The Seven Valleys

The Seven Valleys is a book written by Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith. It describes the soul's journey through seven stages of inner transformation, from the abode of self to the realms of nearness to God.  The metaphors within the text point beyond themselves towards a realm that can only be described "heart to heart". In parallel with this process my paintings harmonise outer representational forms with abstract qualities of light, colour and pattern that draw the viewer into an inner space of contemplation.

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Search

"At every step, aid from the Invisible Realm will attend him and the heat of his search will grow."

Baha'u'llah

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Love

"In this city the heaven of ecstasy is upraised and the world-illuming sun of yearning shineth, and the fire of love is ablaze; and when the fire of love is ablaze, it burneth to ashes the harvest of reason."

Baha'u'llah

Sun Dance

Blaze of Sacrifice

At every moment he offereth a hundred lives in the path of the Loved One.

Baha'u'llah



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Knowledge

"They have passed beyond the worlds of attributes and made their dwelling-place in the shadow of the Essence."

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"Split the atom's heart, and lo! Within it thou wilt find a sun."
Qur'an

Sun Atoms

"And there he beheld his beloved with a lamp in her hand,searching for a ring she had lost."

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Unity

"He looketh on all things with the eye of oneness, and seeth the brilliant rays of the divine sun shining from the dawning-point of Essence on all created things, and the lights of singleness reflected over all creation."

Eternal Dawn



Surging Ocean
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"Your souls are as waves on the sea of the spirit; although each individual is a distinct wave, the ocean is one, all are united."

Sea of the Spirit

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Contentment

"From sorrow he turneth to bliss, from anguish to joy. 
His grief and mourning yeild to delight and rapture."

"Although to outward view,the wayfarers in this Valley may dwell upon the dust,
yet inwardly they are throned in the heights of mystic meaning."

Valley of Contentment

Through the power of Thy transcendent might lift me up unto the heaven of Thy holiness,
O Source of my being.


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Wonderment

"How many a mystic tree hath this whirlwind of wonderment snatched by the roots."

Woodland of Wonderment

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"The bird of her soul escaped! Free of the body and the grieving, Flying in a vast region that was itself, Where it could sing its truth!"

RUMI

 

Spirit Released

Spirit Released

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" To the court of holiness I summon thee; abide therein that thou mayest live in peace for evermore."

Court of Infinity


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Nothingness

"When the true lover and devoted friend reacheth to the presence of the Beloved, the sparking beauty of the Loved One and the fire of the lover's heart will kindle a blaze and burn away all veils and wrappings. Yea all he hath , from heart to skin, will be set aflamre, so that nothing will remain save the friend."

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BAHAI POSTERS 

Part II From the Persian

WELCOME HOME
1. O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MIND TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR!
The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal.



EVERLASTING GARDEN
2. O SON OF SPIRIT!
The bird seeketh its nest; the nightingale the charm of the rose; whilst those birds, the hearts of men, content with transient dust, have strayed far from their eternal nest, and with eyes turned towards the slough of heedlessness are bereft of the glory of the divine presence. Alas! How strange and pitiful; for a mere cupful, they have turned away from the billowing seas of the Most High, and remained far from the most effulgent horizon.



GARDEN OF THY HEART
3. O FRIEND!
In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the noghtingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold.






BANISHED ENVY
6. O SON OF EARTH!
Know, verily, the heart wherein the least remnant of envy yet lingers, shall never attain My everlasting dominion, nor inhale the sweet savours of holiness breathing from My Kingdom of sanctity.



BURNISHED HEART
8. O SON OF GLORY!
Be swift in the path of holiness, and enter the heaven of communion with Me. Cleanse thy heart with the burnish of the spirit, and hasten to the court of the Mosy High.



VEILLESS BEAUTY
9. O FLEETING SHADOW!
Pass beyond the baser stages of doubt and rise to the exalted heights of certainty. Open the eye of truth, that thou mayest behold the veilless Beauty and exclaim: Hallowed be the Lord, the most excellent of all creators!



CLOSE ONE EYE
12. O MAN OF TWO VISIONS! Close one eye and open the other. Close one to the world and all that is therein, and open the other to the hallowed beauty of the Beloved.



HIDDEN BEAUTY
13. O MY CHILDREN !
I fear lest, bereft of the melody of the dove of heaven, ye will sink back to the shades of utter loss, and, never having gazed upon the beauty of the rose, return to water and clay.



TRANSIENT BEAUTY
14. O FRIENDS! Abandon not the everlasting beauty for a beauty that must die, and set not your affections on this mortal world of dust.




