wine as symbol of spiritual transformation
Editorial introduction
Ordinary wine dulls the senses and ends in a headache; the wine Bahá’u’lláh pours increases consciousness, sharpens discernment and leaves the drinker more awake than before. That reversal is the key to a whole vocabulary of cups, cupbearers, taverns and feasts, where intoxication names the exhilaration of recognising the Beloved and loving Him past the point of calculation. The symbol will not sit still: the cup can be a Tablet received by post, the Covenant, fairness, knowledge, even a banquet of trials whose varied flavours ‘Abdu’l-Bahá describes with startling relish. The Qur’án’s promise of sealed wine and the spring of Tasním gives the imagery its scriptural root [1], and Paul’s appeal to be filled with the Spirit rather than with wine points to the same waking fullness that spills into song and service [2]. The exhilaration is never meant to be kept; whoever drinks is asked to pour for others and to sprinkle a drop on the earth. From here the journey leads into the mystical themes of the Writings, the wider language of symbolism, and the slow work of spiritual transformation that such joy sets in motion.
This Wine of unity hath another Wine-Giver, and its intoxication another quality. That diminisheth consciousness, while this increaseth it. That bringeth extinction, while this bestoweth existence. That is followed by headache, while this is accompanied by love for the Lord of creation.
O thou who art inebriated by this imperishable wine! The wine cup can bestow temporary delight, ephemeral ecstasy, but then it causeth drowsiness, and eventually leadeth to an aching head. But he who hath been inebriated by the wine of the Divine Call will not suffer drowsiness nor experience such discomforts. Nay, he will be alert and wakeful; his discernment will increase, as will his understanding.
O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of the love of God! The wine of the vineyard and the pleasant beverage yield but a momentary exhilaration, and its turbulent sea is but a dewdrop. The divine wine, however, imparteth eternal joy and delight, and its brimming, triumph-laden chalice is overflowing. Should anyone partake of a drop of this divine wine, he will be roused from unconsciousness to consciousness, and will be delivered from the stupor of heedlessness and the intoxication of ignorance and error. Therefore, one must seek this everlasting nectar and not the bitter, perishable water.
O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of divine love! Some people are drunk and joyous from the wine of grapes, yet in the morning they are hung over and sluggish. Some are intoxicated with the wine of pride, but in the end they are harmed and deprived. Others are in ecstasy from the pure wine of the love of God and in joy from the wine of the knowledge of God.
O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of divine love! As much as thou canst, drink of this wine and become inebriated from this cup, for it increaseth reason and understanding, bringeth no hangover, and its exhilaration is everlasting.
But be not deceived - this wine is spirit-giving, not hangover-inducing. It increases the search and brings perpetual awareness.
But their aims and conditions are different and diverse - one is inebriated from the overflowing divine cup, while another is drunk and proud from the wine of vanity. Some are dancing and rejoicing from the eternal wine of recognition, while others are unconscious and suffering from the deadly poison of heedlessness and error.
You must become intoxicated with the wine of spiritual love. When one is intoxicated with the material wine, it sometimes increases the love in the heart, but this love does not last; the next day it is entirely gone. But the intense love created from the wine of the Holy Spirit intoxicates the heart and the effect is eternal, growing stronger each day.
The cup of the material world is followed by pain, but the Divine cup, the cup of the Love of God, has an everlasting intoxication, and pain follows it not. Happy are those who are intoxicated with this intoxication!
The intoxication of this wine is such that it will be seen. The English people are notable for their much drinking, but we hope our intoxication will surpass them. Their intoxication is from the outward wine and our intoxication is from the wine of the love of God. After they drink, giddiness will result, but our wine is a wine of everlasting exhilaration.
On the path of truth one must become intoxicated from this brimming cup. The goblet is in hand, one has become a wine-worshipper. Any wild donkey can become tipsy from grape wine, but if someone finds joy and happiness from this wine of faithfulness, they have accomplished something.
At every breath offer a thousand thanks that without drinking at night or the sound of harp and music, you have found the intoxication of the wine of guidance and attained the utmost joy and delight.
May thou drink of the sealed wine which hath been unsealed by the Finger of the Self-Subsisting, and receive thy portion. For this wine diverse interpretations have been recorded by the Most Exalted Pen in the Crimson Book: in one place it is interpreted as the Most Great Word, in another as the Most Great Steadfastness, and likewise as the Most Exalted Pen, and as He Who speaketh between earth and heaven, and likewise as that which floweth and streameth forth from the Pen of the Lord of antiquity.
The wine is the same wine, though in a different cup.
'Tis not the soul-nourishing wine,
Behold, this is but the cup;
'Tis not the ruby chalice this,
The wine but casts its shadow.
O happy starred Prince and noble King!
The Gift you have forwarded was very acceptable, because it was from your Highness that it came; especially this exiled one over mountain and plain and this wanderer over land and sea took that cup as a symbol, signifying:- "I am thirsty for the Water of Reality and longing for intoxication with the Wine of Knowledge."
Say: By God! The wine mentioned in the Qur'an is My love, and the Kawthar is My remembrance, and the milk is that which is concealed within My words, and the honey is My sweetest utterance, the mighty, the inaccessible. Say: O people of vain desires! That wine increaseth heedlessness, while this wine bestoweth life everlasting.
And by this wine We intended the Kawthar of God and His outpouring, and the Salsabil of God and His Tasnim, and the wine of God and His grace, even as was revealed in the Furqan, if you be of those who know.
For that divine wine is the ancient bounty and the wondrous revelation and the new spirit of the Ever-Living, All-Powerful Lord that is manifest in this mighty Cycle. For that goblet has come round, and that flagon is in the hand of the Cup-bearer, and that chalice is brimming, and that tavern has reopened, and that wine-vault has begun to flow, and those wine-lovers have begun to cry out.
That cup is divine glad-tidings and that wine the breaths of the All-Merciful. Sacrifice a hundred thousand cups for a single drop of that wine and become ready for the altar of love.
Man should be intoxicated with the wine of Knowledge and drink from the Chalice of Wisdom.
You have drunk the wine of wisdom from the divine chalice and goblet, and partaken of the living waters from the spring of recognition.
Take thou a cup of My choice-sealed wine, then drink thereof in My Name, the Self-Subsisting. Verily it will draw thee nigh unto thy Lord and cause thee to enter the pavilion of knowledge, wisdom and utterance.
