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Résumé Bahá’u’lláh’s « Ḥúríyyih », terme tirant son origine du Coran (44-54, 52:20, 56-22 et 55:72), fait Symbolic Use référence aux fi gures féminines angéliques of the Veiled qui résident au paradis et accompagnent les croyants. Dans les Écrits bahá’ís, ce Ḥúríyyih mot a souvent été traduit par « la céleste Houri », une personnifi cation symbolique de la réalité divine de Bahá’u’lláh. Dans JOHN S. HATCHER, cet article, les auteurs explorent com- AMROLLAH HEMMAT, ment Bahá’u’lláh utilise ce procédé méta- EHSANOLLAH HEMMAT phorique pour illustrer les forces à l’œuvre dans le contexte de son apparition comme Manifestation de Dieu. En particulier, ils Abstract examinent le rôle symbolique crucial que “Ḥúríyyih,” a term whose roots can be le dévoilement de la céleste Houri joue par found in the Qur’án (44–54, 52:20, 56–22, rapport au dévoilement progressif de la and 55:72), refers to angelic female fi gures mission de Bahá’u’lláh. Alors que certains that reside in paradise and accompany the lecteurs pourraient croire que cette fi gure believers. In the Bahá’í Writings, the word est une représentation littérale de l’Esprit has often been translated as “the Maid of Saint apparaissant à Bahá’u’lláh, les au- Heaven,” a symbolic personifi cation of the teurs espèrent démontrer que Bahá’u’lláh divine reality of Bahá’u’lláh. In this arti- a plutôt créé une représentation fi gurative cle we explore how Bahá’u’lláh employs ou symbolique de la façon dont Il révèle this fi gurative device to portray the forces progressivement ses instructions pour cette at work in the context of His appearance époque tant attendue de l’histoire humaine, as a Manifestation of God. In particular, ce « jour des jours », le point culminant de we wish to examine the crucial symbolic toutes les révélations précédentes. En ter- role the unveiling of the Ḥúríyyih plays in mes simples, les auteurs sont d’avis que relation to Bahá’u’lláh’s gradual unfolding l’image de la céleste Houri ne représente of His mission. While some readers might pas une force distincte de Bahá’u’lláh, believe the portrayal of this fi gure to be a mais constitue plutôt une expression de literal depiction of the Holy Spirit appear- l’Esprit Saint agissant par l’intermédiaire ing to Bahá’u’lláh, we hope to demonstrate de la capacité spirituelle inhérente propre that Bahá’u’lláh has, instead, created a à une Manifestation de Dieu. fi gurative or symbolic portrayal of how He gradually reveals His guidance for this long-awaited era in human history—the Resumen “Day of Days,” the culmination of all pre- “Ḥúríyyih,” a un término cuyas raíces se vious revelations. Put simply, we feel that pueden encontrar en el Qur’án (44–54, the image of the Ḥúríyyih does not rep- 52:20, 56–22, and 55:72), se refi ere a fi g- resent a force separate from Bahá’u’lláh, uras femeninas angelicales que residen en but rather an expression of the Holy Spirit el paraíso y acompañan a los creyentes. En operating through the inherent spiritual ca- los Escritors de la Fe Bahá’í, la palabra a pacity unique to a Manifestation of God. menudo se ha traducido como “la Doncella 10 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019 del Cielo,” una personifi cación simbólica personifi es the Holy Spirit emanating de la realidad divina de Bahá’u’lláh. En through Bahá’u’lláh: este artículo exploramos cómo Bahá’u’lláh emplea este dispositivo fi gurativo para re- the “Most Great Spirit,” as desig- tratar las fuerzas en el trabajo en el contex- nated by Himself, and symbolized to de su aparición como una Manifestación in the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, de Dios. En particular, deseamos examinar the Christian, and Muhammadan el papel simbólico crucial que la revel- Dispensations by the Sacred Fire, ación del Ḥúríyyih juega en relación con el desarrollo gradual de Su misión por par- the Burning Bush, the Dove and te de Bahá’u’lláh. Aunque algunos lecto- the Angel Gabriel respectively, res podrían creer que la representación de descended upon, and revealed it- esta fi gura es una representación literal del self, personated by a “Maiden,” to Espíritu Santo apareciendo a Bahá’u’lláh, the agonized soul of Bahá’u’lláh. esperamos demostrar que Bahá’u’lláh, en (100) cambio, ha creado una representación fi gu- rativa o simbólica de cómo Él revela grad- Let us examine how this fi gurative de- ualmente Su guía para esta era tan esperada vice is developed by Bahá’u’lláh in the en la historia humana: el “Día de los Días”, unfolding of His revealed works as it la culminación de todas las revelaciones is employed in the chronology of His anteriores. En pocas palabras, sentimos ministry. que la imagen del Ḥúríyyih no representa una fuerza separada de Bahá’u’lláh, sino más bien una expresión del Espíritu Santo T I A que opera a través de la capacidad espiri- Ḥ tual inherente única de una Manifestación de Dios. From the perspective of the Bahá’í au- thoritative texts, the Maid of Heaven is a symbolic or allegorical mystical con- T Ḥ P cept intended to convey various levels “ M G S”1 of meaning. Consequently, this trope is open to multiple interpretations. For In God Passes By, Shoghi Eff en- while the principal “intended” mean- di, quoting from the Súriyi-Haykal, ing, according to Shoghi Eff endi, is the renders the Arabic word ḥúríyyih as Holy Spirit being channeled through “Maiden” and states that this character Bahá’u’lláh, we can hardly pretend to 1 We wish to express our gratitude decipher in any comprehensive man- to the Bahá’í World Centre for providing ner the totality of what it represents. the authorized translation of the Lawḥ-i- Indeed, the depth and breadth of its Ru’yá (Tablet of the Vision) in advance of meaning call to mind Bahá’u’lláh’s ob- its publication, as well as our thanks to Dr. servation, “How great the multitude of Vahid Rafati for introducing us to addition- truths which the garment of words can al sources, and to Dr. Sasha Dehghani for never contain! How vast the number of sharing his thoughts on this topic. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 11

such verities as no expression can ad- This description parallels what equately describe, whose signifi cance Bahá’u’lláh depicts in His epistle to can never be unfolded, and to which Násíri’d-Dín Sháh when He says, “O not even the remotest allusions can be King! I was but a man like others, made!” (Gleanings 89:3). asleep upon My couch, when lo, the Perhaps the most illuminating ex- breezes of the All-Glorious were waft- planation of the term is Shoghi Ef- ed over Me, and taught Me the knowl- fendi’s statement that the Maid of edge of all that hath been. This thing is Heaven as portrayed by Bahá’u’lláh not from Me, but from One Who is Al- in His description of the dream vision mighty and All-Knowing” (Summons He experienced in the Siyáh-Chál2 1:192). “personifi ed the Spirit of God within Thus, while the intermediary reality Him [Bahá’u’lláh]” (God Passes By of the Maid of Heaven is personifi ed 121). Accordingly, in various of the in the form of an immanent corporeal works by Bahá’u’lláh, the Ḥúríyyih image, Bahá’u’lláh emphasizes that represents an intermediary fi gure who this appearance is a means whereby imparts to the Manifestations of God He can provide His followers with a that which the Creator wishes to con- sense of the experience He undergoes vey to humankind for a specifi c era or as His revelation is conveyed to Him, dispensation. something we can understand solely by Bahá’u’lláh Himself writes in the metaphorical or allegorical representa- Kitáb-i-Badí’ (1867) that “the Holy tions. Consequently, the image is re- Spirit spoke in My heart and the plete with symbolic detail and actions, Most Great Spirit3 uttered through and in His recounting of this experi- My tongue. This is not from me, ence, He treats this allegorical personi- but from that Powerful One whose fi cation with utmost respect, inasmuch power encompasses all things.”4 as She is assigned a station belonging to the loftiest realm, the transcendent 2 “The Black Pit,” an infamous sub- domain of the Divine. terranean dungeon in which Bahá’u’lláh Using as a starting point the appear- was imprisoned in 1852. ance of the Ḥúríyyih in the Writings, let 3 A defi nitive distinction between these two spiritual realities is not possible, us examine the distinction between ac- but the “Most Great Spirit” can be thought cepting the Maid of Heaven as an actu- of as an allusion to the essential reality of al being and viewing Her as a symbolic Bahá’u’lláh Himself, and the “Holy Spirit” fi gure that Bahá’u’lláh has devised for represents the spiritual infl uence emanat- our benefi t—that we might understand ing from that reality, like rays emanating in simpler terms a most ephemeral, from the sun. mystical, and spiritual process. For ex- 4 This and all other provisional ample, in Judaism, Moses claims that translations in this article are by the au- God speaks to Him through the burning thors—John S. Hatcher, Amrollah Hem- bush; after this experience, His words mat, and Ehsanollah Hemmat. 12 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

