Evanescence and enduring life: what remains when self recedes?

Whosoever becometh more evanescent becometh more lasting, and whosoever becometh poorer becometh richer.

7. Evanescence and humility: That is to say man must become evanescent in God - must forget his own selfish conditions that he may thus arise to the station of sacrifice.

O Shaykh, O thou who hast surrendered thy will to God! By self-surrender and perpetual union with God is meant that men should merge their will wholly in the Will of God, and regard their desires as utter nothingness beside His Purpose. Whatsoever the Creator commandeth His creatures to observe, the same must they diligently, and with the utmost joy and eagerness, arise and fulfill. … The station of absolute self-surrender transcendeth, and will ever remain exalted above, every other station.

Furthermore, no one's will hath ever been or shall ever be united with God's will, for the will of all hath been and shall ever be as nothingness before His will. The glory of existence is for one to make his own will fade away in God's will - that is, to have no will, thought or imagination of his own, but to move by God's will and act accordingly.

Seek thou assistance from God and beseech His confirmations so that thou mayest find thine own will as nothing before His, and thine limited purpose, thy personal wishes and thy own good pleasure as a mirage, as a mere drop when face to face with the unlimited ocean of His absolute Purpose.

This station is achieved through detachment and attraction, through effacement and evanescence, through love and kindness, and through peace and harmony towards all humanity.

Help me to be selfless at the heavenly entrance of Thy gate, and aid me to be detached from all things within Thy holy precincts. Lord! Give me to drink from the chalice of selflessness; with its robe clothe me, and in its ocean immerse me. Make me as dust in the pathway of Thy loved ones, and grant that I may offer up my soul for the earth ennobled by the footsteps of Thy chosen ones in Thy path, O Lord of Glory in the Highest.

This station is that of dying to the self and living in God, of being poor in self and rich in the Desired One. Poverty, as here referred to, signifieth being poor in that which pertaineth to the world of creation and rich in what belongeth to the realms of God.

In this station, this most exalted habitation, this journey of utter self-effacement, the wayfarer forgetteth his soul, spirit, body, and very being, immerseth himself in the sea of nothingness, and liveth on earth as one unworthy of mention. Nor will one find any sign of his existence, for he hath vanished from the realm of the visible and attained unto the heights of self-abnegation.

… How can a true lover continue to exist when once the effulgent glories of the Beloved are revealed? How can the shadow endure when once the sun hath shone forth?

As much as you can, arise with such qualities and character that you become completely effaced and annihilated in the path of God - that is, no trace of self remains in you, like a dead body in the hands of the washer who moves it according to God's commands by God's will. The meaning of "like a dead body in the hands of the washer" is that no desire, intention, thought or remembrance remains for the person, and they become completely annihilated in the divine teachings and enchanted by the divine commands, moving with that power and acting according to those teachings and acquiring those qualities. This is the station of annihilation in God and subsistence through God.

We have heard thy call and have remembered thee with these sublime words: In this Day, they who attribute themselves to God must be seen as evanescent in themselves and abiding in God - that is, they must seek no desire save His desire and move according to His Will and Purpose.

O My Name! Thy will must be connected to what God willeth, and thy desire must be annihilated in His desire - that is, thou must regard God's will as thy desire and His wish as thy purpose.

O Sin! The Manifest Truth declareth: This is the Day wherein the chosen ones must fix their gaze upon the command of the Unconstrained One and must efface their own will before the Will of God. That is, after the issuance of the binding decree from the direction of the Fashioner of bones and the Lord of all nations, that very command must become the beloved thing.

Blessed is he who hath caused his will to be annihilated in My will and hath attained to the affirmation of that which hath descended from the heaven of My will and flowed from My Pen.

O Abu-Talib! Fix thy gaze upon this blessed word which is as a crown for the head of mystical understanding: "Set aside what thou desirest and take what thy Lord desireth."

O Rida! God willing, mayest thou be blessed through the favors of the Lord of Names and illumined by the lights of His countenance. This name is greatly beloved. Ask thou of God that thou mayest fully attain unto its meaning, become extinct from thine own good-pleasure and move according to the good-pleasure of the Friend. Every soul who in this Day hath attained unto this most exalted and glorious station - that is, hath caused his own will and purpose and good-pleasure to become extinct in the will and purpose and good-pleasure of God - he is reckoned among the people of truth in the Divine Book.

