Heaven and hell: nearness, fulfilment, and mystery

Paradise signifieth first and foremost the good-pleasure of God. Whosoever attaineth His good-pleasure is reckoned and recorded among the inhabitants of the most exalted paradise and will attain, after the ascension of his soul, that which pen and ink are powerless to describe.

As to Paradise: It is a reality and there can be no doubt about it, and now in this world it is realized through love of Me and My good-pleasure. Whosoever attaineth unto it God will aid him in this world below, and after death He will enable him to gain admittance into Paradise whose vastness is as that of heaven and earth.

For it is said by His Holiness the Bab that the degree of Perfection reached by a thing is its Paradise. That is, when a thing is developed to the highest point possible for it, it has reached its paradise; while its failure is its hell.

Nothing has been created without a special destiny, for every creature has an innate station of attainment. This flower has been created to mirror forth a harmonious ensemble of color and perfume. Each kingdom of nature holds potentialities and each must be cultivated in order to reach its fulfillment. The divine teachers desire man to be educated that he may attain to the high rank of his own reality, the deprivation of which is the rank of perdition.

In brief, paradise and hellfire in this outward life have been and shall ever be acceptance and rejection. After the ascension of the spirit to paradises beyond compare, and likewise to hellfire beyond similitude - which are the fruits of the deeds of the one who accepteth and the one who rejecteth - they shall attain thereunto. However, none save God hath comprehended or shall comprehend those stations. For the believer, stations have been created surpassing all that hath been heard of God's wondrous bounties ordained in the paradises of transcendent glory, and likewise for the one who turneth away, beyond what hath been heard of eternal and imperishable torments.

Heaven and hell exist both in this world and in the next world.

… And in the next world too, there are countless paradises prepared for the believers and sincere ones, and the spirits of holy souls enjoy all heavenly blessings and divine favors, while the spirits of the deniers and people of error and the adversaries are caught in hell and torment, abased and humiliated.

He asked: "Where are Paradise and Hell?" Say: The former is meeting Me and the latter is your own self, O doubting idolater!

Thou admittest whom Thou willest into Thy love and good-pleasure, which is the highest of Thy heavens and Thy paradise, and Thou deniest whom Thou willest from recognizing Thy Proof and His good-pleasure - that is the fire which Thou hast promised to the sinning among Thy servants.

Hell is the state of mind in which there are evil thoughts and purposes, yielding to the desires of the senses, clinging to material things. In that state man is separated from God, and in his ignorance he suffers.

Salvation - heaven - is the conscious realisation of God in this life, which is gained by love, kindness, and good deeds.

Abdu'l Baha: Hell designated the heedlessness of people from God.

A wicked soul is the only thing out of harmony in the universe. As it does not come into the flow of the Divine Will, it is not of the Spirit. This failure of the soul has led man to believe that God will give the wicked soul another opportunity by allowing it to return in another body and atone for its failure. There is no proof of this outside or inside the Holy Book of Scriptures. Whatever is the destiny of the wicked soul in the hereafter, we know that its development rests with the Mercy of God.

For example a man with tyranny and enmity sheds the blood of many people, loots their possessions and destroys thousands of homes and families, obviously this wicked person when returns to the lowest abyss will be the cause of torment and degradation of his children and grandchildren and impede their liberation.

The people of the fire shall take possession of a scant portion of what Thou hast not made lawful for them, and Thou shalt seize them by their own hands whence they know not; while those in Paradise, by their attribution unto Thee, shall possess what Thou hast made lawful for them, without exhaustion and without end; and Thou shalt recompense them by their own hands, though they comprehend it not -- for all things return unto man.

They who have turned their faces toward My countenance, these are the dwellers of Paradise, and the holy angels shall glorify them. And they who have turned away shall enter the fire.

Such as have believed in God and in His signs are indeed the followers of truth and shall abide in the gardens of delight, while those who have disbelieved in God and have rejected that which He hath revealed, these shall be the inmates of the fire wherein they shall remain forever.

