Four Valleys (Bahá'í)

The "Four Valleys" (PerB|چهار وادی "Chahár Vádí") is a book written in Persian by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. The "Seven Valleys" (PerB| هفت وادی "Haft-Vádí") was also written by Bahá'u'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.

"The Four Valleys"

The "Four Valleys" was written around 1857 in Baghdad, in response to questions of Shaykh `Abdu'r-Raḥmán, the "honored and indisputable leader" of the Qádiríyyih Order of Sufism.cite book |first=Shoghi |last=Effendi |authorlink=Shoghi Effendi |year=1944 |title=God Passes By |publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA |id=ISBN 0877430209 |url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/ | pages = pp. 122] He never identified as a Bahá'í, but was known to his followers as having high respect and admiration for Bahá'u'lláh. [http://bahai-library.com/?file=wilmette_chahar_vadi_notes Wilmette Institute faculty notes] ]

In the book, Bahá'u'lláh describes four types of seekers of divine understanding: "Those who progress in mystic wayfaring are of four kinds."

The four are, roughly:
*Those who seek via obedience to the revealed law
*Those who seek via reason and the mind
*Those who seek via their heart and love of God
*Those who seek using all three

This last is considered the highest or truest form of seeking. (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 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: Mystical Writings, knowledge, divine philosophy, mysteries of creation, medicine, alchemy, etc.

Throughout the book Bahá'u'lláh is exhorting men to education, goodly character and divine virtues.

ee also

*"The Seven Valleys"

Notes

References

*cite book
author= Bahá'u'lláh
authorlink=Bahá'u'lláh
origyear=1856-63
year=1991
title=The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys
publisher=Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location=Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id=ISBN 0877432279
url=http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SVFV/

*cite book
first = Shoghi
last = Effendi
authorlink = Shoghi Effendi
year = 1944
title = God Passes By
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location = Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id = ISBN 0877430209
url = http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/se/GPB/

*cite book
author = Hatcher, J.S.
year = 1997
title = The Ocean of His Words: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Bahá'u'lláh
publisher = Bahá'í Publishing Trust
location = Wilmette, Illinois, USA
id = ISBN 0877432597

*cite book
last = Taherzadeh
first = A.
year = 1976
title = The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdad 1853-63
publisher = George Ronald
location = Oxford, UK
id = ISBN 0853982708

External links

* [http://bahai9.com/Four_Valleys Compendium on the Four Valleys]
* [http://bahai-library.com/?file=savi_will_knowledge_4valleys Will, Knowledge, and Love as Explained in Baha'u'llah's Four Valleys] by Julio Savi