Crystal goblets are in the hand of the Cupbearer of eternity and ruby cups in the hand of the sanctified Countenance, while from every direction they seek crimson wine and incomparable, sweet, pure water - to see who shall receive a portion and who shall gain a share, that He may illumine with this radiant garment the divine eye of insight which is reflected therein, and with this hidden wine of oneness may He quench the heart's thirst, that without mentioning names it may mention names, and without describing attributes it may describe attributes.
O thou servant of the Abha Beauty!
They say that Jamshid possessed a world-reflecting cup, and some maintain it was a goblet adorned with precious jewels. When one drank from that cup, like a whale in the ocean would one surge and cry out from the joy of its wine. Although that cup brought joy and gladness and was the cause of delight and bliss, yet its exhilaration lasted but a moment and its ocean was but a dewdrop. This divine cup, however, is filled to overflowing with the wine of inner meanings, and its exhilaration endureth forever.
O my Persian friend! Siavash drank the cup of destruction in exile, while you, in the divine homeland, in the All-Merciful gathering and the heavenly feast, have drunk the eternal wine. How blessed art thou! May the soul of every wine-drinker be sacrificed for thee, for what a wondrous wine thou hast drunk!
This wine hath fermented in the wine-cellar of the Lord God. Ho! Ho! Consider it not cheap - know thou its worth and value its excellence.
O Nush, from the wine prepared in Bahram's tavern, give the friends to drink until they become intoxicated in the world and in the heavenly assembly. Let the cosmic realm be transformed and let no existence remain for the poison and sting of Ahriman. The wise ones are disturbed by this intoxication, and foremost existence is enamored with this drunkenness. You whose name is Nush and whose desire is wisdom and whose entire being is attentiveness - surge forth and cry out! Take your bed and pillow and silk and perfumed satin garments to the celestial wine-sellers, sell them for wine, and put on different garments that befit the stature of the servant of Bahram.
O Jamshid! This is the feast of the Sun - bring forth the cup of Jamshid and bestow a new measure! Drink the wine of love and strive to sacrifice thyself, that thou mayest hear the melody of the divine herald, become intoxicated and lose all consciousness.
O Jamshid! The Cup of Jamshid hath come round in the feast of the Covenant, and the chalice of the pledge circuleth in the gathering of true and faithful friends. Take, then, this cup in hand and, intoxicated, enter the feast of "Am I not?" Make those who seek the countenance of the Peerless Beloved drunk with this wine in this cup in the rose garden of flowers and tulips, that all may enter the circle of divine lovers, clapping their hands and dancing. How blessed the ardent soul who becometh intoxicated and entranced from this wine-house, and how enduring the spirit that surgeth and welleth up from this wine!
Take thou the cup which hath appeared in the form of the Word and hath been filled with the Kawthar of thy Lord's knowledge, the Most High, the Most Great. Then drink thereof in My Name and pass it among the concourse of lovers, that all may be attracted by this wondrous, this mighty Kawthar. Whosoever drinketh but a drop thereof shall never die, but shall endure as long as his Lord, the Mighty, the Eternal, the All-Wise, endureth.
He sent the heavenly message and passed around the divine cup, making you intoxicated with the wine of the All-Merciful.
When the wine of utterance is nurtured in the wine-cellar of the love of God, what a pleasant intoxication it has and what joy and delight it stirs up!
From their meanings, a feast of joy and delight was spread, and from their contents, the exhilaration of the wine of God's love was obtained.
O two shining lamps! Your letter brought joy through Muhammad-Nabi the butcher, Tirandaz Khusraw, and Ardishir Khusraw, for it was a cup brimming with the wine of recognition of the Lord.
His honor Khan is not content with this brief letter and says "How can these wines suffice for our intoxication?" I say, O calculating man, this is the wine from the wine-cellar of the Covenant and its cup-bearer is the fingers of 'Abdu'l-Baha - one drop brings eternal intoxication and everlasting joy.
O thou who art attracted unto the Beauty of ABHA! Verily I call thee, from this Spot, with a speech whereby the spirit is breathed into hearts and bodies, and address thee with a calling whereby His clear wine overflows in the fountain of a heart which is consumed by the love of God.
This is a Book unto My servant Javad, who was attracted by the wine of utterance - that is, heard the Call and ran forward intoxicated.
This is a Book from the presence of One mighty and generous unto him who hath believed in God, the Single, the All-Informed, that the wine of utterance may so intoxicate him that he will speak in remembrance of his Lord, the All-Merciful, detached from all who dwell on earth.
When the rapture of My verses overtaketh thee and the wine of My remembrance and utterance intoxicateth thee, turn thy face toward God, the Help in Peril, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.
It behooveth My servants there who have quaffed the wine of Mine utterance and attained unto the fragrance of My wondrous knowledge to read this Tablet.
Drink thou the choice wine of life from the Kawthar of thy Lord's utterance, the All-Merciful.
Thus have We given thee the choice wine of utterance - drink thou in the name of thy Lord, the Self-Subsisting, the All-Compelling.
Blessed is he in that he drank the choice wine of utterance from the hand of the bounty of his Lord, the Most Merciful.
O thou who hast turned towards Me, when thou hast drunk the choice wine which hath flowed from the Pen of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, say: "Praise be unto Thee, O Creator of the worlds, for having remembered me in the prison when I was in the hands of the wicked ones!"
When thou hast quaffed the choice wine of utterance from the cup of the bounty of thy Lord, the Most Merciful, then render thanks and say: "Thine is the bounty, O Possessor of Names, and Thine is the grace, O Thou through Whom every mighty cause hath appeared!"
When thou didst discover the fragrance of the utterance of the All-Merciful and wert seized by the pure wine of revelation, say: Praise be unto Thee, O Sovereign of existence, Who hast appeared through Thy name, the All-Loving!
We have taken the mystic wine from the hand of power, which had been sealed from all eternity. When We broke its seal, the fragrance of the Beloved was diffused between earth and heaven.
Praise befitteth and beseemeth my Beloved Who, with the finger of might, hath unsealed the seal of the Choice Wine and, with the hands of bounty, hath bestowed it upon all peoples. Whosoever turned unto it, partook thereof and attained unto the infinite divine bounties, and whosoever turned away remained, in truth, deprived of the fruit of existence.
In His right hand is a chalice of the Kawthar of immortality and He saith: Come and drink, O people of Baha, and be not of the patient ones.