For after the servant is effaced in the good-pleasure of the Worshipped One and the good-pleasure and desire of the lover is erased in the decree of the Beloved, the servant's good-pleasure becomes identical to the good-pleasure of the Worshipped One, and the Beloved's good-pleasure becomes the very reality of the lover's good-pleasure.

Then cause him to be stirred, O my God, by the breezes of Thy Will that waft from the right hand of Thy grace, that he may act according to what Thou hast desired and speak that which Thou lovest, in such wise that his will may be annihilated in Thy will and his purpose in Thy purpose.

O Lord! Make my hope Thy remembrance, my deed Thy praise, my purpose Thy purpose, and my good-pleasure Thy good-pleasure, that I may be effaced from myself and endure through Thy Name, the Ever-Abiding, the Everlasting, the Mighty, the All-Wise.

Then attract him through the melodies of the Source of Thy Revelation to such a station wherein he may become wholly annihilated in Thy good-pleasure and hopeful of what Thou hast ordained in Thy tablets.

This servant says that the true meaning and the reality of meanings and the innermost secret of these verses, words and poetry is servitude at the Holy Threshold of the Most Glorious Beauty and utter effacement, evanescence and extinction at the Sacred Court.

The secret of divine mysteries and the divine secret is servitude at the threshold and self-effacement and evanescence.

O thou who standest in the stations of servitude! The requirements of servitude are purity of intention and complete effacement and self-abnegation. That is, in all conditions one must manifest absolute effacement, utter poverty and complete sacrifice, such that no trace or vestige of one's existence and being remaineth.

One should be the quintessence of humility, the very essence of meekness and be evanescence itself, healed of the maladies of the self.

When any soul perceiveth an existence for himself and imagineth a distinction and uniqueness, this is from the effects of croaking and a sign of hypocrisy. One must forget one's own conditions and attain to the station of utter evanescence, otherwise the observation of existence will ultimately lead to misbelief and manifest infidelity.

Thus fame or oblivion, honor or degradation are one and the same to those Gems of existence. Indeed, their ultimate desire is selfless devotion to the one true God and absolute nothingness in His court.

O Lord! Preserve me from every title, attribute and name that may be uttered by the tongue of Thy loved ones, save the word that signifies servitude to Thy Baha and the sign that indicates evanescence and extinction before the manifestation of any of Thy signs.

Your pen must be the interpreter of this servant's pen, and whatever flows from this pen must stream from that pen - that is, in mentioning this servant's servitude, your pen will, God willing, become a mighty sign. This is what He says: "Until you are annihilated from the description of existence, O wayfarer, how can you taste the wine of immortality from the sweet ruby lips of the Beloved?"

As much as thou canst, compose quintains of servitude, sextains of submissiveness, and octaves of pure effacement and nothingness, for like the fatted fowl of Paradise they are delicious and tasty, provided no other dish is mixed therewith.

The teacher, when teaching, must be himself fully enkindled, so that his utterance, like unto a flame of fire, may exert influence and consume the veil of self and passion. He must also be utterly humble and lowly so that others may be edified, and be totally self-effaced and evanescent so that he may teach with the melody of the Concourse on highâ€"otherwise his teaching will have no effect.

That which has ever been pleasing in the sight of God and the means for servants to ascend to the Kingdom of righteousness and their rising to the heaven of the providence of the Lord of creation, has been that the sincere servants should in no aspect, whether outward or inward, be focused on themselves, but rather should in truth observe themselves in all degrees to be utter nothingness and pure evanescence, so that all souls may, through the training of these sanctified beings, turn from the left hand of selfish desires and human inclinations to the right hand of piety and the Most Glorious Horizon.

Now character education must also be done in America so that souls may appear who are truly worthy and deserving of the Blessed Cause - who are completely effaced and evanescent, who are detached from self and passion and have withdrawn from their own desires, who have abandoned their own will and acquiesced to the Will of God, who, like the holy souls of Iran, shine forth from the horizon of the love of God and hasten to the field of sacrifice with utmost joy and delight.

Therefore they brought manifest joy to this grieving heart, for praise be to God, the friends are firm in service to the Lord God and are lost without name or trace in the wilderness of evanescence and nothingness, and in servitude at the Sacred Threshold they are self-sacrificing lovers of the Beloved's face and bewildered by that illumined Moon.

In servitude, you are my confidants and intimates, and in self-effacement and evanescence, you are of one voice and one melody.

O handmaiden of God who art drawn nigh! I hope that through the favors of the Desired One, He may cause thee to succeed in service at the Sacred Threshold of the Kingdom, and may so consume thee with the fire of the love of God that thou mayest become wholly devoted and effaced in the Cause of God.