are considered to have divine authority. an otherwise “uninformed” Messenger. In Christian scripture, the appearance Such depictions, however, are allegor- of the fi gure of the dove as a simile for ical and—like many other similar uses the Holy Spirit descending upon Jesus of metaphorical imagery in the scrip- when He is anointed by John the Bap- tures of all religions—are intended to tist signals the beginning of Christ’s illustrate realities that cannot be ade- ministry, but the dove does not con- quately expressed in a literal form.6 tinue to represent the Holy Spirit or an Bahá’u’lláh, in fact, states unequiv- intermediary between God and Christ. ocally that everything the Manifesta- From that moment forward, instead, tions say or do is of Their own devis- He frequently alludes to Himself as the ing, has authority, is carrying out the intermediary between God and human- will of God, and is explicitly for our kind: “For I have not spoken of myself; benefi t: “The essence of belief in Di- but the Father which sent me, he gave vine unity consisteth in regarding Him me a commandment, what I should say, Who is the Manifestation of God and and what I should speak” (John 12:49). Him Who is the invisible, the inacces- However, in Islam, the Angel Gabriel sible, the unknowable Essence as one as intermediary is much more signif- and the same. By this is meant that icant. Gabriel is understood by most whatever pertaineth to the former, all Muslims to be a literal intermediary His acts and doings, whatever He or- between Allah and Muḥammad, the daineth or forbiddeth, should be con- untutored recipient of the revelation.5 sidered, in all their aspects, and under As we can observe, the beginning of all circumstances, and without any res- every Dispensation is depicted as an ervation, as identical with the Will of “announcement” by the Holy Spirit God Himself” (Gleanings 84:166). informing the Prophet that He is the Let us keep this relationship in Chosen One to carry out that particular mind as we expand our research into stage in God’s plan for the education Bahá’u’lláh’s utilization of the fi gure of humankind. The act of revelation of the Ḥúríyyih as a representation of itself (as in Muḥammad’s example) is the spiritual force and impact of the often portrayed as the simple transmis- Holy Spirit being communicated to us sion of the Word of God by means of through the Manifestation, even as was 5 Quite possibly because Muḥammad the fi gure of Gabriel for Muḥammad: appeared among unlearned warring tribes, He employed this sort of benign artifi ce to main- Wrapped in its stygian gloom, tain their belief, something He seemed to breathing its fetid air, numbed by confi rm and perpetuate by going into a its humid and icy atmosphere, His form of trance or seizure when revealing what became the suras of the Qur’án. In 6 For an ampler discussion of this other words, the presumption by those theme—which is outside the purview of present was that Gabriel was speaking to this article—please see Hatcher, The Face Him with Divine Authority. of God among Us, especially chapter 7. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 13

feet in stocks, His neck weighed Bahá’u’lláh’s initial references to the down by a mighty chain, surround- Ḥúríyyih are found principally in the ed by criminals and miscreants of works He revealed in Baghdad and Su- the worst order, oppressed by the laymáníyyih. For example, we encoun- consciousness of the terrible blot ter allegorical references to a heavenly, that had stained the fair name of chaste, and luminous female fi gure in His beloved Faith, painfully aware the Qaṣídiy-i-Izz-i-Varqá’íyyih (“Ode of the dire distress that had over- of the Dove”), the Hidden Words, the taken its champions, and of the Lawḥ-i-Ḥúríyyih, the Lawḥ-i-Ḥúr-i- grave dangers that faced the rem- ‘Ujáb,7 the Lawḥ-i-Subḥana Rabbíu’l nant of its followers—at so critical A‘lá, the Lawḥ-i-Hili Hili Yá Bishárat, an hour and under such appalling the Lawḥ-i-Malláḥu’l-Quds (Tablet of circumstances the “Most Great the Holy Mariner), the Lawḥ-i-Bulbul- Spirit,” as designated by Himself, i-Firáq, and the Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l- and symbolized in the Zoroastri- Khuld, all of which except for the “Ode an, the Mosaic, the Christian, and of the Dove” were revealed in Bagh- Muhammadan Dispensations by dad after Bahá’u’lláh’s return from His the Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush, two-year retreat to the mountains of the Dove and the Angel Gabriel Sulaymániyyih. respectively, descended upon, and The Maid of Heaven continues to revealed itself, personated by a appear in some of the tablets revealed “Maiden,” to the agonized soul of after the Baghdad period. For exam- Bahá’u’lláh. (Shoghi Eff endi, God ple, She appears in the Súriy-i-Qalam Passes By 100) and in the Ishráqát, the Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá, and most importantly in the Súriy-i- S F A Haykal8 in which Bahá’u’lláh’s experi- Ḥ ence and conversation with Her in the Siyáh-Chál is described in its totality. The exalted station of the Ḥúríyyih is As we will discuss later, in these clearly evident in Bahá’u’lláh’s obser- works the fi gurative images of the vation that the “Holy Spirit Itself hath Ḥúríyyih and the hurís can assume dif- been generated through the agency of ferent meanings in diff erent contexts. a single letter revealed by this Most Yet the allusions to these personifi ca- Great Spirit, if ye be of them that tions are not entirely limited to these comprehend” (Summons ¶50). The works, nor are they limited to the transcendent nature of the Ḥúríyyih is works of Bahá’u’lláh. For example, thus an essential characteristic of this ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to the “maid of personifi cation, and Her importance symbolically is demonstrated in a 7 Khávarí, Risáliy-i-Ayyám-i-Tis`ih number of works of Bahá’u’lláh where 251–54. She is mentioned or discussed. 8 Originally revealed in Adriano- ple, as we will explain later. 14 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

heaven” as representing the “new Jeru- of stone and mortar does not descend salem,” and the “angelic company” as from heaven and is not renewed, but fi gures announcing to the universe the that what is renewed is the religion news that the prophecies in the book of of God” (Some Answered Questions Revelations regarding the advent of the 13:3). kingdom of God on earth have actually been fulfi lled: T P A L T Ḥ O ye beloved of God! O ye chil- dren of His Kingdom! Verily, As most students of the literary tradi- verily, the new heaven and the tions of Persian and Arabic mystical new earth are come. The holy poetry are aware, portrayals of love City, new Jerusalem, hath come relationships are frequently employed down from on high in the form of to symbolize the overwhelming long- a maid of heaven, veiled, beaute- ing of a seeker or wayfarer to attain the ous, and unique, and prepared for presence of the Beloved, the Friend, or reunion with Her lovers on earth. the Divine—each of which represents The angelic company of the Ce- some form of the love of God. With lestial Concourse hath joined in a Rumi, for example, his adoration of call that hath run throughout the “the Friend” is often captured in what universe, all loudly and mightily seems to be his portrayal of the aff ec- acclaiming: “This is the City of tion, adoration, respect, and obeisance God and His abode, wherein shall he expresses for his spiritual teacher, dwell the pure and holy among Shams of Tabriz. On a symbolic level, His servants. He shall live with however, the “Friend” in his poems rep- them, for they are His people and resents not a literal personal relation- He is their Lord.” (Selections 3:1) ship, however powerful and important this was for his spiritual edifi cation, Here, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains the but rather his awareness of and longing Ḥúríyyih’s appearance in the Book to attain union, or reunion, with “the of Revelation—a reference He eluci- Beloved”—the “Perfect Man,” One dates more fully in Some Answered who, like Muḥammad, manifests as Questions—as the new Law revealed perfectly as is possible in human form by Bahá’u’lláh in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: the attributes or “names” of Allah, or of “Clearly, the New Jerusalem which the transcendental Divine reality that is descends from heaven is not a city of the spiritual realm. stone and lime, of brick and mortar, Similarly, in His mystical work The but is rather the religion of God which Seven Valleys, Bahá’u’lláh represents descends from heaven and is described the seeker’s longing for the Beloved as new.” He continues, “For it is ob- through the symbolic story of Majnun vious that the Jerusalem which is built (the “insane one”) and his tireless quest Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 15 to attain the presence of the hidden or attention is paid to the detailed portray- concealed Layli. This traditional story al of Her beauty, focusing on a variety from Persian and Arabian lore—cele- of specifi c physical attributes relevant brated most famously by Niẓámí9—is to what was considered evocative in a good example of the Súfi use of an the cultural context in which the poem intense and all-consuming human love was composed. More specifi cally, each to symbolize the intensity of the way- of the physical attributes of beauty in farer’s quest for divine love in a rela- the portrayal of the feminized Divine tionship with “the Friend.” The trage- most often represents a corresponding dy of Shirin and Farhad is a similarly spiritual virtue or power. symbolic love story that represents the Thus, in His own utilization of intense, unrelenting desire of the lover these traditions, Bahá’u’lláh employs or seeker to attain the presence of his images of the beauty and glory of the beloved—the same longing portrayed Ḥúríyyih to dwell on those physical by Bahá’u’lláh in His description of the attributes that are most emblematic of “Valley of Love” in The Seven Valleys. Her beauty—Her form, a beauty mark, It is worthwhile to note that in these Her brow, the grace of Her movements symbolic or allegorical stories the Be- and gestures. Likewise, these portraits loved (the One who is sought) is female of female allure and sensuality are of- and the wayfarer or seeker is male, ten accompanied by stark and dramatic even though the Deity (God or Allah) emotional scenes characterized by im- is always alluded to in terms of a male mense sorrow, joy, and aff ection. What identity. The feminization of the Di- becomes unmistakably apparent when vine or the Beloved doubtless derives one studies Bahá’u’lláh’s use of this from passionate human love being the fi gurative imagery is that He utilizes most immediately evocative trope or it to convey spiritual and metaphysical analogical experience to which we can attributes—His objective is never to relate such intense love, longing, and create sensational or sensual imagery passion. In most romantic literature, for its own sake. The ecstatic longing, the beautiful woman is portrayed as the object of love (the Beloved), and the and the even more ecstatic sensation of male is portrayed as the lover seeking attaining the presence of the Beloved the object of his aff ection. are never meant to be ends in them- Consequently, because the Beloved selves—they are not the attainment of has a female persona in these and ecstasy for its own sake. This distinc- numerous other poetic works, great tion is extremely important in light of the emphasis that some contemporary 9 Niẓámí Ganjaví (12th century translators of Rumi have placed on the CE) is considered by the generality of literal story, even going so far as to scholars to be the greatest Persian poet to attribute some literal or physical love write in the tradition of the romantic epic relationship to the poet/persona and his (Sajjádi). 16 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