A mention from the Wronged One to him who desires to drink of the choice sealed wine, the seal of which was broken by the fingers of the power of God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting.
Strive ye, God willing, to drink from the living waters and become intoxicated with this true wine, that ye may arise in the assemblage of the world to make mention of the Lord of all beings.
We give the world to drink of the wine of remembrance, both secretly and openly. Blessed is he who has turned and attained unto this sealed nectar.
God willing, thou shalt partake of the sealed wine and receive thy portion from the ocean of knowledge.
Put aside the cups of creation and take this luminous cup in the name of thy Lord, the Most Glorious, then drink from it the most pure wine once again. Thus doth thy Lord command thee as He sitteth upon the throne with manifest sovereignty.
Take thou the chalice in My Name, then drink therefrom through My wondrous remembrance.
Blessed is he who has taken the cup of eternity in My Most Glorious Name, drinking at times in My Name, the Most Exalted, the Most High, then again in My Name, the Most High, the All-Wise, and yet again in My Name by which the pavilion of names was rent asunder, then once more in My Name, the All-Forgiving, the Most Merciful, and again in My Name through which all things have spoken in remembrance of Me, and yet again in My Name, the Supreme, the Mighty, the Peerless.
Take thou the chalice of My loving-kindness from the hand of My bounty, then drink therefrom in My Name, the Mighty, the Wondrous.
Strive that perchance thou mayest drink of the everlasting Kawthar from the hand of the spiritual Cup-bearer and attain unto the true Friend.
God willing, enter the city of submission, be sustained by the wine of contentment, and drink from the Salsabil of oneness, that thou mayest witness the vastness of divine mercy and become aware of the lights of the Beauty of the All-Glorious, until thou art intoxicated with the wine of reunion and steppest into the wilderness of nearness and meeting, closing thine eyes to all contingent things and opening them to the countenance of the Friend, severing thyself from all else and binding thyself to Him.
Drink the wine of divine love with the countenance of the holy, eternal Beauty's manifestation. Make your dwelling in the shallow waters of the stream of glorious Paradise and the flowing of the holy Salsabil of submission, so that, intoxicated and bewildered by the exhilaration and rapture of the wine from the vessels of divine knowledge, you may find relief from the vanities of this transient earth and the defilements of this dusty realm.
They whom the wine of true knowledge hath intoxicated - these are they whom neither veils can hinder nor the might of those who have disbelieved in God, Who causeth the night and the day to succeed each other.
This true wine is the portion of the free in spirit, not the share of those lost in idle fancies.
You turned away from the wine of delusion and became intoxicated with the choice sealed wine. You took the cup of salvation from the hand of the Cup-bearer of the Covenant and became inebriated with supreme joy, delight and longing upon beholding the lights of the Daystar of the horizons.
Cast aside vain imaginings to their followers and take hold of My Choice Wine that hath been sealed. Then drink thereof in My Name, the Self-Subsisting.
Yet when the light of divinity shone forth from the horizon of Oneness, all were occupied with their own vain desires and remained afar from Himâ€"save those souls who drank deep of the choice wine of inner meanings from the hand of divine bounty.
Now that the Manifestor of Sinai, with a radiant face, amber-diffusing curls, musk-laden tresses, a sweet ruby lip, an evident beauty and manifest grace, has become the Cup-bearer at the feast of contingent being, and has opened the doors of the divine tavern to the people of the world, and freely offered the delectable wine of divine manifestation, and caused novel melodies to reach the ears of the wine-drinkers - they remained silent, veiled and deprived.
Hearken, O My loved ones, unto the melody of grandeur, then drink ye of the water of everlasting life. We have forbidden the people of hatred from this crimson cup from the hand of the All-Glorious Cup-bearer. Thus hath the matter been decreed by your Lord, the Mighty, the All-Praised.
With complete detachment, take and drink the sealed wine in the name of the Self-Subsisting.
This divine nectar hath not been, nor shall be, the portion of every soul. This wine is befitting only to enduring souls and detached hearts, and ever shall be.
O people! Drink of the choice wine of the All-Glorious before the great cry is raised, lest the whisperings of Satan affect you and prevent you from attaining the good-pleasure of God, the Mighty, the Supreme, the Self-Subsisting.
Whosoever today has drunk of this eternal wine has attained eternal life, and whosoever has been deprived is accounted as among perishable forms in the sight of God.
The end is nothingness, and in the battle array there is defeat - unless you drink a cup of the wine of eternal life and taste the honey of everlasting existence, and become confirmed with a spirit that bestows eternal life.
Thus doth the Dove of the Cause warble in the pole of eternity and speak upon the twigs of holy newness, and remind the loved ones of God lest the world and its ornaments and its embellishments should occupy them from the Beauty Who hath shone forth from God's horizon with an impregnable cup, and giveth drink to the believers from the wine that doth kindle and shine and whose color is resplendent. From it arose heat in contingent being and appeared the fire of attraction in the lofty and glorious Tree.
For you I want this: that you be illumined by the divine light so that you may uncover the mysteries of reality, gain an eye to witness the Most Glorious Kingdom, acquire a hearing ear to hear the heavenly call, receive baptism through the Holy Spirit, seek baptism through the fire of the love of God and the water of life.
The Cup-Bearer of 'Ama offers the goblet of the wine of faithfulness with radiant light, that ye may become enraptured in the Sinai of love through the manifestation of Beauty, and after attaining unto "when he recovered from his swoon," ye may hear from the tongue of the heart the blessed verse "And to God belongeth the Kingdom of the heavens and of the earth," that ye may enter, intoxicated, into the gathering of love and the assembly of affection and become thankful.
Praise be to Him Who passed round the cups of guidance in the gathering of the people of fidelity, and gave them to drink of the wine of bounty until they became intoxicated with the sweet nectar, and spoke in praise, and were drawn to the luminous garden, and derived light from the fire kindled in the Tree of Sinai, and heard the call of God from that green Tree, and fell unconscious in the place of revelation near the Most Holy Sanctuary.
Thou didst grant us shelter beneath the companionable tree, didst prepare the feast of "Am I not?", didst make us drunk from the cup of the Covenant, and didst gather these friends among the company of the steadfast ones.
… You must, day and night, through the confirmations of the Intended Lord, arrange gatherings of firmness and steadfastness, and make souls drunk and bewildered with the wine of the Covenant.