It behooveth them that are evanescent in the divine Ocean to summon the servants, at all times, to the direction of the All-Merciful, inasmuch as whosoever hath become evanescent from self will attain unto everlasting life in God - that is, he will circle eternally round the Truth in all the worlds.

O my Lord! Preserve me within the shelter of Thy great mercy, then cause me to speak Thy praise amidst the concourse of creation in such wise that I may become forgetful of myself and evanescent in Thy Name.

O thou who prostrateth thyself at the threshold of the Ancient Beauty!

Prostration is evidence of the absence of being--that is, of utter humility, evanescence and nothingness.

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O servant of the threshold of the Abha Beauty!

In the paradise of God and the garden of Abha a station hath been ordained which is the utmost desire of those who are nigh unto God, and that is nothingness in all conditions and complete self-surrender in the path of Him Who hath no peer or likeness.

If you want heart's assurance, begin the remembrance of God, and if you desire an imperishable kingdom, enter beneath the shade of the Lote Tree of poverty and evanescence.

O dervish of Baha! The time has come for thee to become poor and detached from all save God's manifestations, that the rays of absolute wealth may shine forth and existence, being, conditions, stations and determinations may be transformed into nothingness, so that the divine Sun of Being may shed its radiance.

This poverty signifies nothingness and pure evanescence.

Until man achieves the station of complete evanescence in the path of the All-Merciful, he will not attain pure eternality. For the shadow vanishes when the rays of the sun shine forth - the disappearance of the shadow is proof of the sun's shining.

When man attains to the station of renunciation and loses entirely his "I-hood" his existence is identical with non-existence and a splendor of the Being of the True One is cast upon him. Then he shall discern with the Eye of God, hear with the ears of the True One, and become like unto the iron, which when cast in the fire loses its qualities of coldness, blackness and solidity, and the characteristics of fire such as heat, redness and glowing will become apparent and manifest in it....

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O enkindled candle!

Though to be enkindled is pleasing, yet to be consumed is more pleasing still, for in this consuming lies the finding of an eternal life, and in this evanescence the essence of everlasting existence is ordained and realized.

O thou faithful one!

One of the requirements of faithfulness is that thou mayest sacrifice thyself and, in the divine path, close thine eye to every pleasure and strive with all thy soul that thou mayest disappear and be lost, like unto a drop, in the ocean of the love of God.

Release yourselves from this world's life, and at every stage long ye for non-existence; for when the ray returneth to the sun, it is wiped out, and when the drop cometh to the sea, it vanisheth, and when the true lover findeth his Beloved, he yieldeth up his soul.

Draw the pen of nothingness across the luminous tablet of the heart that thou mayest plant the banner of existence above the mountain of power.

Extinction is the gate to immortality, and immortality the gate to extinction. Non-existence is the door to existence, and existence the door to non-existence. The blessed word "All things shall perish save His Face" is a source of patience and solace for the peoples of the world.

Do not spur on your charger in pursuit of a shadow, for all shades and shadows are non existent. The only abiding one is He whose shade overshadoweth the world of eternity.

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.

Therefore one must lift one's foot from the realm of nothingness and step into the realm of eternity, so that we may raise the banner of being in the heaven of non-being and comprehend the meaning of "All things perish save His face," and pass beyond the earthly homeland to return to the original divine homeland, of which "Verily we are God's and to Him we return" is indicative.

… In this station and rank, existence is effaced from self and subsists through the Truth. All are from God and unto God shall they return, and "Say: All things are from God" is sufficient witness and adequate proof of this point, as the mystic of Rum has said:

His attributes are annihilated in the attributes of Him While His essence remains through the survival of His essence

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From both separation and union pass away, To reach the origin's green fields, O youth today.

While in separation you're surely in fire's test, From union too comes fever and unrest.

Set foot upon eternity's pure ground, Where naught but Him in that field can be found.

If "We belong to God" you've truly read, Or "There is none but Him" fills your head,

Place aspiration's foot upon this way, To be freed from union and parting's sway.

When you know certainly from soul's deep lore That none but God exists forevermore,

Then sweep away the chaff with soul's pure stream, That you may see that Pure One's holy gleam.

In the Name of our Lord, the Most High!