friend Shams of Tabriz.10 it pertains to the appearance of the Clearly, Bahá’u’lláh’s utilization of Ḥúríyyih. these fi gurative images has a spiritual Perhaps the most obvious and yet intent. Therefore, in Bahá’í texts, when surely one of the most important al- the reader encounters allusions from lusions to the veil is the relationship traditional mystic Persian literature re- between the Ḥúríyyih being veiled garding the body of the Ḥúríyyih (for and subsequently becoming unveiled. example, locks and ringlets of hair, the This important action—though possi- hair’s enthralling fragrance, and the bly barely noticeable to most—plays entrancing beauty of the face, fore- a central role, both in symbolizing the head, eyebrows, beauty marks, hands, appearance of the Manifestation, and in and breasts) and the various attributes the subtle and often gradual stages by commonly associated with the portray- which Bahá’u’lláh reveals His station, al of the feminine “Beloved,” we are His essential nature, and His purpose assured that our job is to discern their in revealing Himself to humankind. underlying or veiled meaning. Other imagery that also assumes importance in the portrayal of the T S I Ḥúríyyih concerns Her attire. For ex- V ample, in the Commentary on the Sura of Joseph, the Báb refers to various There are countless other important qualities of Her veil and attire as be- images in mystical Persian and Ara- ing beautiful, or coarse, or of silk (Qa- bic literature—particularly allusions yyúmu’l-Asmá’ 126–27). Or, as we will to certain aff ective behaviors, such discuss later, in the Sura of the Pen, as smiling, crying, weeping, graceful Bahá’u’lláh addresses Her by these movements, coyness, and amorous words: “Come forth as thou willest, glances in the poetry of the Sufi tra- and array thyself as thou pleasest with dition. However, important as these the broidered robe of names and the images are in understanding the vari- silken vesture of immortality” (Days ous intended meanings of the Bahá’í of Remembrance 23:14). However, one Writings, for the purposes of this can hardly address the image of the present study, it is most essential that Ḥúríyyih without also addressing other we focus on the symbolism latent in images that, on the surface, seem to be Bahá’u’lláh’s reference to the veil as portraying an intense physical love re- 10 See, for example, Barks, The Soul lationship—an embrace, the separation of Rumi, and Lewis, Rumi. Barks tends of the lover (Bahá’u’lláh) from His to read this relationship in literal terms— Beloved (the Ḥúríyyih), and the sorrow Shams himself is the “Friend” or the “Be- caused by the lover’s constant pursuit loved” to whom Rumi alludes, whereas of the seemingly unattainable presence Lewis explains these allusions as being of the Beloved. poetic or allegorical portrayals of Rumi’s adoration of Allah. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 17

T V These appearances are powerful poetic U D renderings of the Manifestation’s emo- tionally charged experiences with the The tablets of Bahá’u’lláh that include Holy Spirit, despite Bahá’u’lláh’s tran- references to the Ḥúríyyih and the scendent station and foreknowledge of hurís (the plural form of the word), all He must endure. In particular, this while clearly allegorical in nature, fi rst act symbolizes the agony He will might be likened to mystical or spiritu- experience in concealing Himself, His al dramas—something like the English powers, authority, and message until morality plays of the fourteenth and fi f- such time as His followers are ready to teenth centuries in the Western literary receive His unfolding of the Word. tradition. With this in mind, one may The appearances of the Ḥúríyyih in well fi nd it useful and enlightening to those tablets we designate as “the sec- approach the appearance—and partic- ond act” are a mixture of the heights of ularly the unveiling—of the Ḥúríyyih joy and the depths of foreboding and by examining the chronology of these even sorrow. The lover is no longer dis- images as if they were three successive dained by the Beloved and experiences acts in the unfolding drama that rep- a taste of nearness and a closer rela- resents three successive stages in the tionship to the Holy Spirit. At the same Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. time, in several tablets, Bahá’u’lláh re- However, in considering such an ap- veals to the reader the trials, betrayals, proach, one must be careful not to con- physical hardships, and pain He must fuse these “acts” with the more obvious endure. and commonly recognized divisions of The concluding act, the complete the Baghdad period, the Adrianople unveiling of the Ḥúríyyih, is, in a fi gu- period, and the ‘Akká period. Neither rative sense, accomplished as Her true are these equivalent to the three Dec- identity and purpose are made plain, larations of Bahá’u’lláh—fi rst in the even as is the mission of Bahá’u’lláh. Siyáh-Chál, secondly in the Garden of The most prominent portrayal of Riḍván, and thirdly in His letters from this fi nal act occurs in ‘Akká when Adrianople announcing His station to Bahá’u’lláh has the Súriy-i-Haykal the world’s kings and rulers. Instead, combined with fi ve of His letters to the three parts in this drama, portraying rulers into a calligraphic pentangle. As the gradual symbolic unveiling of the we will demonstrate, this added sym- Ḥúríyyih, correspond to the progres- bolic gesture gives us the opportunity sive unfolding of the station and power to appreciate in full the story behind of Bahá’u’lláh and His Revelation. the metaphorical devices that have, un- In brief, the acts begin with the ear- til this point, characterized the Ḥúríyy- liest appearances of the Ḥúríyyih, in ih. What has heretofore been only which She is veiled, remote, and osten- hinted at in such works as the Tablet sibly aloof from the narrator/persona. to Nasíri’d-Dín Sháh is unleashed in 18 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

the Súriy-i-Haykal’s narrative of the Bahá’u’lláh revealed these verses in Ḥúríyyih’s dialogue with Bahá’u’lláh response to a request by local Sufi s in the dream vision experienced in the who had come to revere Him and His Siyáh-Chál. Thus, the trope comes full remarkable and unfathomable knowl- circle, ending where it begins, with edge. They thus exhorted Bahá’u’lláh Bahá’u’lláh’s fi rst intimations of His to compose a poem in the style of the ministry. famous Qaṣídih Ṭá’íyyih Kubrá of Ibn-i-Fáriḍ, reputed to be one of the A O: greatest Súfi poets the Arab world T E A had produced.13 To their amazement, Ḥ Bahá’u’lláh proceeded to compose a poem of two thousand couplets in that The poem Qaṣídiy-i-Izz-i-Varqá’íyyih identical style, though He allowed only 11 (“Ode of the Dove”) was revealed 127 of these to be preserved. during Bahá’u’lláh’s sojourn in the We must take into account mountains of Kurdistan (1854–56). Bahá’u’lláh’s self-imposed exile from Since He had left Baghdad to avoid His family and from the Bábí commu- becoming the cause of further con- nity in Baghdad, alongside the style 12 tention among the Bábís, the tone of and language appropriate to the mysti- this poem alludes to the deep sorrow cal tenor of the Súfi verse He was em- He has experienced, as well as the ulating. Then, we can appreciate both further diffi culties He will be made to the sorrowful tone of the poem and the endure. It is also valuable to note that mystical and philosophical themes so 11 Bahá’u’lláh, Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá prevalent throughout the work. These 321–39. A provisional translation by John themes allude to the fact that, onto- S. Hatcher, Amrollah Hemmat and Ehsa- logically, the spiritual or transcendent nollah Hemmat of this poem is published in reality is essentially unknowable and this issue of the Journal of Bahá’í Studies. likewise unattainable by those abiding 12 Though Mírzá Yahyá had been in the realm of creation—the physical appointed by the Báb to help conduct the aff airs of the Bábí community, he never 13 Though little acknowledged in fulfi lled this duty. Instead, he hid and dis- the West, Ibn-i-Fáriḍ is considered to be on guised himself so that authorities might par with Rumi as a writer of Súfi mystical not associate him with the Bábís or, lat- verse. His most famous works are “The er, with the Bahá’ís. However, whenever Poem of the Súfi Way” and “The Wine Bahá’u’lláh made an eff ort to assist the Ode.” The former explains at great length believers by explaining the teachings or the mystical experience as an arduous and texts of the Báb, Mírzá Yahyá would com- demanding spiritual journey, while the plain and characterize these actions as an latter employs the metaphor of the intox- attempt by Bahá’u’lláh to usurp his author- ication of wine to represent the ecstasy of ity, even though he himself never lifted a being in the presence of the divine, a fi g- fi nger to assist the bewildered and disorga- urative device also used prominently by nized community of believers. Táhirih, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 19 realm or the “Kingdom of Names.” by the arrow of remoteness. It is in this sense that the sorrow ex- And if I stretched forth my be- pressed would seem to allude to the in- seeching hands for reunion with trinsic distance between the immanent Her, with a sword She replied, and the transcendent. This spiritual “This shall be the recompense for distance is demonstrated with partic- My lovers!” ular power when the Maid of Heaven compares Her own lofty and sublime And my sole yearning hath been station to the highest degree of illumi- but to hold fast, while Her relent- nation possible in the realm of creation less intent remaineth but to sever (the material world): my grasp! (lines 14–16)

“In My sight the most glorious It is in the portrayal of this relation- glory of Túr is abject, ship that, in mystic literature, the sym- and to Me the most luminous bolic veil comes into play by further beam of light is but darkness.” representing the ontological separation (“Ode of the Dove” line 100) or distance between humankind and the divine source. At the beginning of The transcendent divine has been the wayfarer’s search, for example, the eternally and intrinsically sanctifi ed ability of the seeker or lover to behold from any conceptions that can be in any complete way the beauty of the formed in the mind of existent beings, Beloved is absent—the Beloved is veiled or concealed. But more impor- even as the Ḥúríyyih relates: tantly, in the context of the revealed works of Bahá’u’lláh—Himself a tran- “And certainly I have eternally scendent Being—the analogy of the existed in an immaculate state, veil assumes another more specialized and certainly I have been infi nite- meaning, implying an ever more com- ly stainless.” (line 102) plete revelation (or manifestation) of the station and powers of Bahá’u’lláh Because this essential separation of Himself. the world of creation from its Creator Therefore, while in the “Ode of the (the transcendent Beloved) necessarily Dove” the Maiden of Heaven is dis- leads to sorrow, Bahá’u’lláh—in the tant, aloof, and unreachable, in the lat- persona of the seeker or lover—re- er stages of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation, counts His despair at His remoteness the Ḥúríyyih is portrayed in His works from the Maid of Heaven: as appearing without veil, hence rep- resenting to the reader how the Holy And whenever I rushed toward Spirit is becoming more fully revealed reunion with Her light, after at- in the divine station of Bahá’u’lláh. taining nearness, I was wounded The unveiling also alludes to the 20 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