As for those who fulfill God's covenant and purchase not any of the verses for a paltry price -- these are guided by God's Remembrance, the Most High, and these are truly the companions of Paradise in God's Book, and thus hath it been inscribed in the Mother Book. These are they who believe in God and His verses with pure and sincere truth. God shall soon reward them on the Day of Resurrection with a double portion and a goodly final abode, elevated in truth upon truth.

… Hath not God promised you a Paradise whose breadth is as the breadth of heaven and earth, prepared for Our servants who believe in the remembrance of God, the Most High, and who are pure in truth and for the sake of truth? Therein shall ye have whatsoever your souls desire, by Our leave -- bounties fresh and delectable, in truth and for the sake of truth.

Then know that Paradise and Hell are created and in them are servants whose number none knows save God, and before the Day of Resurrection they will not be revealed to anyone. God suffices regarding them both and God suffices as witness.

God ordained for that Book two gates -- the secret of the two Tutanjs -- upon the twin gulfs of water: the one, the sweet water of Kawthar -- the realities of the sublime among the people of the two Easts, the near ones; the other, the bitter salty water -- the people of the two Wests, the far-removed. God engraved upon each gate the images of the triad, and within the image of the triad the temple of the triad, that the gates of Gehenna be fully nine and the arrows ten, by the ruling of the Ancient. Yet within the inwardness of that Tablet He placed mercy and rest, while upon its outward face, from before God, there is chastisement.

As for what thou asked regarding the words of Ahmad--peace be upon him--yes, when man enters Paradise, he remains in the first station of the letters "There is no god but God"--the station of the body--for twelve thousand years. He advances from this station in less than the twinkling of an eye to the highest station, like his stay in the first station.

For those who have believed in God and His verses - their men, their women, and their offspring - He hath created after their death, in Paradise, bodies of living crimson ruby by thy Lord's leave. When their spirits depart, they attach to these bodies by thy Lord's permission, and in their stations with God are they sustained. Therein shall they have whatsoever their souls desire, and God increaseth His bounty unto whomsoever He willeth among His servants.

And He established in each one thereof palaces of hidden and precious pearls, and in every palace are maidens who appear to have been created from the light of God, the Mighty, the Exalted, the Beloved. They all remember God their Creator with enchanting and uplifted melodies, and the people of the eternal pavilion take delight in their songs and are drawn by their strains.

God hath created for us therein white chambers wherein we were among those who glorify Him, then yellow chambers wherein we were among those who give thanks, then green chambers wherein we were among those who testify to His oneness, then crimson chambers wherein we were among those who magnify Him.

… Say: The outer chambers are of emerald which when ye behold them ye are drawn to exclaim: "God beareth witness that there is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Best-Beloved." Then there are inner chambers created of pieces of ruby wherein ye glorify God, then praise Him, and wherein ye profess His unity, then magnify Him.

… This is the Mystery in the kingdom of the heavens and earth and whatsoever is between them. None knoweth it save God, the Lord of all worlds.

This is the garden of Paradise, wherein arise the anthems of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting; wherein ascend the soul-entrancing melodies warbled by the Nightingale of Eternity upon the twigs of the Divine Lote-Tree; wherein abide the Maids of Heaven whom none hath touched save God, the All-Glorious, the Most Holy; and wherein lieth enshrined that which draweth the needy to the shores of the ocean of true wealth and guideth the people to the Word of God.

This is the Paradise of eternity - We have opened its gates unto all who are in the heavens and on earth. Hasten thereunto, O ye who are sincere, and turn not back upon your heels.

Enter ye the Garden by God's leave and eat freely of its bounties. … Soon shall its gates be opened and thou shalt hear the melodies of the birds of Paradise from its precincts.

There shalt thou hear the melodies of the birds of eternity upon the branches of the Divine Lote-Tree, and drink the pure water of holiness from the hands of the heavenly maidens.

Therefore eat of whatsoever fruits of Paradise thou desirest, for they have been ordained for thee from the presence of One mighty and wise. And find solace with the maidens of Paradise in chambers of luminous glory.

Mayest thou grow old and reach old age, and each day take a houri in thine arms and dwell in a palace, so that thou mayest partake of the hyacinth of her hair and they of the corner of her eyebrow. Yet not physical houris who possess naught but appetite and desire naught but money, but rather obtain spiritual houris and take delight in the divine gathering, that thou mayest drink of the Kawthar of the spirit and taste of the fruit of light.