O beloved! Days have passed and We have not received from thee the sweet fragrance of faithfulness. Hast thou forgotten Him Who, if thou forgettest Him, will never forget thee, and if thou leavest Him, will never leave thee, and if thou art heedless of Him, will never be heedless of thee? We have heard that sorrow hath encompassed thee in these days, and by thy sorrow We have been saddened, and by what hath befallen thee We have been afflicted with adversity and tribulation.

But O beloved! The Herald of eternity now bringeth thee glad tidings from the garment of faithfulness and cometh unto thee with this verdant Tablet. Arise from thy place, then walk upon the earth seven steps, and in each step traverse one of the books: In the first, enter into the sea of search and seek God, thy Lord, in thy inner being and heart. In the second, enter into the sea of love and remember God, thy Lord, in the raptures of thy longing and the dominions of thy taste. In the third, walk in the paths of detachment - that is, detach thyself from thy desires and follow thy Master. In the fourth, enter into the depths of the seas of oneness and the ocean of divine unity. In that station, place thy face upon the dust before the Lord of Lords and sanctify thy soul and spirit from all coming and going, that thy heart may be purified from all causes in the realms of creation. In the fifth, ascend to the heaven of wonderment that thou mayest taste sweet fruits in this holy atmosphere and become bewildered at the power of thy Beloved and the sovereignty of thy Creator, and say as did the King of existence and the Goal: "Lord, increase my astonishment in Thee!" In the sixth, soar with the wings of submission and contentment to the city of the cloud of unknowing that thou mayest enter the wilderness of extinction, to be extinguished in that station from thine existence and abide through thy Creator. In the seventh, thou shalt arrive at the sea of eternal life where extinction shall never overtake thee and thou shalt find thy countenance abiding in the shadow of the Countenance of God, the Eternal.

Then wilt thou inhale the fragrance of glorification from the right hand of the All-Merciful, that thy breast may not be straitened by whatsoever befalleth thee in this mortal life and transient dominion. And when thou hast traversed these journeys in secret without outward display, cast this garment upon thine hidden sight that the eye of thy heart may be opened. For by God, O My beloved, if thou attainest unto this station thou wilt discover wondrous worlds and witness lofty gardens and exalted paradise and transcendent heavens, and wilt know the mysteries of the journey of spirits in an ever-holy atmosphere and an ever-lasting heaven of glory, and thy spirit shall rejoice to such degree that the signs of joy and ecstasy shall appear in all the pillars of the world. Thereafter, sorrow shall never overtake thee nor shall gloom touch thee, and thou shalt abide in the paradise of holiness among those who rejoice.

Know thou moreover that thou hast with God a mighty station and an exalted rank. Isolate not thyself from the servants but gather them unto God's Cause and remind them of His days. Put thy trust in God in all matters and He will suffice thee against all things and protect thee from the hosts of Satan and cause thee to enter the eternal paradise, wherein thou shalt be among those who rejoice. Convey My greetings unto those who follow thee in the Cause of thy Lord, then call them to a straight path.

After ascending beyond the stations of annihilation and reaching the dawning-places of eternity, thou shalt become the cupbearer on the carpet of sanctification and drink the chalice of divine unity.

One must set one's heart upon the eternal kingdom and pass beyond the mortal dust, that perchance on spiritual wings one may fly to the divine holy nest, there to sing with wondrous Iraqi melody this song of spiritual glory: We are all drunk with annihilation, We are all the light of glory, We are all the spirit of eternity.

The sea of love is surging and this servant has now drunk the wine of eternity, and the pen has taken from his hand the reins of pause - whatever it wishes, it pours forth upon the page. But the wine of contingent existence is not worthy of this intoxication, and the realm of placelessness cannot contain this being.

O companion, thy friend says that the comfort of existence needs a stroll free from the contamination of limitations, so that like the Phoenix of the West it may raise its head from the East of the soul and soar in the holy air of the spirit which is the city of the soul.

He is God, exalted be His glory, the Mighty

The wayfarers upon the path of the Worshipped One and those who have attained the way of the Intended One are sanctified above limitations and pure from conventional forms. They dwell upon the cushions of unity and repose in the nest of oneness. They have traversed the Lote Tree of the utmost realm of love at the beginning of their journey and have perceived the ultimate goal of divine knowledge from the Tree of Paradise. They have found the sweet fruits of immortality from the dawning-place of the soul and have chosen solitude with the Beloved in the throne of the placeless realm. How excellent is what was said:

"Indeed I have been alone with the Beloved, and between us Was a secret more subtle than the breeze when it stirs"

The spirits of these companions are united and their breaths intermingled, even as Rumi, the mystic, says:

"The souls of wolves and dogs are separate indeed But united are the souls of the lions of God"

For they drink from one cup and are sustained from one chalice, they sit upon one carpet and dwell in one station. They soar with the wing of the might of unity and circle in the heaven of the holiness of detachment. In expressing the degrees of love they need no messenger or missive, and in revealing their purposes they seek no aid from pen or ink. They inhale the fragrances of holiness from the north wind of the spirit and breathe in the sweet scents of intimacy from the pure breaths of the heart. They have grasped the firm cord of "God is the light of the heavens and the earth" and have held fast to the hem of the exception "My earth and My heaven contain Me not." Their remoteness is the essence of nearness and their separation the very spirit of union.