completeness with which the Holy In these verses, the countenance Spirit will be revealed in this dispensa- which Bahá’u’lláh has observed— tion, the “Day of God,” the period of the face of the Ḥúríyyih—is, in truth, fruition and fulfi llment of all previous naught but His own divine aspect or revelations. Or stated with an equally station. But even as the Báb request- relevant symbol, the resurrection of the ed that “Him Whom God shall make body politic foretold in all of the pre- manifest” (Selections 7) withhold viously revealed religions will come to revealing His station until the year pass. nineteen (1863), Bahá’u’lláh is being However, in the fi nal verses of the cautioned—in reality, explaining what “The Ode of the Dove,” written in the He already knows to the attentive read- early stages of Bahá’u’lláh’s Reve- er—that the people of the world (par- lation, we fi nd the Maiden reminding ticularly the Bábís, who are His most Bahá’u’lláh that He should not reveal immediate audience) are not yet ready the complete reality about Himself— to be exposed to the magnitude of His that the time for Him to begin His station nor to comprehend the totality ministry (unveiling the countenance of of His revelation. the Ḥúríyyih) has not yet begun. And To those familiar with Bahá’í his- the Maid of Heaven informs Him that tory, the wisdom in this caution is if He does reveal Himself prematurely, obvious—the Bábís still needed to be the totality of existence will vanish, better prepared for the advent of Him and His objective to unite the peoples Whom God would make manifest, of the world will thereby falter or fail. something Bahá’u’lláh would assist them in accomplishing when He re- “And within thee have I con- turned to Baghdad. In a related mat- cealed a truth that transcends all ter, this gradual disclosure of station knowledge. and purpose is very much akin to the Even every enlightened mind is approach the Báb Himself employed. unable to comprehend it! At the outset of His declaration, the “Relish the companionship of time for revealing His full station to that holy mystery concealed with- the public had not yet arrived. There- in thee! fore, we see in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’15 If thou art trustworthy, then dis- Bahá’u’lláh in one of His tablets: “If the close it not. veil were lifted, and the full glory of the “If thou removest the veil from station of those that have turned wholly to- the countenance of what thou hast wards God, and have, in their love for Him, observed, all existence will vanish renounced the world, were made manifest, in the twinkling of an eye.”14 the entire creation would be dumbfound- ed” (Gleanings 93:15). 14 Though in a diff erent context, a 15 The same work He commenced to similar eff ect on the whole of creation by reveal for His fi rst believer, Mullá Ḥusayn, an untimely “unveiling” is mentioned by the day they met in Shiraz. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 21 that the Ḥúríyyih is fi rst permitted to with many other works of Bahá’u’lláh, adorn Herself with beautiful attire, veil there is an abundant use of terminology Her face, and come out of Her palace and imagery common to Persian and (126). Subsequently, She is told to re- Arabic mystical texts, such as those turn to Her abode. The command to of Ibn-i-‘Arabi and the Persian poets return would seem to be an allusion and authors who succeeded him (such to the fact that the Báb would reveal as Jami). In this connection, the Secre- His station by degrees and that the time tariat of the Universal House of Justice for a public declaration of His station has observed the following about the and mission was not yet at hand, even imagery in this work: as He advised Mullá Ḥusayn that fi rst night, “It is incumbent upon you not to The subject matter of this Tablet divulge, either to your companions or is that of the relationship between to any other soul, that which you have the Divine Youth and the Maiden. seen and heard” (qtd. in Nabil 63). In the past, as you are well aware, it has not been uncommon to use T L--Ḥ human love, passion and longing (T M) as an allegory of the divine love between God and His creatures. After His two-year sojourn to Sulay- One has only to think of the Song máníyyih, Bahá’u’lláh returned to of Songs in the Old Testament, the Baghdad where He revealed the Tablet writings of some of the Christian of the Maiden,16 which is composed in saints and much of Persian mysti- a sublime Arabic style. According to cal poetry. The tradition represent- Shoghi Eff endi, in this work “events of ed by such literature was used by a far remoter future are foreshadowed” Bahá’u’lláh in aspects of His Rev- (God Passes By 140). Relevant to our elation. (Letter dated 27 August analysis of the symbol of the Maiden 1998) is Shoghi Eff endi’s explanation that in this work, the Ḥúríyyih “symbolizes The terms used in the fi rst parts of the divine reality in Bahá’u’lláh.” He this tablet would seem to portray the continues, “In this Tablet He alludes Ḥúríyyih variously as belonging to to His passing, and most of it is in the the essential reality of the Creator, as nature of a communion with His own representing the divine station of the Spirit” (letter written on behalf of Manifestation—the sole representative Shoghi Eff endi to an individual, 6 May of God on Earth—and as a sublime Re- 1939). ality loftier than the world of creation. It is important to note that in the The tablet begins by praising God Tablet of the Maiden, as is the case for His creation of a paradise that re- fl ects His Essence and for His sending 16 The original Arabic can be found down from that paradise a Ḥúríyyih in Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá 647–53. 22 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

that manifests God’s glory in the world time immemorial in the tabernacle of of creation. Bahá’u’lláh’s description holiness, security, and splendor, and of paradise is very elaborate, depicting in the sanctuary of chastity, honor, and it with mystical terminology that refers glory.”18 Bahá’u’lláh then continues, to the various realms of God: to the “In crimson ink the Most Exalted Pen realms of láhút (the Heavenly Court) hath writ upon Her snow-white brow: and aḥadiyyah (Divine Unity), which ‘By God, None hath been aware of this principally denote God’s ineff able and Ḥúríyyih save God, the Inaccessible, transcendent Essence, and to the realms the Most High. God hath, in the realm of jabarút (the Celestial Dominion) and of eternity, sanctifi ed the hem of Her malakút (the Divine Kingdom), which chastity from the allusion of the people represent the World of Command, the of names, and Her countenance from intermediary reality between God and the gaze of all who inhabit the world of His creation (Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá being” (Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá 647–48). 647).17 Therefore, in this context the The Ḥúríyyih then emerges from reader understands how the Ḥúríyyih Her pavilion adorned with a robe so descends from the realms of paradise beauteous and dazzling that the inhab- as a herald of the transcendent Divine itants of the heavenly realm are ren- so that, operating through Bahá’u’lláh, dered unconscious, and the dominion She may (metaphorically speaking) of creation becomes illumined by Her serve as an intermediary between God beauty (Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá 648). In and His creation. another tablet Bahá’u’lláh describes Her announcement of Her inaccessi- S P C bly lofty station in the most eloquent terms: “Cry out before the gaze of the Representing the transcendent divine, dwellers of heaven and of earth: I am the concept of the Ḥúríyyih cannot the Maid of Heaven, the Off spring be- be adequately comprehended nor be gotten by the Spirit of Bahá. My habi- described through the medium of ordi- tation is the Mansion of His Name, the nary language; therefore, Bahá’u’lláh All-Glorious. Before the Concourse on employs various allegories and meta- high I was adorned with the ornament phors to depict Her reality in corporeal of His names. I was wrapped within the terms. He ascribes to Her the attributes veil of an inviolable security, and lay of purity and chastity (‘iṣmat), and He hidden from the eyes of men” (Glean- asserts that the Ḥúríyyih has been eter- ings 129:10). nally preserved in the tabernacles of In light of these verses, we can bet- inviolability and glory: “ The Ḥúríyyih ter understand the meanings intended appeared, She who had dwelled from by the metaphors of purity and chas- tity in the Tablet of the Maiden as a 17 The realms of láhút, jabarút, and malakút are also mentioned in Bahá’u’lláh, 18 Original text in Áthár-i-Qalam-i- The Seven Valleys 25. A‘lá 647. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 23

reference to the fact that She person- Even when the Ḥúríyyih steps out of ifi es a transcendent divine reality that Her pavilion, She is still concealed by cannot be understood in the realm of Her veil from the eyes of creation. creation. Metaphorically, then, She has Refl ecting on what we have thus far been protected from the eyes of and examined, the image of the Maid of the grasp of creation. In the aforemen- Heaven is employed by Bahá’u’lláh to tioned quote (“God hath, in the realm represent the transcendent and divine of eternity, sanctifi ed the hem of Her aspects of that intermediary level of chastity from the allusion of the people reality—between divine and human— of names, and Her countenance from occupied by the Manifestation of God. the gaze of all who inhabit the world of Furthermore, accompanying the image being”), the attribute of chastity can be of the Ḥúríyyih are a variety of sym- understood as referring to the transcen- bols appropriate to Her transcendent dent aspect of the Ḥúríyyih—namely, station: Her veil, Her garment, and that She is cleansed from the impurity the pavilion, palaces, tabernacles, and of names and attributes. Because She chambers in which She abides, thereby does not dwell in the world of creation, concealed in chastity and purity from the kingdom of names and attributes the eyes of all in heaven and on earth. cannot fully or adequately portray Her ineff able reality. U Ḥ Yet names and attributes still play an important role in this portrayal. The This same metaphor of the veil, to- above passage indeed refers to the fact gether with the related metaphors of that the habitation of the Ḥúríyyih is Her garment, Her actions of removing “the mansion of God’s Name,” and She or changing the garment, and Her be- has been “adorned with the ornaments coming adorned with a new garment, of [God’s] names” or divine attributes. occurs on other occasions in the Tab- Furthermore, inasmuch as She has been let of the Maiden, as well as in other preserved in the tabernacle of glory, the works of Bahá’u’lláh. These portrayals word “Name” could be understood to provide additional insight into His stra- represent “the Greatest Name” (Bahá), tegic use of this imagery. a Name that is likewise beyond any Further in this tablet, Bahá’u’lláh complete or fi nal comprehension by continues with the following descrip- those dwelling in the realm of creation. tion of the Maid of Heaven as She Thus, though adorned with the orna- appears before Him: “She descended ment of all God’s names and attributes, and approached until She stood before the Ḥúríyyih cannot reveal Her essen- Me. I was perplexed by the subtleties tial reality. That aspect of Her nature of Her creation and the marvels of Her must needs remain forever concealed form. I found Myself in an ecstasy of because it represents the reality of God longing and a rapture of love for Her. I Himself and His transcendent Essence. lifted My hand toward Her and raised 24 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