Its chalice is the primal, timeless Cup of Alast; its wine is the crimson Wine of the Supreme Covenant; its Cupbearer is the Abha Beauty. Its cup is brimming over, its wine most choice, and its Cupbearer the Rose-cheeked Beauty.
Be ye intoxicated! Be ye wine-worshippers! Take ye the chalice in hand! Be ye filled with fervor and rapture! This is the most pure Wine! This is the crystal Cup! This is the Resurrection!
The spiritual ones are intoxicated from this Wine, and they who are filled with the divine spirit have quaffed their fill and are inebriated from this overflowing Cup with the bounteous gifts of Baha.
From the hand of the Cup-bearer of eternity thou hast drunk the chalice of fidelity, and at the feast of "Am I not?" thou hast become inebriated.
Take up the cup of the Covenant and become intoxicated at this divine feast. The wine is ready, and in this celebration drink until you become unconscious, passionate, ecstatic and hear the call of the angel.
O wandering love-smitten one! Become intoxicated from the divine cup and become unconscious and wine-worshipping from the wine of "Am I not?".
O thou who art intoxicated with the spiritual wine!
The Fair-cheeked Cupbearer of the Covenant hath adorned a blessed feast and is offering the wine of firmness and steadfastness in servitude at His Most Holy Threshold.
O friends! The wine of the Covenant must have the exhilaration of sunrise, and the candle of the lovers must have burning and inflammation.
From the wine of divine love in this luminous morn.
… The splendor shining from the heaven of My mercy be upon thee and upon My chosen ones who have quaffed the wine of steadfastness from the hands of the bounty of their Lord, the Generous.
Blessed are those souls who are intoxicated from this cup, and blessed are the friends who are full of spirit and fragrance from the chalice of the Covenant.
O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of the Covenant! Some friends have mentioned thy name in their letters and praised thee, saying that this yearner after the Divine Beauty is in the utmost state of attraction to the holy fragrances and in the highest state of longing for the Day-Star of the horizons.
… Therefore, in gratitude for this heavenly bestowal, the spiritual friends must ever become intoxicated from the cup of bounty and become wine-bearers in the divine tavern.
Praise be to the Lord of Creation, that this Persian community has become the manifestation of the favors of the Sun of existence and has engaged in the worship of Truth, has taken the path of righteousness, and has begun to drink the wine of grace in the wine-house of divine favors. It has become intoxicated with the cup of the love of God and has become the manifestation of heavenly favors.
From the beginning of the dawn of oneness, that land has been illumined, and at all times in the feast of that region, the cup of the love of God circulates and the wine of the knowledge of God is drunk with delight.
Praise be to God, your father is intoxicated with the wine of alast, and your mother is a wine-worshipper in the tavern of the love of God.
Verily this servant of Thine, who is named 'Ali, hath gathered beneath the banner of the Covenant and drunk the choice wine of Thy love from an overflowing cup.
I am falling and rising in Your path, intoxicated with the wine of the Covenant.
… O Lord! Grant me power, make me firm and steadfast, make me restless and impatient, make me mad with love for Your resplendent Beauty, make me enthralled by that musk-laden tress, until we forget stranger and kin alike and surge and roar like the sea, becoming intoxicated and bewildered from the cup of the Covenant.
It is incumbent upon thee to be steadfast in this Great Cause, firm in this right path, quaff from this cup which is overflowing with the Wine of Knowledge, and resist the hosts of trial (or tests).
O companions of purity! Praise and serve your esteemed brother, and strive night and day to drink the cup of tribulation in the feast of the love of God, for the exhilaration of this wine brings endless joy, and the delight of this heavenly food remains forever on the palate.
"Yes, in the path of the Blessed Beauty one must drink heartily from the overflowing cup of difficulties and afflictions in order to experience its consummate intoxicating effect. One type of adversity only does not have the same effect; it does not bestow that inebriating pleasure. Wines of diverse flavours must be consumed in this divine banquet, until one is utterly intoxicated."
He uttered these words with such joy and ardour that every atom of our beings soared with a sense of ecstasy and rapture. Then He added, "But you have never attended a drinking party. To get completely drunk and ultimately lose all sense of himself, a drinker mixes his drinks. For instance, in one round they drink wine; in the following round they drink araq; this is then followed by a round of cognac, then by rounds of rum, whisky and champagne until they drink themselves into a stupor. We, too, must drink various tastes from the cup of tribulation."
Suddenly, in a booming voice He asked, "Jinab-i-Khan, is that not so?"
Now His loved ones also receive a share and portion from His wine-house of tribulation.
When you drink the wine, sprinkle a drop upon the earth, for the earth has a share from the cup of the noble ones.
O thou who art confirmed in submission and contentment, His Honor Ghulamrida! Although thou hast tasted the bitterness of cruelty in the path of faithfulness and fallen into the hands of oppressors' assault and endured endless hardship, yet give thanks to God that thou hast drunk from the cup of purity and become intoxicated with the wine of inner meanings.
However, with heart and soul I constantly sigh and lament at the divine threshold and seek boundless aid and grace for the spiritual friends, especially for the loved ones of Nayriz who, praise be to God, are brimming and overflowing with the wine of the love of God, and who [in the path of the Blessed Beauty] have traversed every valley and each day sacrificed their lives.
Would that I had been with them and become intoxicated from that wine and drunk from that cup which overflowed with the wine of God's gift in the gathering of sacrifice!
In any case, with utmost humility and supplication we beseech the Most Holy Court that He may make that one who is intoxicated with the wine of love so bewildered and enchanted by the fragrances of His love that he may gallop unveiled and unhindered in the field of the love of God and begin this song:
If thou dreamest of keeping thy life, come not here
But if thou wouldst offer thy heart and soul, come and bring them too
This is the way's custom if union with God thou seekest
If thou art not a man of this path, stay far and bring not thy burden
And upon thee be glory.
You drink aged wine in the tavern of the love of God, while I am in the winehouse of servitude to Baha, with torn collar, naked, mad and intoxicated.
Observe how Abdul-Baha is intoxicated with the wine of love for the servants of the Beauty of Abha.
Although I know that wheresoever thou art, and by whatsoever cup inebriated, thou hast taken thy repose beside a flask of the wine of inner meaning, and art intoxicated by the vintage of the love of God, yet this yearning on the one hand, and the expectation of the receipt of news on the other, are difficult to bear.
And how can I fail to make mention of Thee after Thy most sweet call hath attracted me and the wine of the Kawthar of Thy love hath intoxicated me?
