey
Seven Valley Notes[edit]
- https://bahai-library.com/resources/tablets-notes/haft-vadi/notes.html
- https://bahai-library.com/resources/tablets-notes/haft-vadi/outline.html (includes a brief outline)
- http://wilmetteinstitute.org/projects/sevenvalleys.html (Knowledge map)
- http://wilmetteinstitute.org/projects/sufis.html (message to the Súfís)
Seven Valleys a guide for human conduct[edit]
"It is my hope that you may consider this matter, that you may search out your own imperfections and not think of the imperfections of anybody else. Strive with all your power to be free from imperfections. Heedless souls are always seeking faults in others. What can the hypocrite know of others' faults when he is blind to his own? This is the meaning of the words in the Seven Valleys. It is a guide for human conduct. As long as a man does not find his own faults, he can never become perfect. Nothing is more fruitful for man than the knowledge of his own shortcomings. The Blessed Perfection says, "I wonder at the man who does not find his own imperfections.""
Terminology[edit]
Pre-existence[edit]
"Regarding your question concerning the passage in 'Seven Valleys' referring to pre-existence. This in no way presupposes the existence of the individual soul before conception. The term has not been absolutely accurately translated, and what is meant is that man's soul is the repository of the ancient, Divine mysteries of God."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to an individual believer, January 5, 1948, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1699)
By section[edit]
Valley of Love[edit]
"Reason" that is consumed by love (p. 8) is not for all reason but that which prevents one from sacrifice[edit]
"Question—Suppose you reason out something, and your reason tells you it is true? In the "Seven Valleys" it is said that when the "fire of Love becomes ablaze, the harvest of reason is consumed." How is this?
"Abdul-Baha—That is not to be taken literally. It has an inner meaning. It refers to ordinary reasoning. For example: a soul in Persia who became a believer endangered his very life. Now, what would the ordinary intellect say? Preserve your life! Preserve your property! But he who is set on fire with God's love will forego all possessions. On such occasions his actions appear insane; but he is in a sacrificial state. Honor, glory, everything pertaining to himself, is sacrificed. BAHA'O'LLAH means that the harvest of reason becomes consumed by the fire of faith. In such a state a man appears insane. Those who see him under such circumstances would say: "Here is a man who has good position, who has honor, affluence, influence,—a man of competence, and he has sacrificed all of these in the path of some mysterious thing!""
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 3, issue 10, pp. 8-9)
Seventy-two "lunacies" (p. 10) refers to types of sacrifice[edit]
Question—What are the "seventy-two degrees of insanity" spoken of by BAHA'O'LLAH?
Answer—One is to forfeit possessions, to forfeit estates. One is to forego name, honor, fame. One is to forsake relatives, station. Et cetera [ended Abdul-Baha, laughing], et cetera, et cetera. Each one of these is a distinct insanity!
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Star of the West, vol. 3, issue 10, pp. 9)
True Poverty and Absolute Nothingness[edit]
[edit]
"The word "Guardian" in the Seven Valleys has no connection with the Bahá'í Guardianship."
- (8 January 1949, Unfolding Destiny, p. 453)
