''The Four Valleys'' ( fa, ''Chahár Vádí'') is a book written in
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
by
Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the
Baháʼí Faith
The Baháʼí Faith is a religion founded in the 19th century that teaches the essential worth of all religions and the unity of all people. Established by Baháʼu'lláh in the 19th century, it initially developed in Iran and parts of the ...
. The ''
Seven Valleys
''The Seven Valleys'' ( fa, ''Haft-Vádí'') is a book written in Persian language, Persian by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. ''The Seven Valleys'' follows the structure of the Persian poem ''The Conference of the Birds''.
...
'' ( fa, ''Haft-Vádí'') was also written by Baháʼu'lláh, and the two books are usually published together under the title ''The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys''. The two books are distinctly different and have no direct relation.
In February 2019 an authorized translation of both titles was published by the
Baháʼí World Centre
The Baháʼí World Centre is the name given to the spiritual and administrative centre of the Baháʼí Faith, representing sites in or near the cities of Acre and Haifa, Israel.
Much of the international governance and coordination of th ...
in the collection ''The Call of the Divine Beloved''.
Background
The ''Four Valleys'' was written after March 1856 in
Baghdad
Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon. I ...
.
Baháʼu'lláh had recently returned from the mountains of Kurdistan where he had spent two years studying with various
Sufi sheikhs using the pseudonym ''Darvish Muhammad-i-Irani''.
The ''Four Valleys'' was written in response to questions of S͟hayk͟h ʻAbdu'r-Rahman-i-Talabani, the "honored and indisputable leader" of the
Qádiríyyih Order of
Sufism.
He never identified as a Baháʼí, but was known to his followers as having high respect and admiration for
Baháʼu'lláh.
[Ayman & Afnani]
Vocabulary
There is some difficulty in translating a text written in a poetic style, with references to concepts of
Sufism that may be foreign in the West. Some names are left in their original Arabic form. For example, Maqsúd ("the Intended One") in this book is used in connection with the holy
Kaaba in
Mecca
Mecca (; officially Makkah al-Mukarramah, commonly shortened to Makkah ()) is a city and administrative center of the Mecca Province of Saudi Arabia, and the holiest city in Islam. It is inland from Jeddah on the Red Sea, in a narrow ...
and serves as an adjective for it, i.e., it means "the intended Kaba", however, from the context it is clear that this is not a physical place but rather one of the stations on the path toward God.
Content
This tablet seems to contain many subjects, such as interpretation of scriptures, religious beliefs and doctrines of the past. The subjects addressed include
mysticism
Mysticism is popularly known as becoming one with God or the Absolute, but may refer to any kind of ecstasy or altered state of consciousness which is given a religious or spiritual meaning. It may also refer to the attainment of insight in ...
, knowledge, divine philosophy, mysteries of creation, medicine, alchemy, and others.
Throughout the book Baháʼu'lláh exhorts men to education, goodly character and divine virtues.
In the book, Baháʼu'lláh describes the qualities and grades of four types of mystical wayfarers: "Those who progress in mystic wayfaring are of four kinds."
The four are, roughly:
[Ayman & Afnani]
*Those who journey through strict observance of religious laws.
*Those who journey to God through the use of logic and reason.
*Those who journey purely by the love of God.
*Those who journey by combination of the three approaches of obedience, reason, and inspiration.
This last is considered the highest or truest form of mystic union.
See also
*''
The Seven Valleys
''The Seven Valleys'' ( fa, ''Haft-Vádí'') is a book written in Persian by Baháʼu'lláh, the founder of the Baháʼí Faith. ''The Seven Valleys'' follows the structure of the Persian poem ''The Conference of the Birds''.
''The Seven Vall ...
''
Notes
References
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Further reading
* Hemmat, Amrollah.
Reflections on The Four Valleys of Bahá’u’lláh'. Journal of Bahá'í Studies, Vol. 30 No. 4 (2020).
*
* Savi, Julio (1994).
Will, Knowledge, and Love as Explained in Baha'u'llah's Four Valleys''
*
External links
Compendium on the Four Valleys
{{DEFAULTSORT:Four Valleys
Works by Baháʼu'lláh
1857 books