But those who have believed, these are in the mercy of their Lord and are rejoicing in the holy Ridvan, while the maidens of Paradise wait upon them and they delight in the fruits of divine knowledge.

Before them is whatsoever they desire - therein are maidens fair as hidden pearls, therein are youths like treasured crimson rubies, therein are all manner of noble garments they don with pride, therein is every bounty they desire, say what they will therein, and they do naught but glorify. At all times do they sanctify, at all times do they magnify, at all times do they extol, and at all times do they revere.

They have entered the highest paradise and settled upon silken carpets at or nearer, drinking from ruby cups wine that neither intoxicates nor clouds the mind, partaking of fresh meat and whatever their souls desire in the most glorious seats, elevated upon their thrones while angels stand before them to remind them of what was revealed in Our greatest verses.

They recline with their houris who were created from the light of their Lord upon the highest dune - their very hair remembering that there is no God but Him, the Most High, the Most Exalted.

And the Maids of Paradise, and the secluded Maidens of eternity, and the Countenances whom God created from the light of Glory before the creation of earth and heaven, find his fragrance. And upon their brows is inscribed by the golden Pen: "By God! They are the handmaidens of Glory and were created for those who were martyred in the path of this Youth Who sitteth upon the throne of cloud."

As for the companions of the right hand, their faces beamed with joy, their souls took flight, their hearts were attracted, their lips smiled, their spirits rejoiced, and they said "This indeed is the supreme triumph in the garden of delight!"

Glory be to Him Who created and fashioned! Glory be to Him Who extended the Path and raised up the highest heavens! Glory be to Him Who set the Balance and gathered together all in existence for the next creation, and caused those who believed to enter into His mercy, and the heedless into hellfire and torment - and evil is the end of him who denied and fabricated lies!

And among the people were those whose reckoning was severe and whose scales were light, who suffered loss and were given their book in their left hand and fell into the pit of the abyss - evil was their end.

And among them were those who rejoiced, whose scales were heavy, whose commerce prospered, who were given their book in their right hand, whose faces were illumined, whose mouths smiled, whose hearts soared with joy at meeting their Lord and with longing to behold the beauty of their Creator, who enjoyed the blessings and drank from the spring of life, and whose eyes were brightened by beholding the manifest light shining from the dawn of certitude.

Woe unto me, then woe unto me, if on the field of gathering it should be proclaimed: "Seize him and fetter him, then cast him into the blazing fire, then into a chain seventy cubits long thread him!"

… Blessed am I, then blessed am I, shouldst Thou admit me into Thy paradise and clothe me in crimson silk through Thy grace, and feed me of fresh meat through Thy bounty, and give me to drink of pure wine from the cup of Thy mercy.

Thus dost Thou bring forth from the fire whom Thou willest, and cause to enter Paradise whom Thou willest, and bring forth from Paradise whom Thou willest, and cause to enter the fire howsoever Thou willest.

Have mercy then, O my God, through Thy mercy, upon all who have believed in the Bayan, that Thou mayest not cause them to enter the fire of negation, but rather hold them fast by Thy might to enter the paradise of affirmation, for the former is the source of all evil in Thy sight while the latter is the source of all good before Thee.

O my Beloved! If Thou wert to give Thy enemies to drink what Thou hast given Thy loved ones to drink, they would all sacrifice themselves in Thy path. But Thou, in Thy hidden wisdom, hast withheld the Kawthar of immortality from the heedless among Thy creatures and ordained it for the sincere ones among Thy chosen ones.