the hem of the veil from Her shoulder” Himself, there should be yearning, ca- (Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá 648). pacity, and readiness for receiving the Refl ecting on what we have previ- bounties of His perfections. Therefore, ously noted, the veil can assume other in addition to the seeker’s longing and symbolic values. It can represent an striving to recognize God—through obstacle that should be removed, an ob- recognizing His Manifestation—God stacle that is inappropriate to remove, will also reveal Himself through the or an obstacle that is intrinsic and reality of the Manifestation. With such therefore impossible to remove. The Revelation, the Beloved appears again, use of the veil in the fi rst instance sim- and a new spiritual era is commenced. ply denotes an obstacle that impedes So in the Mathnaví of Bahá’u’lláh we our recognition of the Manifestation of read in His elucidation of the “spiritual God, or that conceals from us His glo- spring” (bahár-i-rawḥání): ry and perfections. When employed in this manner, the veil obviously should When our King casts aside the veil be removed, or at least partially lifted from His face, so that we can glimpse the divine at- this spring will pitch its tent upon tributes of the Holy Spirit, though, as the universe. the Bahá’í Writings repeatedly assert, When our Friend casts aside the humankind is prevented from ever veil from His face, entirely comprehending the station the bright spring will become em- and attributes of the Manifestations of blazoned. (lines 49–50) God. Thus we fi nd the following verse in Bahá’u’lláh’s Mathnaví: And on another occasion, Bahá’u’lláh, speaking as the Manifestation of God, Like the Valiant One,19 tear asun- proclaims: der all the veils that thou mightest behold the resplendence of the All-Bounteous!20 (line 295) Thus might I ignite in the uni- verse such a fi re that I could consume the veils of Yet, removing the veil is a reciprocal the holy ones! process. At times, the Ḥúríyyih unveils Thus would I disclose the húrí of Herself, as in the Lawḥ-i-Ḥúr-i-`Ujáb; inner meaning from behind Her at times, She is unveiled, as in the Lawḥ- veil, i-Ḥúríyyih. Extending this analogy to cast aside the cloak of the con- the relationship between God and hu- cealed light! (lines 23–24) mankind, we can conclude that along with the desire of the Beloved to unveil Furthermore, He addresses the 19 Also an allusion to ‘Álí. Great Spirit operating through His 20 Original in Athár-i-Qalam-i-‘A‘lá own Self: 189. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 25

O Countenance of God, emerge Open the musk of divine from behind the veil knowledge! so that the sun will dawn from the Disclose the treasure of the hid- West. (line 80) den mysteries. (lines 80–81)

. . . that I may appear in the world Yet, as we know, there has been a rea- unveiled son for Bahá’u’lláh’s essential concern and disclose a portion of the mys- with revealing His true station. It would tery about Your loving kindness. be inappropriate to remove the veil if (line 93) the act itself becomes an obstacle to the recognition of the glory of the Beloved. Thus in this mutual process of Revela- For that reason, Bahá’u’lláh says that tion and of search, advancement, and if the glory and beauty of the Ḥúríyyih acceptance by the people, the veils become fully manifest, the whole of between God and His creation will be creation will be rendered unconscious, lifted. as the recognition of the true station of Next we need to address another the Manifestations of God would be allegorical meaning of the unveiling: beyond the capacity of the generality when the unveiling is not appropriate of humankind: “If you remove the veil since there is lack of capacity and read- from the countenance of what you have iness on the side of people. Bahá’u’lláh observed, all existence will vanish in revealed His station as the Manifesta- the twinkling of an eye” (“Ode of the tion of God—“Him Whom God shall Dove” line 123). In fact, we discover in make manifest”—to the Bábís short- the Bahá’í Writings that even the Man- ly before He moved from Baghdad ifestations of the past were not able to Constantinople. The Mathnaví of to fully comprehend the magnitude Bahá’u’lláh was revealed in Constan- of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation: “None tinople when the majority of the Bábís among the Manifestations of old, ex- were still unaware of His station and cept to a prescribed degree, hath ever a clear separation between Him and completely apprehended the nature of Yahyá had not taken place. Yet in Con- this Revelation” (Bahá’u’lláh, qtd. in stantinople the time for the emphatic Shoghi Eff endi, God Passes By 99). separation—what would take place Thus, as we have noted, the Báb also in Adrianople—was getting close. gradually “unveiled” His true station. So perhaps the following verse in the At fi rst, He alluded to Himself as the Mathnaví refers to this process: Gate to the Hidden Imam; after some years, He revealed Himself as the O Countenance of God, emerge Hidden Imam, and, subsequently, as a from behind the veil Prophet with a station equal to that of so that the sun will dawn from the Muḥammad. Finally, He unveiled His West. station of Lordship (rubúbíyyah). This 26 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

process is represented analogically by us from being able to stare directly at the act of gradually removing a veil in it with the naked eye or to discern its accordance with the capacity or pre- essential reality. In brief, the transcen- paredness of the people to accept, by dence of God and His unknowable Es- degrees, the ultimate loftiness of the sence are eternally beyond any exact or station of the Báb as the Primal Point. complete human comprehension. The same revelatory methodology is repeated in Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation. R We can appropriately infer that in the Tablet of the Maiden, the lifting of the Bahá’ís believe that the attributes of hem of the veil from the shoulder of the the unknowable Essence that is the Ḥúríyyih most probably alludes to the Creator become revealed through the initial and careful disclosure of the true intermediation of the Manifestations— station of Bahá’u’lláh while He was in progressively and in accord with the Baghdad, during the period when this capacity and preparedness of human- tablet was revealed. kind at a given point in history. In Occasionally, in Bahá’u’lláh’s writ- light of this belief, we can appreciate ings, the meaning of the veil and of the that the revelatory process requires the unveiling becomes more complicated timeliness or gradualness with which and intricate, thereby necessitating the successive revelations educate hu- that we acquire knowledge about the mankind about spiritual truth and how philosophical context of these images. that truth can best become manifest in An example of this complexity occurs human action and governance. when the veil is used as a positive In the same vein, in this tablet the symbol of something that cannot be beauty of the Ḥúríyyih—symbolizing removed. For example, a well-known the names and attributes of God—is Islamic ḥadíth portrays God as being gradually unveiled. First Bahá’u’lláh hidden behind seventy-thousand veils removes the hem of the veil from the of light,21 a metaphor or conceit in- shoulder of the Ḥúríyyih; later He fur- tended to convey the notion that God’s ther reveals Her beauty by exposing glory and splendor are so powerful and Her breast. This gradual unveiling, overwhelming as to prevent any created we might thus presume, signifi es that being from beholding Him, in the same while the time for full revelation of the way the brightness of the sun prevents exalted beauty and glory of the Most 21 The “Ḥadíth of the Veils” has Great Spirit had not yet arrived, it was been variously recorded and translated, but gradually approaching. all versions allude to the inaccessibility of In this sense, the unveiling of the any complete knowledge of God. One of Ḥúríyyih would seem to represent the better explications of the ḥadíth is in something akin to Bahá’u’lláh’s an- Science in the Qur’án by Sayyid Rami Al nouncement of His revelation: fi rst, to Rifai, where he compares this ḥadíth to the the near ones in Baghdad in the Garden “verse of light” in the Qur’án 24:35 (16). Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 27

of Riḍván; a few years later, more the hallmark of the other tablets is the openly and forcefully in Adrianople to festivity and joy emanating from the the kings and rulers of the world; and, announcement of Bahá’u’lláh’s station fi nally, in ‘Akká, with the Kitáb-i-Aq- and the exalted tenor and jubilation das disclosing the full splendor of a that prevail in the Garden of Riḍván. blueprint for a world commonwealth— In these tablets, there is the playing the New Jerusalem made manifest on of music (in the Ḥúr-i-`Ujáb) and the earth in the plentitude of its glory and off ering of wine and dances of joy (in its redemptive powers for humankind. the Lawḥ-i-Subḥána Rabbí-al-A‘lá). In the poetic Hili Hili Yá Bishárat, each of ACT TWO: the verses ends with the phrase, “Has- THE HEIGHTS OF JOY AND ten, hasten, hasten, O Glad Tidings!” DEPTHS OF SORROW Similarly, in the Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l- Khuld, the appearance of the Youth In the second act of the dramatic ap- of Paradise and the Maid of Heaven is pearances of the Ḥúríyyih—in those celebrated with the greeting “Glad Tid- tablets revealed around 1863—we wit- ings!” echoed more than thirty times. ness intense heights of joy, as well as But returning to our central theme, the depths of despair. On the one hand, let us examine a few of these joyous there is a clear atmosphere of jubilance, and blissful tablets, as they inform us a reversal of the tragic crisis evident in further about the image of the Ḥúríyy- the previous stage. On the other hand, a ih, especially as this fi gure personifi es number of tablets express intense feel- “the Most Great Spirit.” In discuss- ings of foreboding and sorrow. ing the impact of the Revelation of In this second period, the Ḥúríyyih Bahá’u’lláh, Adib Taherzadeh makes appears in the Lawḥ-i-Ḥúr-i-`Ujáb, the following comments concerning the Lawḥ-i-Subḥána Rabbí-al-A‘lá, the signifi cance of the image of the the Hili Hili Yá Bishárat, the Tablet Most Great Spirit, or the Ḥúríyyih: of the Holy Mariner, the Bulbul-i- Firáq, the Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l-Khuld, The Most Great Spirit is therefore and the Súriy-i-Qalam. Even though the begetter of the Holy Spirit and two of these tablets—the Tablet of the Revealer of God’s attributes to the Holy Mariner and the Bulbul-i- man. Through It all Revelations Firáq—foretell the diffi culties that will have been sent down and all cre- affl ict Bahá’u’lláh in the near future,22 ated things called into being. The 22 The “supreme crisis Bahá’u’lláh “Most Great Spirit” which has Himself designated as the Ayyám-i-Shidad existed from eternity and which (Days of Stress), during which ‘the most will exist for eternity had nev- grievous veil’ was torn asunder, and the er before revealed Itself direct- ‘most great separation’ was irrevocably ly to mankind. God had waited eff ected” (Shoghi Eff endi, God Passes By for millions of years for man to 163). 28 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

