the ephemeral and the eternal
Editorial introduction
Everything now visible will soon vanish, Bahá’u’lláh writes, but a single sigh breathed for the love of God endures for ever and shows its effects in all the worlds. The scale is deliberately lopsided: one breath against kingdoms. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá goes looking for men among the palaces, since buildings are many and men are few, and reminds the builder laying a foundation that a day will come when not one stone remains; a book may carry a name for a thousand years and then be forgotten, while a deed done in God’s path outlasts the cycles. Joy and sorrow pass alike, crowns turn to dust, and the governor who protected Bahá’u’lláh for a few days left a single brick in the City of God when all his villages were gone. What lasts is service to others, recognition, and love, and the nightingale sings only in spring, so the present is urgent. Jesus set treasure that moth and rust corrupt against treasure in heaven and tied the treasure to the direction of the heart [1]. The road continues into life and death, the cycles of the physical and spiritual worlds, the meaning of infinity and eternity, and the worthlessness assigned to the physical world when it is loved for itself.
That which exists and is witnessed shall soon vanish, but any deed performed by any soul for the triumph of God's Cause, even if it be but a sigh breathed forth for the love of God, shall endure forever and its effects shall be manifested in all the divine worlds through wondrous and sublime appearances.
Therefore, if people's services and efforts are undertaken for the benefit of all, they are acceptable to God and leave lasting traces. Otherwise, every other effort is limited and transitory.
If we spend our talent in the Cause of God its outcome will be everlasting, but if we waste it over worldly affairs, it is like drawing pictures over the surface of the water. For example if we write a book, it may perpetuate our name for a thousand or two thousand years, it will be forgotten afterwards. But if he breaths one breath in the path of God, it will immortalize him throughout ages and cycles.
Drink from the wine of love and close thine eyes to the world, for whatever thou seest will perish and pass away in an instant, while that which is with God remaineth and perisheth not, and endureth and fadeth not away. Know the value of these days, for union is not always possible. The nightingale singeth only in spring and crieth not until it seeth the rose. The time cometh when the divine nightingale ceaseth from mentioning meanings and taketh flight to the spiritual branch and settleth in the divine invisible rose gardens.
Weep not, lament not, raise not thy voice in grief, shed not tears from thine eyes. The joy and sorrow of the world both pass away, and its honor and abasement both perish.
Another time the Bahai Master said: "This world is a theatre. It is not an eternal world: it is a stage where every kind of play is enacted.
The crown which is luminous with gems will be changed to a coronet of dust and the canopy on the beds which are cossetted with feathers and silk will be changed to dark earth - except the honor of the All-Merciful One and the comforts which are based on the spirit, these are eternal and everlasting.
Every name and trace shall be erased and obliterated, and every comfort and ease shall ultimately be transformed into trials.
One must attain eternal life and seek everlasting sovereignty.
Consider carefully that millions of kings came into this world and all were obliterated and disappeared. … Even in this transient world his traces remain firm and enduring, his mention continues, and his light spreads.
Buildings are many, men are few. There are ever so many palaces in the world. There have been great palaces built by the ancient Kings and to day not a stone has been left to tell the sad story of their fall. The present palaces will go through the same process of decline.
… But the divine Palace shall never be destroyed, its traces are eternal.
Mu'tamidu'd-Dawlih of Isfahan, Manuchihr Khan, built extensively. He owned many villages around Tehran. All these edifices, these buildings, these properties - all of them vanished. All of it was ruined, no trace remained. However, in the City of God he laid one brick, and that brick endured and will not be destroyed. For several days he protected the Blessed Beauty from enemies in his private quarters. At first he outwardly sent Him away but then kept Him protected in his private covered quarters. This brick he laid in the City of God, and it will never be destroyed. This trace of his will remain forever in the divine edifice.
Christ and the Holy Manifestations and the apostles had no nest whatsoever in this ephemeral world, yet in the divine realm they had a mighty palace.
O Khusraw! This title belongs to the appellations of monarchs and the royal seal of crowned heads. But the sovereigns of this earthly realm have no permanence, while the spiritual monarchs, the beloved of God, like the celestial sun in the eternal realm, remain forever fixed and established. And upon thee be greetings and praise.