Then do I beseech Thee, O my God, by the sorrow that hath touched me in Thy way, and that hath never departed from me from the beginnings of Thy days, to cause me to ascend unto the Paradise of Thine eternity, and to raise me unto it through Thy loving-kindness; and deprive me not of that which Thou hast ordained therein of the wondrous bounties of Thy oneness and the jewels of the favours of Thy self-subsistence -- that I may be of them that abide therein and that walk in the neighbourhood of its mercy; lest the whisperings of the devils prevent me from loving Thee, from longing for Thee, from cleaving unto Thee, and from being consumed with yearning for Thee. For it is a Paradise created from the elements of Thy power, and wrought from the subtleties of Thy might, in such wise that its sun shineth and is never eclipsed, its moon is bright and is never darkened, its stars fall not, its houses crumble not, its trees change not, its fruits are never altered, its mysteries are not veiled, its breeze is not cut off, its treasures are not exhausted, its light is not quenched, its garment weareth not away, its verses are not abrogated; its clusters hang nigh, its fruits endure, its leaves are everlasting, its delights are perfect.

Thou hast drunk the choice wine of patience from the hand of the favor of thy Lord, the Chosen One, and hast attained unto that which the denizens of the Most Exalted Paradise and the Supreme Heaven have attained.

… For them have been ordained exalted stations beneath the pavilions of grandeur, under the shade of the Tree of Grace, in the Supreme Paradise and Most Exalted Heaven.

Say: O friends of God in His lands and His chosen ones in His realms! He hath remembered you and ordained for you in the most exalted Paradise and the supreme Heaven that which shall bring delight to all eyes and vision.

We have ordained stations in Paradise for everyone who hath desired Us. … Beware lest there appear from thee that which would deprive thee of that which hath been ordained for thee.

Verily, she who hath believed is assuredly numbered with the denizens of the All-Glorious Paradise in the sight of God, the Lord of the beginning and the end.

Then convey Our remembrance unto those who are with thee and give them the glad-tidings of a holy and inaccessible paradise.

Were you to witness the station of Our servant in the highest Paradise, you would beseech God to raise you up unto him. But it hath been veiled from you by a wisdom that none hath comprehended save God, Who perceiveth all vision while no vision perceiveth Him.

O ye who remain of the family of the beloved one on earth! Grieve not for him, for he hath ascended unto the Supreme Companion and now dwelleth in the Most Glorious chambers, companioned by the maidens of paradise. He drinketh from the Kawthar of immortality from the hands of youths whom God hath created from the light of glory, whose faces shine as the sun in spheres of crystal white, illumining all who dwell in paradise.

At the time of his ascent, the angels and the Spirit received him and brought him into the highest Paradise, his head adorned with the crown of My Most Glorious Name and his temple with the ornament of My Greatest Favor.

And now the angels of Paradise circle round them with chalices of Kawthar and Salsabil.

… And they who were slain, having committed no wrong - round them circle the denizens of the highest Paradise at eventide and at dawn, offering up their very souls in their path, while the people of the Concourse of the near ones derive light from their countenances.

But those who have believed in God and acted according to His command - soon shall the angels and the Spirit receive them with chalices of Kawthar and Salsabil, and give them glad tidings of the presence of God, and usher them into the station wherein shineth the light of the face of your Lord, the Mighty, the All-Knowing.

They have attained unto the everlasting bounties in the Garden of Abha and have been united with the Most Great Sea in the most exalted station.

O Lord! Grant him the chalice of Thy favors in the midst of Paradise, make him to abide eternally in the heart of Paradise and within the holy gardens, nigh unto Thy Most Great Mercy.

We beseech God, blessed and exalted be He, to make thee a companion in the most exalted Paradise with His Prophets and His chosen ones, to give thee to drink at all times from the Kawthar of His bounty and the Salsabil of His utterance, to cause thee to hear the warbling of the nightingales of His good-pleasure and the rustling of the Lote-Trees of the highest Paradise and the flowing of the Kawthar of His mercy amongst the Concourse on high.

We beseech God, exalted be He, to forgive them, to absolve them of their misdeeds, and to cause them to enter the most exalted Paradise--the station wherein the atoms cry out: "Enter ye, enter ye, O people of Baha and companions of the Crimson Ark!

Blessed is the spirit that hath emerged from the body purified from the doubts and superstitions of the nations. Such a spirit moveth in the atmosphere of God's good-pleasure and entereth the Supreme Paradise. The Maids of Heaven, dwellers of the loftiest mansions, shall circle around it, and the Prophets of God and His chosen ones will seek its companionship.

Catalogue reference: BH00433 · passage alignment is approximate; supplied wording retained.