However, since the manifestation of meaning depends upon the world of words, and the emergence of spirits is conditioned and bound to the appearance of bodies - for every inner reality requires an outward form and every beginning demands an end - so that the form of the clot of blood, after ascending the heights of annihilation, might be honored with the robe of everlasting life - "Blessed be God, the best of creators" - and the essence of beginning, after returning from the realm of the divine identity, might appear in the garment of finality - "but he is the Apostle of God and the Seal of the Prophets" - so that the all-embracing word "He is the First and the Last, and the Manifest and the Hidden" might appear in the arena of existence.

Thus have we revealed these inner loves that were concealed in the heart for ages and centuries through these evident words and conventional forms, so that the neighbor might know that thou art in Our house. God willing, through divine grace we shall circle round the sanctuary of Beauty and visit the Ka'bah of the divine Essence, that we might attain the honor of the divine presence in the throne of immortality. And peace be upon you.

Yea, an immortal ear is needed to hear the immortal Word, and an immortal eye is needed to behold the immortal Beauty, for that which is evanescent hath no path into the arena of eternity that it may comprehend the degrees of everlasting glory, and the abject one hath no portion of the cup of glory that he may step into His holy court.

Therefore do I testify, O my God, that I am evanescent, and have no power of mention or praise befitting Thy most exalted Self, nor can there appear from one who is evanescent that which can ascend unto Him Who abideth through His own being.

O my Lord! All things have testified to my evanescence and Thy permanence, to my powerlessness and Thy might.

How can I mention any but Thee, O my Beloved, after Thou hast given me to drink of the water of life in Thy knowledge? And how can I mention myself and its conditions after my awareness of Thy Being and Thy manifestations? By Thy might! It beseemeth not the non-existent to mention non-existence before Thy Ancient Self, O Everlasting One!

Reveal then Thyself, O Lord! by Thy merciful Utterance and the mystery of Thy Divine Being, that the holy ecstasy of prayer may fill our souls -- a prayer that shall rise above words and letters and transcend the murmur of syllables and sounds -- that all things may be merged into nothingness before the revelation of Thy Splendour.

I beseech Thee by Him Whom Thou hast made the All-Compelling over all created things, the Self-Subsisting over all existence, and the Ever-Living in the kingdom of earth and heaven, to cause the ark of my reality to sail upon the sea of Thine essence, that I may bring forth from the depths of the ocean of Thy greatness the pearls of Thy eternality and the fish of Thine everlastingness, so that none may be seen except Thee, and no soul may turn to aught but Thee, and all may turn their faces to the court of Thy holiness, and all in the lands may hasten to the carpet of Thy intimacy, and may behold naught save the pure vision of Thy countenance, and may drink only from the wine of Thy grace from the hands of Thy attraction, and may taste only of the fruits of Thy bounty from the tree of Thine eternity.

I was struck with wonder at beholding its effulgent rays and observing its traces, became oblivious of all save God, and was immersed in the oceans of God's mercy. And now I am conscious of naught but my Beloved, nor have I any scope to turn to or be occupied with aught but my Purpose.

That station is absolute evanescence in the Blessed Beauty - that is, the station of "her love intensified."

When the wayfarer reaches this most exalted and supreme station, firstly no anger arises in him that he should need to suppress it, and no self remains that should need to forgive.

In God alone do we seek refuge from a falling off after this bright ascent, from ashy sleep after enkindlement, from a darkness after having seen the light and from a veiling once again after the blessed sight of God's own mysteries.

If the pure handmaidens and assured believers were certain of the existence and permanence of God, they would not fear their own non-existence and evanescence, nor would they be saddened by any vicissitudes.

Whatever you do and show forth and strive and boil and cry out, you will become like those who came before - meaning no trace or fruit will remain enduring and established - unless you become bewildered by that Beauty and yearning for that brilliant Moon.