Grant me dwelling in the shadow of Your grace and deal with me through pure bounty, that I may find my way to another world and be guided to another realm, become intoxicated from the pure cup and be a wine-bibber in the tavern of love.
I beseech Thee, O Lord of eternity and Educator of the world, to give me to drink of the choice wine of grace from the hands of Thy bounty and the living waters of loving-kindness from the fingers of Thy favor.
Remove estrangement and confer unity. Give us to drink from the cup of crimson wine, and cause us to taste the draught of the Concourse on High. Make us intoxicated and enraptured; make us flourishing and prosperous.
O Lord! I beseech Thee by the Most Great Word whereby all who are in earth and heaven were seized with terror, save those who held fast to the Sure Handle, that Thou leave me not among Thy creatures, but raise me up unto Thee and cause me to enter beneath the shadow of Thy mercy and give me to drink of the pure wine of Thy bounty, that I may dwell in the pavilion of Thy glory and the canopies of Thy favors.
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 beseech Thee, O Quickener of bodies and Subduer of all creation, by Thy Most Great Name through which earthquakes have seized all the tribes, to give Thy loved ones and their children to drink from the wine of nearness to Thee and the choice wine of reunion with Thee.
I beseech Thee by the Most Great Name through which every misbeliever lamented, and every denier cried out, and every infidel perished, to make me of those who have drunk the wine of revelation from the hand of Thy bounty and who have soared on the wings of certitude to the heaven of Thy Cause.
O Lord! Free me from these chains and fetters, draw me unto the Kingdom of Beauty, breathe into me the spirit of life, expand my breast through manifest signs, resurrect me from the grave of torpor, awaken me from the couch of slumber, illumine mine eye with the vision of lights, cause me to hear the songs of birds, gather me with the righteous ones, and let me drink from the cup of the pure ones until I become intoxicated with the wine of mysteries.
"Then intoxicate me with the wine of Thy love, so that I may attain to success and prosperity in this dawn of Light; may speak Thy praises, call upon Thy Name, be engaged in Thy commemoration in this vast country and spacious continent and be inebriated with the pure Wine which is glowing in the excellent Cup.
O God, guide all to the rose-garden and bring kind Bahram into the heavenly realm, and make Mihrban-Bahram drink the sweet wine of pardon and forgiveness.
Give Isfandiyar Surush a cup of the wine of forgiveness to drink, and make Zarbanu Nush intoxicated and bewildered from the cup of the Covenant.
O thou who art advancing to the Kingdom of God!
Verily, I pray God to make thee the sign of guidance among the maid-servants of the Merciful, to enkindle in thy heart a spark of that fire which was ignited in the Sinaitic Tree and to give thee to drink an overflowing cup from the choice wine of the love of God, until the intoxication of that wine may so prevail upon thee that thou mayest thereby forget all else save God, be attracted to the Beauty of God, glorify thy Lord and sanctify Him during morn and eve.
O God! Bahram-i-Khusraw yearned for Thy path, and spread his wings that he might behold Thy face and soar toward Thee. O Lord! Thou art forgiving and kind. Grant him forgiveness, bestow rest upon him, and give him tranquility at Thy threshold. Make him intoxicated with the wine of reunion and make him steadfast.
O Lord! This is Your faithful servant who has drunk the choice wine from an elegant cup and has been attracted to Your love as the chameleon is drawn to the midday sun.
Grant this fallen servant eternal joy from the prepared wine of Your wine-house, and bestow everlasting delight and rapture, so that he may find rest in the shelter of Your court and be immersed in the ocean of lights.
This servant who is intoxicated with the brimming cup of Thy love, and who, at the feast of longing, with goblet in hand, yearns for Thy path and seeks Thy beauteous face, is detached from all else but Thee and restless in his love for the One Beloved.
With the utmost humility I supplicate before the Lord of the Kingdom to fill thy heart with joy through divine gifts - so that thy cup may become overflowing with the wine of heaven by Guidance, the Cloud of the Lordly Bounty pour upon thee the vernal shower, the glances of the eye of mercifulness encircle thee from all directions and that thou mayst become ignited like unto the glowing lamp amidst the congregations of the believers of God.
Well done to thee for having chosen insight over blindness, for having witnessed the greatest signs of thy Lord, for having sought shelter in the shade of the Ultimate Tree, for having taken refuge in the most secure cave, for having attained the most abundant portion, for having won the highest cup, and for having drunk a brimming goblet overflowing with the wine of the love of God.
… Lord! Give me to drink of that wine and grant me the cup of Thy bounty which is the intoxication of those pure, distinguished and noble ones, by Thy greatest mercy.
Blessed art thou for having drunk the choice wine of revelation and attained unto the love of God, the Mighty, the Praiseworthy.
O handmaiden of God! Praise be to God that through divine bestowals and heavenly bounties thou hast attained recognition of the Manifestation of Mysteries and hast turned toward the Dawning-place of Revelation and the Rising-point of Inspiration, and hast partaken of the sealed wine, with a single drop of which none in existence can compare.
This is Thy servant whom Thou hast called unto Thy most exalted Self, and who responded with "yea" and soared in the atmosphere of yearning and longing in Thy love and good-pleasure until he drank the choice sealed wine from the hands of Thy bounty.
Verily he who hath turned unto Him hath turned unto My direction and appeared before My throne and heard My call and responded to My utterance and followed My commandments and attained My presence and drunk the choice wine of My favors and the Kawthar of My bounties and tasted the sweetness of My remembrance and My words and reached the ultimate goal in My Kingdom and My dominion.
How wonderful is this supreme honor and greatest glory that hath caused all the atoms of contingent beings, from the most exalted summit to the lowest point, to rejoice and hath given them to drink of the wine of radiance and the sweet crystal water, so that all created things and all that is mentioned may inscribe with the Pen of bounty upon the Tablet of thought: "Verily He is the Truth, there is no God but Him, and He is God, the Witness over all things."
Verily they who have quaffed the most pure wine are in My greatest vision - to this doth the Lord of destiny bear witness.
Well is it with thee for having drunk the Choice Wine sealed with My Self-Subsisting Name, and for having turned toward the Supreme Horizon on a Day wherein the limbs of all names trembled.
Say: Praise be unto Thee, O my God, for having enabled me to recognize the Dayspring of Thy Revelation and the Dawning-Place of Thy knowledge, and for having given me to drink of the wine of Thy bounty in such wise that I have turned my face unto Thy face and been honored by Thy favors to such extent that Thou hast mentioned me in Thy Most Great Prison.
