z, died ca. 1389 A.D. One of
the greatest of Persian poets.

55 Arabian poem.

56 Hadith, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the
Prophet Muhammad or to one of the holy Imams.

57 From Qur'an 50:21.

58 Persian mystic poem.

59 'Ali.

60 The Mathnavi.

61 Literally "Jayhun," a river in Turkistan.

62 Qur'an 9:51.

63 The Mathnavi.

64 Qur'an 76:5.

65 Muhammad.

66 Qur'an 55:26, 27.

67 Qur'an 15:21.

68 Faridu'd-Din Attar (ca. 1150-1230 A.D.), the great Persian Sufi
poet.

69 Hadith, i.e. action or utterance traditionally attributed to the
Prophet Muhammad or to one of the holy Imams.

70 The Mathnavi.

71 Pantheism, a Sufi doctrine derived from the formula: "Only God
exists; He is in all things, and all things are in Him."

72 This refers to the three stages of Sufi life: 1. Shari'at, or
Religious Laws; 2. Tariqat, or the Path on which the mystic wayfarer
journeys in search of the True One; this stage also includes
anchoretism. 3. Haqiqat, or the Truth which, to the Sufi, is the
goal of the journey through all three stages. Here Baha'u'llah
teaches that, contrary to the belief of certain Sufis who in their
search for the Truth consider themselves above all law, obedience to
the Laws of Religion is essential.

73 Maqam-i-Mahmud. Qur'an 17:81.

74 Qur'an 2:84.

75 Persian mystic poem.

76 "Peace." This word is used in concluding a thesis.

77 Arabian poem.

78 The five letters comprising this word in Persian are: G, N, J, SH,
K, that is, Gaf, Nun, Jim, Shin, Kaf.

79 This and the foregoing quotations are from the teachings of Islam.

80 This is a reference in the traditional Persian style to Baha'u'llah
Himself.

81 Mathnavi of Rumi.

82 Sa'di, Muslihu'd-Din of Shiraz (ca. 1184-1291), famed author of the
Gulistan and other poetical works.

83 Persian proverb describing a man who gives up easily. As used here
one connotation is that the Shaykh might have considered his station
as a mystic leader compromised by the fact of his being taught the
new truth by Baha'u'llah.

84 Qur'an 41:30.

85 Qur'an 11:114; 42:14.

86 Sa'di.

87 Ibid.

88 Senna, capital of Persian Kurdistan.

89 This preamble to The Four Valleys is written in the finest Persian