develop spiritually and intellec- the reality of the Manifestation of God tually to a point where he could after its disappearance. receive this Most Great Revela- The disappearance of the Mani- tion. Bahá’u’lláh has declared that festation of God—the decline in the this was indeed God’s purpose in effi cacy of an Era or Dispensation— creating man. (Revelation , vol. 4, can be likened to the veiling of the 133) Ḥúríyyih after She has been unveiled. Indeed, in the Bahá’í Writings, we come across instances where the T L--S R-- Ḥúríyyih becomes veiled again after A‘ T L--Ḥ--‘U: She has unveiled Herself, or where the F J F decline of religion is represented by Her return to the heavenly realm af- In the Lawḥ-i-Subḥána Rabbí-al- ter Her descent to earth. For example, A‘lá,23 the sorrows of tribulation and in the tablets of Ḥúríyyih and Ru’yá, separation expressed in the Tablet of Bahá’u’lláh portrays the return of the the Holy Mariner and in the Bulbul- unconscious or lifeless Ḥúríyyih to i-Firáq are overshadowed by the glad the celestial realm from which She tidings of the new revelation. One had descended.24 We can infer that senses from the outset that this tablet most probably these conceits allude to may well mark the commencement the cyclical appearances of the Mani- of a time of felicity and celebration, festations of God. a dominant theme in other tablets of In contrast, in the Tablet of the Won- this period. drous Maiden (Lawḥ-i-Ḥúr-i-‘Ujáb), The tablet begins with the divine revealed in Baghdad, the Ḥúríyyih voice consoling the “Letter of Eterni- appears on earth and removes Her ty” (Bahá’u’lláh), exhorting Him not veil. With a “lightning glance,” She to be disturbed by the trials and dif- turns Her gaze to “the dwellers of the fi culties of the world, but, instead, to realm of dust,” lets them behold “a ra- put on the sandals of detachment and ven lock,” and passes round in “cups step onto the summit on high. If He and chalices” the “wine of life.” She were to do this, He is told, He would then sings a song “in praise of Her Be- hear clearly the call of God announc- loved” with “harp and lute,” causing ing that the Ḥúríyyih of Eternity has the hearts to melt in consuming fl ames. once more descended. In wonderful- Then She smiles, causing “the hearts ly poetic and imaginative language, of them who know” to cry and weep. the tablet describes the process of But when the doubters and those who spiritual regeneration brought about “boast of self” deny Her truth, She through the periodic reappearance of sorrowfully “repair[s] to Her abode,”

23 For the original version, see Ish- 24 See Kamálí in Safíniy-i ‘Irfán, ráq-i-Khávarí, Ghanj-i-Sháyigán 61–64. vol. 18, p. 159. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 29 anguished, uttering words of rebuke, the Lawḥ-i-Subḥána Rabbí-al-A‘lá, warning that the mysteries of God’s Bahá’u’lláh associates the appearance scriptures will be concealed until the of the Ḥúríyyih with the Qur’ánic sura Promised One appears: appropriately titled “The Resurrec- “Why do ye gainsay Me, O people tion,” particularly with the verse re- of the Book?” How astounding is garding creation: “Then he was a clot; this, how astounding indeed! so He created [him], then made [him] “Claim ye to be the guided and perfect” (75:38).26 Similarly, each verse the loved ones of the Lord?” By of this poetic tablet (Lawḥ-i-Subḥá- God! How astounding a lie, how na Rabbí-al-A‘lá ) ends with a phrase astounding indeed! from this same Qur’ánic verse: “cre- “O my friends,” She said, “We ated and made perfect.” A few exam- shall not come again,”—how ples demonstrate how Bahá’u’lláh has wondrous a return, how wondrous incorporated this idea into the tablet as indeed!— He alludes to the recurring pattern of “But will conceal God’s secrets in the appearance and subsequent disap- His Scriptures and His Books,” as pearance of the Ḥúríyyih in terms of bidden by One mighty and bounte- Her veiling and unveiling: ous indeed! “Nor shall ye fi nd Me till the And hear the call of God with Promised One appear on Judge- a manifest melody from the con- ment Day.” By My life! How cealed [realm], Praised be my astounding an abasement, how Exalted Lord. Say: the Ḥúríyyih astounding indeed! (Bahá’u’lláh, of Eternity descended once again Days of Remembrance 60) to face this luminous most sweet Moon: praised be the One Who Another possible interpretation derives created [Her] and made perfect . . . . from the applicability of these allusions Once [more] She disclosed Her to the history of the Bahá’í Dispensa- face and once again She covered tion—the veiling or disappearance of it: praised be the One Who created the Ḥúríyyih might represent the peri- [Her] and made [Her] perfect. od between the martyrdom of the Báb in 1850 and the subsequent unveiling Then did the essences of spirit of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh in in their eternal bodies dance by 1863. virtue of what appeared and yet In addition, inasmuch as the Bahá’í again became concealed Writings assert that each appearance of a new Manifestation of God leads to the resurrection of humankind,25 in 26 This and all citations of the Qur’án are from The Holy Qur’án, trans- 25 For example, see Bahá’u’lláh, lated by Abdullah Yusuf Ali, as modifi ed Kitáb-i-Íqán 32–34. by Hatcher, Hemmat, and Hemmat. 30 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

. . . and the minds of holy ones concealment from thy luminous were entranced by what descended face and shine forth above the and [then] ascended. (Provisional horizon of creation as the black- translation) eyed Damsel, that haply the most great veil may be torn away from In this tablet, the theme of the cyclical the eyes of these people and they appearance and disappearance of the may behold the Scene of transcen- Ḥúríyyih clearly represents the advent dent glory, the Beauty of God, the of the Manifestations of God. In the Most Holy, the Most Powerful, the Sura of the Pen, as we will see in the Best-Beloved. (Bahá’u’lláh, Days next section, Bahá’u’lláh captures the of Remembrance 133) joyous occasion of the reappearance of the Maiden of Heaven, especially at This is a metaphorical description of this specifi c point in history, the Day of Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His station God prophesied in all previous revela- and mission in the garden of Riḍván tions and fulfi lled by the Revelation of immediately prior to His departure Bahá’u’lláh. from Baghdad, surely one of the most momentous events in the history of the T S--Q Faith. Yet at that time, not many were capable of appreciating the true station In the Súriy-i-Qalam (Sura of the of Bahá’u’lláh and the ultimate signifi - Pen),27 revealed in Adrianople around cance of this event. 1865 on the occasion of the celebra- Once in Adrianople, the time had tion of Riḍván, the Ḥúríyyih is in- arrived for a forthright and unambigu- formed that the time for Her return has ous public proclamation of the station arrived: of Bahá’u’lláh, not only to the Bábís, but to the world at large as He penned informative, enlightening, and pro- O Pen! Announce unto the Maid phetic epistles to the kings and rulers of Paradise: “By God! This day of the world. Therefore, as opposed is thy day. Come forth as thou to the Tablet of the Maiden in which willest, and array thyself as thou only partial disclosure or unveiling of pleasest with the broidered robe the beauty of the Ḥúríyyih takes place, of names and the silken vesture in this tablet He calls upon Her to dis- of immortality. Emerge then from close Her full glory. thine eternal habitation even as the As the Sura of the Pen continues, sun that dawneth from the counte- Bahá’u’lláh thus instructs the Ḥúríyy- nance of Bahá. Descend from thy ih of Bahá to depart from the abode lofty heights and, standing betwixt of Eternity—leaving the kingdom of earth and heaven, lift the veil of names on Her right and the dominion 27 Original published in Áthár-i- of attributes on Her left—and, by His Qalam-i-A`lá 570–77. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 31

permission, to arise like the dawn from all-subduing and self-subsisting the east of His inviolability, disrobed sovereignty. (Days of Remem- of all that was created in the realm of brance 114) Command and divested of all that ex- isted in the kingdom of Creation, so We thus observe in this sequence of that, by disclosing Her ravishing beau- events how the Ḥúríyyih is advised to ty, the wondrous visage of God would emerge and to ascend beyond the realms appear to all creation. He then advises of names and attributes and above the the Ḥúríyyih to rise from the dawning dominions of Creation and Command. place of paradise with the beauty of Bahá’u’lláh, the Pen, thus exhorts the the Most Merciful: “[L]et thy fragrant Ḥúríyyih—the Most Great Spirit—to locks fl ow upon thy bosom,” He en- appear in the most sublime station be- joins Her, “that the perfume of the gar- cause “the Beloved of the Worlds is ment of thy most gracious Lord may be come!” (Days of Remembrance 114). diff used throughout the world” (Days This command doubtless alludes of Remembrance 114). to the unique station of this Day, the He thus cautions Her not to cover or Day of Days, the turning point in hu- veil the ornaments of Her beauty; then, man history and the culmination of He advises Her in more detail how to all previous revelations, a period of adorn Her beauteous form and com- transformation and fulfi llment, the mands Her to off er in white cups the magnifi cence of which the Prophets of red wine of God’s Beauty to the con- old could not fully comprehend, even course of Eternity: though They longed for its advent. The implication is that had humanity, Present thyself, then, before the in the past, experienced the bounty of Throne with thy locks fl owing, attaining the presence of the Prophets thine arms bejewelled, thy counte- or Messengers of God to the same ex- nance blushing, thy cheeks aglow, tent as in this promised Day of God, and thine eyes adorned, and take when the Most Great Spirit Itself is ap- hold of the snow-white chalice in pearing to them unveiled, they would My most exalted Name. Proff er not have found it bearable, let alone then to the denizens of the realm of comprehensible. eternity the crimson wine of Mine As Bahá’u’lláh explains, the divine all-glorious Beauty, that haply rationale for the gradual nature of pro- the concourse of Revelation may gressive revelation is to prevent the sanctify their souls in this most au- kind of cataclysm that would result gust Festival by virtue of this pure if the sun were to appear of a sudden draught, and that they may emerge in its full midday splendor, causing from behind the veil of conceal- the world to be “dismayed and over- ment through the power of Mine powered” rather than enlightened and almighty and all-powerful, Mine assisted: 32 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