Thou hast drunk from the hand of the bounty of My Name, the Self-Subsisting, the sealed wine, and hast achieved that which was inscribed by the Most Exalted Pen in the Books of the Prophets and Messengers.
Glory be upon the people of Baha who have drunk, in My Name, the Sealed Wine.
Joy be unto thee for having drunk the wine of everlasting life from the hands of the bounty of thy Lord, the Most Merciful.
Blessed are they who have quaffed from the wine of immortal life and who have been nourished by the Kawthar of His presence.
My Supreme Pen testifieth that thou hast quaffed the choice wine of divine knowledge from the hands of thy Lord, the All-Merciful, and hast attained unto that which was inscribed in the Books of God, the Most High, the Most Great.
Glory and splendor be upon Thee and upon them who have drunk the water of life from the hand of the Youth.
Blessed is he who hath attained unto the days of God and hath drunk the choice wine from this cup which calleth out saying: "Joy be to them that drink!"
O loved ones of the All-Merciful! Well is it with you, and joy be unto you, for ye have attained unto the choice wine of revelation which hath flowed from the Pen of God, the Lord of creation, and it hath so intoxicated you that ye have turned unto Him, shunning every malicious infidel.
Blessed art thou for this cup brimming with the wine of God's love. Happy art thou for this heavenly table descended from on high. By thy life! This is indeed a table for the righteous and a wine that sways the limbs and is sanctified beyond description.
O Nush, wine-drinker! May this cup of wine be sweet to you! This wine is the handiwork of that veiled Beloved.
How fortunate thou art for thou hast become inebriated with the cup of the Love of God and intoxicated with the wine of divine bestowals.
O joy to the one who in this time hath drunk the cup of everlasting life from the hand of the Cup-bearer of grace!
O seekers of the beauty of the All-Glorious, O pilgrims of the exalted Kaaba of the transcendent Lord! With utmost joy, delight and gladness, engage in thanksgiving to the All-Merciful Lord, that you have found your way to His path and hastened toward Him and witnessed the radiance of His countenance and become intoxicated by His musk-scented breeze.
You have drunk from His heart-attracting stream and become enamored of His character and disposition.
O blessed leaf! Give thanks to the Ancient Beauty and the Ever-Living Almighty that from the beginning of life you grew and developed under the shade of the Tree of Sinai, and drank the wine of the love of God from the hand of the Cup-bearer of guidance, and came under the protection and chastity of one who is the Herald of the Covenant and the Raiser of the Banner of Concord, who is the Lamp of the spiritual gathering and the Sign of the mercy of the Lord God.
Thank God, for that He hath made thee of the "Chosen Ones," not of those who were only "called"; hath assigned thee to the knowledge of His Manifest Beauty, during the Great Century; hath guided thee to the right Way; hath exhilarated thee from the Cup which is overflowing with he choice Wine of the Love of God; hath dilated thy breast with the light of knowledge of God; hath favored thee with His Gifts; and hath attracted thee from this world through the Magnet of the Kingdom.
O servant of God! Give thanks to the Almighty that thou hast inhaled the sweet fragrance of the gardens of the Abha Kingdom, obtaining new life thereby, and that thou hast beheld the radiance of the celestial realm with thine inner sight-that thou hast taken hold of the cup that brimmeth with mysteries, and moved that assemblage to rapture and ecstasy as thou thyself dancest with joy. Drink thou, drink with healthy relish!
Even if thou shouldst open a hundred mouths, and in each mouth were a hundred tongues to give thanks for this bestowal of the Lord of creation - that praise be to God, thou hast drunk the cup of guidance from the hand of the Cup-bearer of bounty and become intoxicated with the wine of the love of God - thou wouldst still fall short and be unable.
Attain to the station of witnessing, for you have become cherished maidservants at the Divine Threshold, have become cultured and refined, and have become intoxicated and ecstatic from the overflowing cup.
O thou who art enkindled with the fire of the Love of God!
Thank thou thy revered friend and thy attracted (spiritual) sister who hath guided thee to this right path and given thee to drink the choice wine of knowledge from the cheerful cup.
Well is it with thee and with him for this cup that brimmeth over with the wine of the love of God.
He hath made thee drink from a cup overflowing with the wine of His love in the world.
O thou fragrant rose blooming in the Garden of Guidance!
Thank thou God for that He hath removed from off thine eye the covering, made thee to see the signs of the Kingdom of thy Lord, the Supreme, filled for thee the cup of bounty and gave thee to drink the pure wine of fidelity which He hath promised to the sincere in the holy Books and Tablets.
Happy are ye who are intoxicated from the cup of His favor! Happy are ye who worship the wine in the tavern of His love!
Praise be to God, the cup of thy hopes is overflowing with the wine of bounty.
Happy am I and all my loved ones for this cup overflowing with the choice wine of God's grace, dripping with the pure water of God's gifts!"
Thou art intoxicated with the wine from the divine tavern of Abha and filled with ecstasy from the overflowing cup of the Beloved of the horizons.
O you two who have turned to God and are accepted at the Divine Threshold! How fortunate and blessed you are that you have come under the shadow of the bounty of the Kind Lord and, becoming intoxicated with the wine of the grace of the All-Merciful, you have found your way to the highway of guidance.
Thou hast drunk from the Salsabil of grace and become intoxicated with the wine of favors.
O thou who art attracted by the love of God! Give a hundred thanks to God that thou hast walked the path of guidance by the lights of the fire of the Blessed Tree in the Sinai of the Divine Tree, and hast drunk the wine of bounty from the hand of the Cup-Bearer of favor.
O faithful servant of the Most Glorious Beauty! Give thanks to God that through the bounty of guidance, you have illumined a face like unto the radiant moon, and filled the cup of your heart to overflowing with the wine of the love of God.
Were you to become aware of the favors of the Desired One as they truly are, you would spread your wings in joy and delight and soar to the Kingdom of gladness, and from the hand of the pure Wine-Bearer you would drink of the cup whose mixture is of camphor.
Thou hast drunk a brimming cup from the hand of the Lord of the Righteous and become awake and aware, for this wine increaseth reason and knowledge, and bestoweth understanding and insight. It openeth the eye and unsealeth the ear and maketh the heart perceive.