The reality of existence hopes for the stations of witnessing, and the essence and being of existence longs for nonexistence and annihilation, that perchance through the grace and bounty of the Peerless Lord it may be freed from this world of multiplicity and find its way into the life-giving expanse of the Lord and be guided to the Kingdom of sanctification.

They yearned for evanescence out of longing for reunion with Thee, and forsook the lowest depths in their quest for the highest zenith.

I have detached from all things except returning to Thee and have shut my eyes to every gift except lying beneath layers of dust and arriving before Thee, and have turned away from every blessing except returning to the station of evanescence and reaching the realm of nothingness where no sound or whisper of mine will be heard.

This is the arena of self-annihilation, of a hundred thousand acts of self -immolation, of being melted in pure love.

O loving friend! If we catch but a fragrance from the gifts of this Day of Manifestation, we shall pass beyond even that which exists in the kingdom of heaven whose gaze is fixed upon the earthly realm, and shall freely sacrifice both soul and heart in the path of the Most Glorious Beauty, tasting the poison of annihilation as if it were the honey of immortality.

They remember all the friends and God willing, in every hour they will be confirmed with a gift and the sanctifying powers of the Friend's lane will so penetrate that 'Abdu'l-'Ali will return as 'Abdu'l-Baha and Isma'il will be sacrificed with the great sacrifice, for this great sacrifice is a sign of sacrifice which means absolute evanescence and utter poverty.

I hope that we may attain to this station, become utterly effaced and non-existent, completely annihilated and obliterated, so that we may follow the example of that leader of the righteous ones and emerge from the realm of immortality, the supreme horizon, and the Most Glorious Kingdom.

We should enlighten our eyes by observing the gleaming of its hidden pearls and treasured gems, and learn the way of non-existence and evanescence and effacement and obliteration.

For in that station the wayfarer, through the obliteration of multiplicity and the power of extinction, becomes free from all qualities of the Incomparable Lord and utters the words "We are God's and unto Him do we return." His existence is witness to Him, his servitude is his praiseworthy station, and complete annihilation is his ultimate goal.

The fragrance of self-effacement and evanescence in the path of the Most Glorious Beauty was wafting from it.

Therefore, O ye who are intoxicated with the wine of the divine covenant, know ye the value of this bounty and special favor, and be moved to joy and delight.

Sometimes you will hasten to the heights of evanescence, sometimes you will race into the depths of effacement and nothingness.

But now thou art intoxicated with this cup and art a wine-worshipper in the tavern of servitude and self-effacement.

Ere long shall ye drink the cup of evanescence from the hand of the cupbearer of eternity, and quaff the chalices of love from the hand of the celestial maiden.

This intoxication hath no hangover, and this existence hath no annihilation or extinction.

O distinguished and outspoken one! I have intoned the verses of your love which speak of your turning to God, your supplication to the Kingdom of God, your clinging to the hem of the robe of grandeur, your partaking of the choice wine of guidance, and your submergence in the sea of evanescence in God.

Evanescence, evanescence, evanescence! Annihilation, annihilation, annihilation! This is the magnet that attracts divine confirmations.

Others are engrossed in education and are busy at all times reading and studying, devoting their days and nights to the acquisition of knowledge. And yet another group is wholly absorbed in their profession or proclivities. But we are evanescent in God and remain oblivious to all save Him.

When evanescent, you will become eternal. When evanescent, you will become everlasting.

For all people, from kings to subjects, eternal illumination, everlasting spirituality and perpetual existence lie in accepting the divine Cause, and likewise their worldly glory, comfort and freedom depend upon entering the divine Cause.

One is to forfeit possessions, to forfeit estates. One is to forego name, honor, fame. One is to forsake relatives, station, Et Cetera, et cetera, (ended Abdul-Baha, laughing).

The essential realities of the loved ones have perished from a single cry of the Bird of Divine Jealousy, and the radiant beings of the companions have ascended to the realm of evanescence from half a surge of the seas of the Presence of the Eternal.

When this state gets the upper hand, it is called "extinction" (fana') in relation to the one who possesses it. Or, rather, it is called "extinction from extinction", since the possessor of the state is extinct from himself and from his own extinction. For he is conscious neither of himself in that state, nor of his own unconsciousness of himself. If he were conscious of his own unconsciousness, then he would [still] be conscious of himself.

Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified

The drop is seeking life immortal from Your Sea. Since You're The Greatest King, do grant him immortality.

Catalogue reference: BH00108 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.