Know of a certainty that in and witnesses paradise itself and all every Dispensation the light of created within it in motion and eager to Divine Revelation hath been attain the presence of God. Then anoth- vouchsafed unto men in direct er call is raised announcing that indeed proportion to their spiritual capac- the Beloved of the world has appeared: ity. Consider the sun. How feeble its rays the moment it appeareth By God! I am the Maid of Heav- above the horizon. How gradually en, abiding in the midmost heart its warmth and potency increase as of Paradise, hidden behind the veil it approacheth its zenith, enabling of the All-Merciful and concealed meanwhile all created things to from the eyes of men. From time adapt themselves to the growing immemorial I remained shrouded intensity of its light. How steadi- in the veil of sanctity beneath the ly it declineth until it reacheth its Tabernacle of Grandeur. I heard a setting point. Were it, all of a sud- most sweet call from the right hand den, to manifest the energies latent of the throne of my Lord, the Most within it, it would, no doubt, cause Exalted, and I saw Paradise itself injury to all created things. . . . In set in motion and all its inhabitants like manner, if the Sun of Truth stirred up in their longing to attain were suddenly to reveal, at the ear- the presence of God, the All-Glo- liest stages of its manifestation, the rious. Whereupon another call was full measure of the potencies which raised: “By God! The Beloved of the providence of the Almighty the worlds is come! Blessed be the hath bestowed upon it, the earth of one who attaineth His presence, human understanding would waste and beholdeth His face, and giveth away and be consumed; for men’s ear to His most holy, His most hearts would neither sustain the in- glorious and beloved utterance.” tensity of its revelation, nor be able (Days of Remembrance 114–15) to mirror forth the radiance of its light. Dismayed and overpowered, In this proclamation, reminiscent of they would cease to exist. (Glean- a passage in the Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ ings 38:1) where the Báb declares Himself to be the Ḥúríyyih (Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’ 126), Probably the most important rev- the Ḥúríyyih would seem to symbolize elation in this tablet occurs when the eternal Reality of the Manifesta- Bahá’u’lláh declares that He Himself tions of God in Their station of “essen- is the Ḥúríyyih, that no eye in exis- tial unity.” tence hath witnessed Him as He has In the Kitáb-i-Íqán, Bahá’u’lláh been eternally hidden behind the veil discusses at length this station of uni- of inviolability (‘iṣmat). At this point, ty, the same Reality that recurrently He hears the sweet voice of His Lord appears in the world of creation with Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 33 each successive dispensation or era. compared to bygone ages, humanity Bahá’u’lláh asserts, will, in this Day, develop the capacity and preparedness to witness the un- These Manifestations of God have veiled glory of God. Or stated in sym- each a twofold station. One is the bolic terms, this is the time when the station of pure abstraction and es- unveiled beauty of the Ḥúríyyih will be sential unity. In this respect, if thou displayed for all to behold. callest them all by one name, and In this same context, we can also dost ascribe to them the same attri- appreciate allusions in the Writings bute, thou hast not erred from the to replacing the garment or covering truth. Even as He hath revealed: the hurís with a new one. For exam- “No distinction do We make be- ple, in one tablet, Bahá’u’lláh speaks tween any of His Messengers!” of clothing the hurís with His words. For they one and all summon the Metaphorically, we can infer that He is people of the earth to acknowledge adorning spiritual attributes with new the Unity of God, and herald unto meanings, understandings appropriate them the Kawthar of an infi nite to the enlightenment of people of this grace and bounty. They are all in- day and age: “I have summoned the vested with the robe of Propheth- Maids of Heaven (hurís) to emerge ood, and honoured with the mantle from behind the veil of concealment, of glory. . . . These Countenances and have clothed them with these are the recipients of the Divine words of Mine—words of consum- Command, and the day-springs of mate power and wisdom” (Gleanings His Revelation. This Revelation is 153:7). exalted above the veils of plural- In still another tablet, the Ḥúríyyih ity and the exigencies of number. is summoned to appear in any type of (Kitáb-i-Íqán ¶161) garment She wishes, but is cautioned not to divest Herself of the robe of glo- It is in this sense that the appearance of ry, a garment that infuses the grace of each of the Manifestations of God can God in the plentitude of its power into be symbolized by the appearance and the whole of creation: subsequent unveiling of the Ḥuríyyih, Their eternal divine aspect. Say: Step out of Thy holy cham- From the perspective of progressive ber, O Maid of Heaven, inmate of revelation as articulated in the Kitáb- the Exalted Paradise! Drape thy- i-Íqán by Bahá’u’lláh, the current era self in whatever manner pleaseth is designated as the long-promised Thee in the silken Vesture of Im- Day of God, the Day of Resurrection mortality, and put on, in the name when people stand in God’s presence of the All-Glorious, the broidered and, fi guratively speaking, behold God Robe of Light. Hear, then, the directly (liqá’u’lláh). Consequently, sweet, the wondrous accent of the 34 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

Voice that cometh from the Throne is lifted by the power and authority of of Thy Lord, the Inaccessible, the the new Revelation as unequivocal Most High. Unveil Thy face, and messages of fulfi llment and victory manifest the beauty of the black- are clearly heard. In this phase of the eyed Damsel, and suff er not the dramatic appearances of the Ḥúríyyih, servants of God to be deprived of there is a further departure from Her the light of Thy shining counte- veiled appearance as the relationship nance. . . . Beware that Thou di- between Her and Bahá’u’lláh unfolds vest not Thyself, Thou Who art the more completely. Indeed, this fi nal Essence of Purity, of Thy robe of stage concludes with a triumphant and eff ulgent glory. Nay, enrich Thy- joyous resolution to all the turmoil, tu- self increasingly, in the kingdom mult, and tragedy of the fi rst two stag- of creation, with the incorrupt- es. In the “Ode of the Dove,” we felt ible vestures of Thy God, that the Bahá’u’lláh’s sorrow as a result of the beauteous image of the Almighty separation from the Ḥúríyyih. In the may be refl ected through Thee in Tablet of the Holy Mariner, the hurís all created things and the grace of “bared their heads, rent their garments Thy Lord be infused in the plen- asunder, beat upon their faces, forgot itude of its power into the entire their joy, shed tears and smote with creation. (Gleanings 129:8) their hands upon their cheeks” in their grief because of the people’s inability to In the Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l-Khuld,28 recognize Bahá’u’lláh (Bahá’í Prayers we similarly read the following regard- 327). In both the Tablet of the Maiden ing the appearance of the Ḥúríyyih with and the Tablet of the Holy Mariner, we special splendor and beauty in this Day witness the death of the Ḥúríyyih as of God: “The Ḥúríyyih of beauty shone She “fell upon the dust and gave up the like the dawning of the sun from the spirit” (Bahá’í Prayers 326). The Bul- dawning place of the manifest morn! bul-i-Firáq foreshadows Bahá’u’lláh’s Praised be God! This is the Ḥúríyyih of exile from Baghdad and makes various Bahá! She hath arrived with wondrous other allusions to the unrelenting and beauty and appeared with an adoration egregious opposition by His enemies. that hath dumbfounded and enthralled But the principal tablets relating the minds of the near ones!” to the Ḥúríyyih in this fi nal stage of Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry—the Lawḥ-i- ACT THREE: Ru‘yá and the Súriy-i-Haykal—are A TRIUMPHANT RESOLUTION quite diff erent in tone and portray the authority and triumph of Bahá’u’lláh, In this third and fi nal stage, we note as we will see in the following brief as- how the weight of Bahá’u’lláh’s sorrow sessment of how such changes play out in these two works. 28 Khávarí, Risáliy-i-Ayyám-i-Tis`ih 92–99. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 35

T L--R’ of each one of these symbolic attri- butes concluding with the phrase, “no The predominant theme in the Lawḥ- mortal eye hath ever seen Her like!” i-Ru’yá (Tablet of the Vision)29 is the Perhaps most revealing in this vision climax of the revelation and manifesta- of the Ḥúríyyih is that the disdain She tion of the names and attributes of God. formerly expressed in the “Ode of the Revealed in 1873 on the anniversary of Dove” in response to the yearnings the birth of the Báb, the Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá of the seeker (Bahá’u’lláh) has now portrays the unveiled appearance of been replaced by complete and total the Ḥúríyyih as Bahá’u’lláh comments aff ection. on the splendor of the names and attri- She places Her arm around the neck butes of God that Her beauty and com- of “Her Lord” and gives Him an em- portment make manifest. brace, which He returns. A theme of In this tablet, Bahá’u’lláh power- union—or, more aptly, reunion—with fully emphasizes the greatness of His the Maid of Heaven is clear. At this Revelation, the intensity and grandeur stage, Bahá’u’lláh as Revelator has of which are symbolized by the appear- assumed His full stature and revealed ance of the Ḥúríyyih in the fullness of the loftiness of His station—His place Her splendor. She is dressed in a long upon the Throne of Revelation. Where- white gown, “Her countenance as as once He was subordinate, He and bright as the full moon shining in the the Most Great Spirit are now united as midmost heaven” (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá ¶2). one. Or stated in another way, He has She then removes Her veil, whereupon become fully imbued with and insep- creation is “fl ooded with light”: arable from the Most Great Spirit. Not coincidentally, Bahá’u’lláh reveals this No sooner had She removed Her work shortly after—or possibly around veil than the heavens and the earth the same time as—He reveals the were fl ooded with light, as though Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Most Holy Book the ancient Essence had cast the and “the Mother Book of His Dispen- full splendor of His radiance upon sation.” Its revelation can be taken to Her. Exalted be the Lord Who symbolize—or to represent quite liter- fashioned Her; no mortal eye hath ally—the plenitude of the powers un- ever seen Her like! (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá leashed by Bahá’u’lláh to bring about ¶3) the reformation of humankind. So it is that, in exquisite and joy- Bahá’u’lláh then describes, one at a ous metaphoric language, Bahá’u’lláh time, certain features of Her body, to- portrays the smile of the Ḥúríyyih gether with Her movements and emo- while She encircles Him with no will tional disposition, with His description of Her own, orbiting Him as “glo- ry itself wait[s] upon Her, whilst the 29 Khávarí, Risáliy-i-Ayyám-i-Tis`ih kingdom of beauty follow[s] in Her 16–20. 36 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