MYRIADS
16. O ESSENCE OF NEGLIGENCE!
Myriads of mystic tongues find utterance in one speech, and myriads of hidden mysteries are revealed in a single melody; yet, alas, there is no ear to hear, nor heart to understand.



GATES THAT OPEN ON THE PLACELESS
17. O COMRADES!
The gates that open on the Placeless stand wide and the habitation of the loved one is adorned with the loves' blood, yet all but a few remain bereft of this celestial city, and even of these few, none but the smallest handful hath been found with a pure heart and sanctified spirit.



PARADISE OF THE PLACELESS
18.O YE DWELLERS IN THE HIGHEST PARADISE!
Proclaim unto the children of assurance that within the realms of holiness, nigh unto the celestial paradise, a new garden hath appeared, round which circle the denizens of the realm on high and the immortal dwellers of the exalted paradise. Strive, then, that ye may attain that station, that ye may unravel the mysteries of love from its wind-flowers and learn the secret of divine and consummate wisdom from its eternal fruits. Solaced are the eyes of them that enter and abide therein!



PALIMPSEST
22. O SON OF DESIRE!
The learned and the wise have for long years striven and failed to attain the presence of the All-Glorious; they have spent their lives in search of Him, yet did not behold the beauty of His countenance. Thou without the least effort didst attain thy goal, and without search hast obtained the object of thy quest. Yet, notwithstanding, thou didst remain so wrapt in the veil of self, that thine eyes beheld not the beauty of the Beloved, nor did thy hand touch the hem of His robe.



IMPRISIONED BEAUTY
23. O DWELLERS IN THE CITY OF LOVE!
Mortal blasts have beset the everlasting candle, and the beauty of the celestial Youth is veiled in the darkness of dust. The chief of the monarchs of love is wronged by the people of tyranny and the dove of holiness lies prisioned in the talons of owls.



DIVINE ASSAYER

25. O YE SEEMING FAIR YET INWARDLY FOUL!
Ye are like clear but bitter water, which to outward seeming is crystal pure but of which, when tested by the divine Assayer, not a drop is accepted. Yea, the sun beam falls alike upon the dust and the mirror, yet differ they in reflection even as doth the star from the earth: nay immeasurable is the difference!



VISITATION
28. O ESSENCE OF DESIRE!
At many a dawn have I turned from the realms of the Placeless unto thine abode, and found thee on the bed of ease busied with others than Myself. Thereupon, even as the flash of the spirit, I returned to the realms of celestial glory and breathed it not in My retreats above unto the hosts of holiness.



FIRE AND WATER
P31. O SON OF EARTH!
Wouldst thou have Me, seek none other than Me; and wouldst thou gaze upon My beauty, close thine eyes to the world and all that is therein; for My will and the will of another than Me, even as fire and water, cannot dwell together in one heart.



PERISHING BOOK
In the first line of the Tablet it is recorded and written, and within the sanctuary of the tabernacle of God is hidden.
37. O MY SERVANT!
Abandon not for that which perisheth an everlasting dominion, and cast not away celestial soveignty for a worldly desire. This is the fiver of everlasting life that hath flowed from the well-spring of the pen of the merciful; well is it with them that drink!



BURST THY CAGE ASUNDER
38. O SON OF SPIRIT!
Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity.



REALM OF POVERTY
55. O SON OF PASSION!
Cleanse thyself from the defilement of riches and in perfect peace advance into the realm of poverty; that from the well-spring of detachment thou mayest quaff the wine of immortal life.



SECRETS OF HEARTS
59. O HEEDLESS ONES!
Think not the secrets of hearts are hidden, nay, know ye of a certainty that in clear characters they are engraved and are openly manifest in the holy Presence.



OCEAN OF GRACE
61. O SON OF MAN!
A drewdrop out of the fathomless ocean of My mercy I have shed upon the peoples of the world.



PARTIAL ECLIPSE
73. O MY FRIEND!
Thou art the daystar of the heavens of My holiness, let not the defilement of the world eclipse thy splendor. Rend asunder the veil of heedlessness, that from behind the clouds thou mayest emerge resplendent and array all things with the apparel of life.



SEEDS OF WISDOM
78. O SON OF MY HANDMAID!
Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of the heart, and water them with the waters of certitude that the hyacinths of knowledge and wisdom may spring up fresh and green from the holy city of the heart.





Illustrated version of 'The Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah', available from Intellect books. paperback, 128 pages,
www.intellectbooks.com