But thou hast an enduring and steadfast sovereignty. Herein lies the difference: the might of that sovereignty is but fancy and imagination, while the glory of this sovereignty is the opening chapter of divine favors and its blessed conclusion.
But the servitude of the servants of God is an eternal sovereignty - as ages and cycles pass, its flame grows brighter and its rays become more luminous.
But the magnet of divine bestowals is service to the friends and servitude to the loved ones, for the results of the aforementioned occupations end in buried graves and produce unappreciated hardships and difficulties. However, the grateful servant of the friends attains eternal glory and finds everlasting bounty.
This is an eternal bond and an everlasting inscription. Centuries and ages shall pass away, but the blessed names of the righteous ones shall endure and remain.
Soon shalt thou behold its effects in the seat of truth with the mighty King, for worldly rewards are temporary, but "the good deeds that endure are best in thy Lord's sight as rewards and best as works to merit."
Blessed is the soul that in this transient world hath attained unto that which is everlasting - that is, such deeds as shed forth the fragrance of eternity, and these have been and ever shall be the Word of God.
The deeds and actions of such souls have endured and shall endure for as long as the kingdom of earth and heaven endure.
However, whatever pertains to the physical world is illusory and consists of transient reflections, for it yields no result, bears no fruit, and does not endure. Its difficulty ends in ease, and its ease concludes in difficulty.
That which is lasting and enduring is worthy of consideration and deserving of the righteous ones' aspiration.
Such souls are the inheritors of earthly and heavenly dominion. Their mention shall not perish nor shall the world's vicissitudes alter it.
All that is in the world shall perish and pass away, while this most exalted and glorious station shall endure for thee eternally.
Give thanks to God for having been mentioned before the Wronged One, and for having been sent down that by which your name shall endure through the eternity of His exalted and inaccessible Kingdom.
There is no appointed length of life for man. Lengthen your life by living according to God's spiritual laws. Then you will live forever. This is the true longevity, the real life. The real life is eternal happiness and existence in the Knowledge of God.
But the true ocean remains fixed and stable. Though its waves may be great and terrible, they swiftly disappear. Though thunder and lightning may be severe, they vanish in the twinkling of an eye. What is eternal is the soul of the people of recognition.
God hath specially revealed for each one that which is the cause of eternal life. Blessed is the soul that hath held fast unto it - such a one is accounted before God, the Lord of all beings, as one of the people of Baha.
Hasten to eternal life!
Therefore do not be sorrowful, do not be grieved. Find comfort in His endless grace and the glad-tidings of eternal life.
However, your countenance shall become radiant in the celestial paradise and your love shall become bright and luminous in the eternal world.
O assured leaf! The fragrances of the Most Glorious Paradise are wafting and passing by, and the breezes from the Holy Garden, the circling-place of the Concourse on High, bestow life upon hearts and confer eternal existence upon souls.
The joy-giving garden is the Abha Paradise, whose spring has no autumn and whose April has no winter following. The eternal beauty and divine countenance undergo no change or alteration.
There are two states of existence -the temporal and the eternal- the conditioned and the unconditioned - the estate of impotence and of primeval power. We may compare them to utter poverty and abundant wealth. The eternal state has all the perfections, the temporal, all the imperfections. The eternal state has no change, no transformations; the temporal has no permanency.
We come now to the subject of transformation in the nature of matter; and we wish to show you that that which is temporal is essentially different from that which is eternal, and that neither can change its nature for that of the other.
Whatever is attributed to the Truth is beloved and desired, and is joined with eternality and immortality; and whatever pertains to creation is ephemeral and transient, detested and condemned.
That which endures are the institutions of God's loved ones; divine foundations are eternal. Two thousand five hundred years ago, Elijah dwelt here in a cave. Some days he would ascend the mountain and rest in the shade of this cave. Now after two thousand five hundred years it has become this magnificent monastery. But consider how many kings have come and gone in this period, what trials they endured, yet perished, while the cave where Elijah occasionally went to rest remains.
Permanence is deadly poison to me while annihilation is a wondrous antidote. Indeed existence is my affliction, life is my illness, determination is my trial, my receptivity is my fire and my capacity is my burning.
For thought and discussion