Well is it with thee to have this cup which overfloweth with the wine of the love of God.
O handmaiden of God! Thanks be to the Lord, the Self-Subsisting, that thou hast entered beneath the shadow of the blessed Word, and drunk from the chalice of guidance, and tasted the honey of bounty, and become intoxicated with the wine of divine favors, and immersed in the ocean of recognition.
Be thou happy, joyous, delighted and attracted, for in this divine Dispensation thou hast become intoxicated with the cup of the All-Merciful from afar and art full of fervor and enthusiasm.
Immediately it occurred to me that that dear one is intoxicated from the overflowing cup of the wine of grace and is the confidant of divine mysteries in the private chamber of the Desired One.
O servant of God! Know the worth of this noble father who guided you to the living waters and directed you to the abode of the Beloved. He gave you a portion of the heavenly feast and bestowed upon you a share of the divine wine.
For many years thou wast a desert wanderer - now drink from the cup of love for the Ancient Beauty, that the greatest elixir of thy desire and hope may penetrate the copper of thy conditions and affairs, turning black copper into red gold as the divine alchemy manifests its power.
Therefore, He poured a drop of that wine into your cup so that you might find perpetual intoxication and not be disappointed - that you might become alive and free, intoxicated and fresh.
He filled the cup of love to overflowing and made you restless from the potency of the wine of inner meanings.
Eternal life arrived, the dawn of divine bounty broke, heart and soul joined with the Beloved, and the spirit became intoxicated with the wine of truth.
Until man becomes free and pure from this heavy burden of the earthly world, he will not receive any portion from the Kingdom and will not attain joy and delight. The intoxication of that wine brings another passion to the head and manifests another joy in the heart.
I ask God to increase thy intoxication with this wine and gladden thy spirit with this great gospel.
God willing, may you ever drink from the wine of love and be sustained by the vintage of the decree of affection.
Know the value of this guidance and keep this pearl from the shell of grace pure and sanctified from the dust of attachment, so that day by day the exhilaration of the divine wine may increase and the lamp of guidance may better illuminate.
The divine wine must be drunk pure, and may you too receive a portion from this boundless ocean and take a share from this limitless sea.
That is, you must drink that divine wine pure and unmixed; do not mix it with anything else. And if you wish to mix it, do not go beyond the water from the beloved's mouth, for that would be the essence of tyranny....
Send greeting to the maid-servant of God, Miss ..., and say: "As the love of God hath the utmost penetration in thy heart, the ring-stone bearing the strong wine, for capacity is great and the power of the wine is intense. Therefore, there wilt not remain any power or resistance."
Make them senseless from the cup of certitude and intoxicated from the wine of explanation.
This statement is by way of jest, otherwise there is no doubt that souls who are intoxicated from the divine cup of "Am I not?" and are wine-worshippers in the tavern of the Friend are always drinking to the memory of the Beloved's face, and from the wine of the love of the Lord they, like an overflowing cup, forget forgetfulness and consider silence as unconsciousness, count forgetting as disobedience, and call occupation with aught else sheer madness.
The one drunk with wine awakens from the west wind, But the one drunk with Truth awakens not even from the trumpet of resurrection.
O thou who art intoxicated by the wine of God's love! The table of love is embellished and the banquet of divine knowledge is adorned. The rose-cheeked Cup-bearer circleth and the fairy-faced Beloved hath appeared from His concealment. The morning draught is passed around and the eternal wine of the All-Glorious is ...
O soul enamored of the Countenance of the Self-Subsisting! In this world of upheaval, where every head harbors a desire and every heart yearns for a beloved, if thou art a living soul and a soaring spirit, become enchanted by the Face of the All-Merciful, become disheveled by the tresses of the Beloved, and become intoxicated and inebriated with the wine of God.
Therefore turn, with a heart throbbing and tears flowing, unto the Beauty of El-ABHA, so that thou obtaineth the great favor and drinketh from that wine, and tasteth the fruits of the Paradise of El-ABHA.
Implore God, therefore, that thou mayest drink from this cup of the divine and mystic wine, and become satisfied with this crystal spring of life.
O Nushirvan! Drink from the goblet of wine from the wine-cellar of the All-Merciful. … As much as thou art able, become intoxicated with the wine of love for the celestial Beloved.
Ask God that you may become intoxicated with this wine and become a wine-worshipper in this tavern.
If you were to comprehend the greatness of this gift, you would soar aloft from sheer joy, and like a candle would shine forth in the niche of gladness and set the world ablaze with the fire of the love of God. … You would take up the divine cup and become intoxicated with the wine of inner meanings. You would drink and give others to drink, and cause a world to cry out in ecstasy.
O servant of God! Be intoxicated with the cup of the All-Merciful and seek the aid and bounty of the Lord.
O assured leaf! Fill the cup of purity with the wine of faithfulness, become intoxicated with the love of the mighty Lord and be stirring.
The goblet of wine is overflowing and the crystal decanter weeps with joy. The divine radiance encompasses all, and the fame of the Lord has spread throughout East and West, vast and mind-quickening. You who are intoxicated with the wine of mystery - arise!
Take up the cup of bounty at the glad-tidings of the Most Great Unity and drink the wine of joy. Become intoxicated, become enraptured, become exhilarated, become gladdened.
And joy be to all those who sway in ecstasy from the pure wine that hath flowed and overflowed and surged in the tavern of the love of God, the Most High, the Most Glorious!
It is the spirit and sweet fragrance and the intoxication of the pure wine from the wine-cellar of the Beloved.
The one who became the wine-seller in this tavern became intoxicated and bewildered by these mysteries.
Now that peerless friend has, praise be to God, become intoxicated with the wine of the divine cup and has become the nightingale of the rose garden of mysteries.
Praise and glorification are due, that we may offer thanksgiving and until the melody and song and the music of harp and drum and the intoxicated inclinations manifest the effect of nightly wine-drinking.
The music of Barbad lifts up, song and music have begun, the harpist started a melody and joined in harmony with harp and lute, the wine vat and wine bubbled up, in the gathering the drinking of rose wine took hold! The birds of the meadow became intoxicated, the pheasants became wine-worshippers!
You would rend your collar and take up the wine-flask in hand, and laughing and joyous would take delight and sing songs and play melodies that would bring the listener to dance and rapture.
Therefore, take up the laughing cup of mystic knowledge and like the weeping flagon, raise a most wondrous melody in this garden of the All-Merciful, that thou mayest become a sweet-singing parrot, tasting sugar again and again.
