At that time will be realized the truth of the blessed words: "Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy heart is My dwelling place; cleanse it for My manifestation."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1900 ca., to Mirza Ahmad Khan Akkas -- AB05239)
The inmost heart
inmost heart [fu'ad]
Editorial introduction
The heart, one of the Hidden Words declares, is God’s own home, to be sanctified for His descent. It is first of all a dwelling to be cleared for a Guest, and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá confesses that nothing he could write would convey the intimacy realized in its essence. The Báb calls the inmost heart, the fu’ád, the greatest of God’s gifts, the seat of His Name, the House of His Oneness; whoever enters it knows God as far as a creature can. Bahá’u’lláh calls the balance of the inmost heart the one measure that never strays, and swears that if people opened the eye of the heart they would see the Truth as existing and all else as nothing. Heart and inmost heart are therefore not words for feeling but capacities of recognition. Psalm 51, asking for a clean heart and a renewed spirit, suggests that perceiving may depend on what one becomes [1]. The path leads on into intuition and inspiration, the degrees of faith and certitude, and the Kingdom the purified heart is said to enter.
Selected passages
O spiritual friend! Whatever I might say and whatever I might write, I cannot express and explain the reality of the intimacy and fellowship that has been realized in the essence of the heart.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Hand of the Cause Ali Muhammad Ibn Asdaq -- AB05191)
When Saint Paul was asked about certain philosophical questions, he answered that before he had news of Christ, he knew everything, but when he received news of Christ, he became unaware of everything. For Christ so infused him that no room remained for anything else. This heart became empty and filled with Christ, meaning divine outpourings and heavenly inspirations.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to H. Yakar[?], teacher -- AB03367)
Purify the heart - which is the dawning-place of the Beauty of the All-Glorious and the gathering-place where shineth forth the Lord God - from all contingent things, that it may become a partner in the secrets of the Self-Sufficing Beauty.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1895-Aug or <, to Mulla Abdu'llah Fadil Zarqani (Rafi) -- AB12326)
As for the true, divine balance which never strayeth, and which ever comprehendeth the universal realities and the sublime inner meanings, it is the balance of the inmost heart [mizanu'l-fu'ad], of which God hath made mention in the blessed verse. It is an effulgence of the brilliant lights of the Divine Outpouring, the secret of the All-Merciful, the manifestation of sincere faith, and the lordly sign.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1897-Apr-03 -- AB00207)
Know that God, glorified be He, hath made the greatest of His gifts to the people of possibility the faculty of the heart [fu'ad], and the possessors of understanding have agreed, with the confirmation of the All-Merciful, on this purpose, as their master hath spoken and recorded with the pen of ink that the heart is the highest faculty of man. God hath made this faculty the seat of His exalted Name, the repository of His impenetrable mystery, and the station of His knowledge for the people of proclamation.
(The Báb, Tafsir-i-Ayat fi Surati'n-Nur, 1261 [1845]? -- BB00346)
There are seven general stages. The first is the stage of the inorganic being. From the mineral kingdom, it ascendeth to the stage of the plant…, and from the plant kingdom, it ascendeth to the stage of the animal….When it reacheth the stage of soul, spirit, and mind, then in accordance with that stage, it hath a death which will certainly destroy all privative aspects. Finally, the command will reach the stage of the inmost heart, which is the gulf of immortality and pure life, in the presence of the Lord of creation. There, for evermore, the servant will gaze towards God.
(The Báb -- BB00613)
Should these inmost realities be signs that are securely established within the mirrors of their heart, and not the mere transitory and borrowed ones, they would return unto their true habitations, in both the Beginning and the Resurrection.