wake” (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá ¶6). And in this hair cascading round Her snow- context, it is well worth noting that white neck, as though night and “glory” (jalál) and “beauty” (jamál) day had embraced in this glorious are two of the central attributes of God spot, this goal of all desire. Ex- portrayed in Sufi literature, the former alted be the Lord Who fashioned indicating divine attributes such as Her; no mortal eye hath ever seen grandeur, might, and power, and the Her like! (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá ¶5–7) latter referring to attributes like mercy, beauty, and kindness. As such, the si- In this tablet Bahá’u’lláh also al- multaneous association of the Ḥúríyyih ludes to the image of the veil: “Gaz- with the attributes of both majesty and ing upon Her face, We beheld a spot beauty is yet another indication of the concealed beneath the veil of Unity, fullness of the manifestation of God’s shining above the horizon of Her names and attributes in the Revelation brow.” Here we discover the usage of of Bahá’u’lláh. Note, for example, how a mystical term that needs particular the following verses allude at once to attention. “Unity” (waḥidiyyah), in Is- Her physical beauty—Her “winsome lamic mystical philosophy, alludes to ways,” “comely form,” and “jet black the manifestation of God’s names and hair” on Her “snow-white neck”— attributes, so, in the sense of this tradi- and to the “magnet of that Beauty” tion, the veil of Unity implies the veil (Bahá’u’lláh) that is the “true north” of names and attributes.30 Furthermore, towards which “love’s needle” points the “spot” or beauty mark can be taken through no will of its own: to represent the “Primal Point,” inas- much as the tablet is revealed on “the With no will or purpose of Her anniversary of the birth of My Herald, own, She moved and circled about, He Who extolled My praise, celebrat- as though love’s needle was drawn ed My sovereignty, and informed the by the magnet of that Beauty that people of the heaven of My Will, the shone resplendent before Her. Ex- ocean of My Purpose, and the daystar alted be the Lord Who fashioned of My Revelation. We exalted this Her; no mortal eye hath ever seen Day through the advent of that other Her like! Day whereon was revealed the hidden She stepped forth, and glory Secret, the treasured Mystery, and the itself waited upon Her, whilst the well-guarded Symbol” (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá kingdom of beauty followed in ¶17). Her wake, acclaiming Her won- Elucidated in another way, the “spot drous grace, Her winsome ways concealed beneath the veil of Unity” is and Her comely form. Exalted be the Point or transcendent source of the the Lord Who fashioned Her; no mortal eye hath ever seen Her like! 30 See Kamálí in Safíniy-i-‘Irfán, We beheld then Her jet-black vol. 20, p. 122, for further discussion of this subject. Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 37

Revelation which is hidden behind the symbolism underlying Bahá’u’lláh’s veil of names and attributes and thus use of the imagery of the Ḥúríyyih with obscured from the comprehension of what is, for our purposes, the climac- humankind. Indeed, the names and at- tic work—the Súriy-i-Haykal (Sura of tributes of God—which we can observe the Temple). The word haykal means and appreciate—are only allusions to “structure” or “temple”—in this case, that ineff able Essence expressed in a the “human temple,” or, in the context limited manner—namely, by images of this work, the Most Great Spirit and language we can comprehend. The manifest to humankind through a hu- transcendent Reality of the Ancient of man form or persona. Days will forever be concealed beyond Though Bahá’u’lláh originally re- the capacity or power of words, signs, vealed the Súriy-i-Haykal in Adriano- and symbols. ple, later in ‘Akká He had it transcribed Finally, even though in this tablet into the calligraphic form of a pentacle, the Ḥúríyyih’s extreme joy is mo- symbolic of the human body. In this mentarily halted by Her sympathy for confi guration were included epistles Bahá’u’lláh’s tribulations while im- He had formerly sent to fi ve prominent prisoned in ‘Akká, She does not trag- fi gures: Pope Pius IX, Napoleon III, ically decease, leave this world, or re- Czar Alexander II, Queen Victoria, and turn back to the realm from which She Násiri’d-Dín Sháh. descended. With compassion She asks Regarding the Maid of Heaven’s ap- Bahá’u’lláh to leave ‘Akká and move pearance in the Súriy-i-Haykal, Shoghi to regions that the people of names Eff endi has explained that in this work have never observed: “‘May all cre- Bahá’u’lláh is recounting how the ation be a ransom for Thine affl ictions, Maiden appeared to Him in a dream O King of earth and heaven! How vision while He was imprisoned in the long wilt Thou commit Thyself into Siyáh-Chál. Thus, we observe that in the hands of these people in the city of this tablet the Ḥúríyyih’s tidings focus ‘Akká? Hasten unto Thine other do- on Her announcement about the station minions—realms whereon the eyes of of Bahá’u’lláh and Her admonition to the people of names have never fallen.’ the world of creation that all must rec- Whereat We smiled” (Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá ognize His station. ¶15). According to Shoghi Eff endi, this The language of this tablet is charac- statement foreshadows Bahá’u’lláh’s terized by a tone of majesty and power, ascension (God Passes By 221). sanguinity and victory. The sorrowful moments observed in several of the pre- T S--H vious tablets are replaced by the joyous announcement of Bahá’u’lláh’s station We conclude our concise but hope- and mission, together with the emphat- fully informative examination of the ic assurance of the ultimate victory of complex and sometimes abstruse His Cause. This triumph is symbolized, 38 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

we may conclude, by the perfect man- In terms of our examination of the ifestation of divine attributes in the three stages of the appearance of the human temple of Bahá’u’lláh. His in- Ḥúríyyih, the Súriy-i-Haykal can be clusion in this calligraphic design of understood to represent the climax of His exhortation to the kings and rulers Her function as the personifi cation of of the world to manifest in their own the Most Great Spirit in the works of personage and governance these same Bahá’u’lláh. divine attributes may well represent Most students of the Bahá’í writ- the goal of transforming the body poli- ings are aware of the appearance of tic of the world of humanity. the Ḥúríyyih to Bahá’u’lláh in the As we read this tablet, we can ap- Siyáh-Chál. During a dream vision, preciate that while the human aspect He receives the fi rst intimation of His of Bahá’u’lláh feels pain, whether Revelation through the appearance and physical or emotional or spiritual, He announcement of the Ḥúríyyih. This also can wield immense power where- vision signals that the time has come with to change the hearts and minds of for Bahá’u’lláh to assume His inherent humankind. Taherzadeh notes, “This station, though He will conceal this Tablet is replete with glad-tidings of fact until revelation is timely—fi rst in the appearance of a band of devoted the Garden of Riḍván and later to the believers whom Bahá’u’lláh refers to world at large in the epistles He begins as the new race of men” (Revelation sending to the kings and rulers while vol. 3, 135). Consequently, in this tab- He abides in Adrianople. We can read let we read the announcement to the His description of this vision in the world of the astounding transformation Súriy-i-Haykal as translated by Shoghi of the human body politic “this Youth” Eff endi: (Bahá’u’lláh) is going to bring about: While engulfed in tribulations Erelong shall God draw forth, out I heard a most wondrous, a most of the bosom of power, the hands sweet voice, calling above My of ascendancy and might, and shall head. Turning My face, I beheld raise up a people who will arise a Maiden—the embodiment of to win victory for this Youth and the remembrance of the name of who will purge mankind from the My Lord—suspended in the air defi lement of the outcast and the before Me. So rejoiced was She ungodly. These hands will gird up in Her very soul that Her counte- their loins to champion the Faith nance shone with the ornament of of God, and will, in My name the the good pleasure of God, and Her Self-Subsistent, the Mighty, sub- cheeks glowed with the brightness due the peoples and kindreds of of the All-Merciful. Betwixt earth the earth. (Summons ¶34) and heaven She was raising a call which captivated the hearts and Bahá’u’lláh’s Symbolic Use of the Veiled Ḥúríyyih 39

minds of men. She was imparting complete. The Maid of Heaven is sum- to both My inward and outer being moned to become unconcealed: “O tidings which rejoiced My soul, Maid of Heaven! Step forth from the and the souls of God’s honoured chambers of paradise and announce servants (Bahá’u’lláh, Summons unto the people of the world: By the ¶6). righteousness of God! He Who is the Best-Beloved of the world—He Who Bahá’u’lláh continues by describing hath ever been the Desire of every how the Ḥúríyyih points a fi nger at His perceiving heart, the Object of the head and announces His advent to the adoration of all that are in heaven and whole of creation in such exalted and on earth, and the Cynosure of the for- glorious language that it is well worth mer and the latter generation—is now recounting here: come!” (Summons ¶100). So it is that in this tablet Bahá’u’lláh Pointing with Her fi nger unto invites the Maiden to appear with My head, She addressed all who the adornment of the celestial Realm are in heaven and all who are on (láhút) and off er the wine of the heav- earth, saying: By God! This is the enly Dominion (jabarút). And if She Best-Beloved of the worlds, and meets with no response, She should not yet ye comprehend not. This is be sorrowful, but rather return to Her the Beauty of God amongst you, tabernacles of grandeur where She will and the power of His sovereignty fi nd a tribe whose faces shine like the within you, could ye but under- sun and who praise God with joy. Such stand. This is the Mystery of God sanguine and joyous reversal in the and His Treasure, the Cause of drama of the Maid of Heaven denotes a God and His glory unto all who turning point in human history: this is a are in the kingdoms of Revelation Day that will not be followed by night. and of creation, if ye be of them This hope-fi lled assurance thus that perceive. This is He Whose marks the conclusion to our examina- Presence is the ardent desire of the tion of this entrancing fi gure, the sym- denizens of the Realm of eternity, bolism of Her appearance, and the rele- and of them that dwell within the vance of understanding Her function in Tabernacle of glory, and yet from the works of Bahá’u’lláh. While there His Beauty do ye turn aside. (Sum- is so much more to learn from studying mons ¶7) the allegorical nature of the entire tablet as it portrays the dialogue between the In the Súriy-i-Haykal, the process of Ḥúríyyih and Bahá’u’lláh, especially progressive revelation of the station as She informs Him what powers and and mission of Bahá’u’lláh symbolized capacities He must employ if He is to by the appearance of the Ḥúríyyih and succeed in His arduous mission, it will the manifestation of Her own glory is suffi ce our objective to conclude with 40 The Journal of Bahá’í Studies 29.3 2019

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