O Surush! The Angel of Inspiration is singing such a melody that will bring you into ecstasy and rapture, and the Divine Cup-bearer is bestowing such a cup of joy that will bring you gladness and delight. If you are wise, give ear to that Angel's song, and if you are noble, drink deeply of that cup of joy.
Thou must henceforth, God willing, act in accordance with that which thou hast been commanded and be the cup-bearer of this immortal wine. This is the most great bounty which hath flowed forth from the ancient ocean. Drink thou therefrom and be of the thankful ones.
Therefore, you who have received a share and portion from this abundant bounty and found a full measure of this great grace must, like wine-loving cupbearers, become intoxicated and enchanted, and taking this divine cup in hand, give the seekers of the primordial covenant the divine wine to drink, and give the yearning lovers of the Beauty of the All-Merciful news of the loveliness and radiance of the Ancient Countenance, so that each may look with the eye of insight and see that the divine Joseph has appeared with such splendor in the divine Egypt that it has broken the market value of a hundred thousand Josephs of Canaan, and has lit such a countenance that it has caused tumult in the city and raised the banner of commotion at the pole of the horizons.
Let them pass around the cup of love and drink and serve the wine of eternal gladness and joy.
Therefore you must take up this cup of divine wine, shatter the market of the heedless, and scatter these precious meanings upon all.
Soon he will take in hand the overflowing cup of the love of God, and intoxicated in the gathering of the All-Merciful, will become the cupbearer of the wine of the primordial covenant and a wine-lover, becoming the cause of enthusiasm and rapture.
Make all intoxicated with the wine of alast and give them free rein in the arena of the love of God, so that the homeland of the Greatest Name - may my spirit be sacrificed for His loved ones - may become an example of the Supreme Concourse and manifest the light of the Abha Kingdom.
Ye hold in your hands the goblet of supreme guidance and are inebriated with the crimson wine of the love of the Blessed Beauty.
From the cup of the wine of love for the Most Great Name thou hast become intoxicated and enchanted, and from the fire kindled on Mount Paran thou hast been set ablaze and ignited.
Therefore ye who are intoxicated with this wine and are worshippers in this tavern, become wholly inebriated and raise melodies and songs, that others too may be stirred to motion and may not remain deprived of the bounties of the Lord of creation.
Thou hast become intoxicated with the wine of divine knowledge and overcome by the Sovereign upon the throne of love.
Blessed is he who hath arisen amidst all contingent beings and, in the name of his Lord, the All-Merciful, hath taken the living waters and given to drink the crimson wine unto them that have recognized the unity of God from among the people of Baha, and unto the sincere ones from the drops that have trickled from the ocean of the will of the Lord of Names.
O thou who art attracted to the Most Glorious Beauty! Do such deeds that a group may become intoxicated with the wine of the love of God and adopt the ways of the angels of the highest heaven, so that thou mayest acquire the lights of beauty in the Abha Kingdom in the gathering of manifestation.
Cause them to drink from the cup of the wine of the Morn of Eternity and intoxicate them with the goblet of everlasting felicity.
With one hand you may upraise the heavenly Banner and with the other hand, may you hold the overflowing cup with the Wine of the Love of God, offering it to all and exhilarating everyone with its spiritual nectar.
However, for the pure soul there is a sublime paradise - a heavenly world. That pavilion is higher than Saturn and its breadth and expanse is endless. Seek that, and take up the jeweled cup and drink and share the divine wine.
While his heart is beating with the love of God, he holds a cup full of the knowledge of God in his right hand and wishes to give the seekers to drink of this wine, so that they may, perchance, be exhilarated with this cup, which is overflowing with the signs of God.
Be thou rejoiced at these words, because thou wilt partake of this wine which refreshes hearts and souls.
They have no rest day or night - they surge forth and cry out, awakening the slumbering ones and making the heedless ones mindful. They take up the cup and intoxicate the thirsty ones. They loose their tongues to truths and meanings and bestow heavenly bounties.
O thou who art intoxicated with the wine of the love of the All-Merciful! Pass round the cup of attraction in the gathering of detachment, and make the loved ones drunk with the choice wine of divine election, and cause the near ones to be enraptured by the melodies of the Dove.
The Cause is the cup, teaching is the ruby wine with which the souls are intoxicated.
O Muhammad! The spiritual wine of oneness is prepared and the Bearer of the eternal countenance is the Cup-Bearer - take and drink, and give to drink!
And when you have partaken of the chalices and the warmth of the wine of your Lord's knowledge has seized you, then greet the dawn, arise amidst the concourse of the earth and say: "To Me, to Me, O people of righteousness, that I may draw you nigh unto the Most Sublime Vision and cause you to know your Lord, the Ordainer of destiny, through Whom the sun was darkened and the moon was cleft asunder!"
Convey greetings to all the loved ones and forbid them from idle pastimes and games. The wine of love for the Peerless Lord and the cup of knowledge of the eternal Sovereign suffices for all who dwell in the realm. And greetings be upon those who follow the Truth.
One thing remains, and it is this:
"When thou drinkest wine, sprinkle thou a drop upon the earth."
Therefore, in thanksgiving for this most great bounty and supreme favor, one must take the divine cup in hand and, dancing in the arena of sacrifice, bestow it upon all created things.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
...seize, before the eyes of those who are in the heavens and those who are on the earth, the Chalice of Immortality, ... and quaff thy fill, and be not of them that tarry.
Well is it with him that hath quaffed the choice and incorruptible wine of faith...
The wine mentioned in the Tablets has undoubtedly a spiritual meaning for in the book of Kitab-i-Aqdas we are definitely forbidden to take not only wine, but every thing that deranges the mind.
Indeed the laws of God are like unto the ocean and the children of men as fish, did they but know it. However, in observing them one must exercise tact and wisdom... One must guide mankind to the ocean of true understanding in a spirit of love and tolerance. The Kitab-i-Aqdas itself beareth eloquent testimony to the loving providence of God.
Ever I proclaim the Law, engaged in naught else; going, coming, sitting, standing, never am I weary of pouring it copious on the world, like the all-enriching rain, on honored and humble, high and low, law-keepers and law-breakers, those of perfect character, and those of imperfect, orthodox and heterodox, quick-witted and dull-witted, equally I rain the Law-rain unwearyingly. (Lotus Sutra 5)
For thought and discussion