(The Báb, Bayan-i-Farsi (Persian Bayan) -- BB00001)
I swear by the Sun of the horizon of My Cause that were they to open the eye of the heart, all would behold the Truth as existing and all else as non-existent.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290 [1873] or earlier -- BH05698)
In this hour when the hosts of holy fragrances and the waves of attraction are surging from all directions, and the might of the piercing meteor is driving away and casting out all people of vain imaginings, when the lights of the Kingdom are shining forth and the mysteries of the Realm of Power are manifesting and appearing, when the sea of favors is surging and the lamp of the gathering is brightly lit - this servant has made the pen a means to express the degrees of love for the Ancient Beauty, and has made words the interpreter of meanings, that perchance a verse from the scripture of attraction which is folded within the essence of the heart might be inscribed upon page and paper.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Mashhadi Yusuf Bayk -- AB06793)
The state or condition through which the healing takes place is the condition of the heart.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken in Sep. 1911 in London -- ABU3345)
(Bahá’u’lláh, Hidden Words - Arabic, 1274 ca. [1857-1858] -- BH00386)
And verily this is the spirit of the elixir of knowledge whereby the servant ascendeth from all that is still unto the station of motion, and manifesteth the causes of his existence in the degree of the effect, and the fruit of the final cause in the degree of the object and its realm.
This is the saying of Rida - peace be upon him - that "the possessors of understanding know not what is there save through what is here." Until this day none hath opened the door of that knowledge whereby the letters are raised unto the station of His detachment and brought unto the mystery of His unity.
(The Báb, Tafsir-i-Suratu'l-Baqarah (2nd Juz') (Commentary on the Surah of the Cow II) -- BB00006)
(Bahá’u’lláh, Chihar Vadi (The Four Valleys), to Shaykh Abdur-Rahman Karkuki et al -- BH00306)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
The concept of "heart" (fu'ad) is one of the most important principles in the writings of the Bab. The station of the heart is the highest stage of a created being's existential reality. It is the reflection of divine revelation itself within the inmost reality of things. To interpret the words, therefore, is in essence to transform them into mirrors of divine reality... The task of true hermeneutics is to cause a fundamental transformation in the phenomenal realm: to elevate the phenomena to the station of the heart is to uncover the signs of divine revelation that are enshrined within the reality of those phenomena...
(N. Saiedi, in GOH.050-051)
The heart (qalb) is the foremost place of appearance (mazhar) of the fu'ad and is in reality two hearts. One is the place of the First Intellect (al-'aqlu'l-awwal), which is the heart of Muhammad, and the other is opposite which is the place of Universal Ignorance....
(The Bab, Tafsir Suratu'l-Baqarah, provisional translation, BSB6:2-3, p.19. Cf. ESW.112: "The third is the soul which is divine (Lahutiyyih) and celestial (Malakutiyyih). It is a divine (Lahutiyyih) energy, a substance (jawhar), simple (basit), and self-subsistent (hayat bi-dhat).")
Such conclusive truth hath been revealed through the gaze of the heart (fu'ad), and not that of intellect. For intellect conceives not save limited things. Verily, bound by the realm of limitations, men are unable to gaze upon things simultaneously in their manifold aspects. Thus it is perplexing for them to comprehend that lofty station. No one can recognize the truth of the Middle Way between the two extreme poles except after attaining unto the gate of the heart and beholding the realities of the worlds, visible and unseen.
(The Bab, provisional translation, GOH.177)
[T]hat which is beyond these two extremes, which is the Middle Path ... can be comprehended by naught save the heart. God hath created the heart to understand His unity and transcendence, and it is through the heart that Divine Unity can be witnessed at the level of action.
(The Bab, provisional translation, GOH.212)
Continue exploring
- degrees of faith; certitude
- intuition; inspiration
Examine how an inward impression might be tested rather than automatically trusted.
- spiritual foundations of true knowledge
- the Kingdom of God [Malakut]
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How do the images of a home, a mirror, and a throne change your understanding of the heart?
- What might distinguish purification of perception from simply feeling certain that one is right?
- Where do these passages place the limits of intellectual explanation, and what forms of inquiry remain possible there?
- How might a deeper inward understanding become visible in the way we treat another person?