I Blog Poetry and Prose

Soundtrak Challenge: Day 18 - "Whither Can a Lover Go"

Fiḍá (Grace), 12 Mulk (Dominion) 176 B.E. - Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Artist: Gustaff Besungu
Title: "Whither Can a Lover Go"

Quotation Used for the Lyrics12

“O SON OF JUSTICE! Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart’s desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.”

Baha’u’llah

One of the wonderful and inspiring things about the Baha'i scriptures is that they can be put to music. "Whiter Can a Lover Go" sung by Gustaff Basaungu, is just one example of a Baha'i musical artist putting the words to music. Many of these, both scriptures and prayers, can be found on YouTube. Because The Hidden Words are short pearls of wisdom, they lend themselves to the creative process of putting the sacred scriptures to music.

Baha'u'llah revealed The Hidden Words in 1858 while he walked on the banks of the Tigress River.3 This book is divided into two parts, Part One is from the Arabic and Part Two is from the Persian. The book was translated into English by Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith. in the preamble to Part One Baha'u'llah said:

"This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the Prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof, and clothed it in the garment of brevity, as a token of grace unto the righteous, that they may stand faithful unto the Covenant of God, may fulfill in their lives His trust, and in the realm of the spirit obtain the gem of Divine virtue."45

The Hidden Words also inspire poetry. The three poem below can be found in "Sacred Scriptures (19 Short Poems)" . In addition to those "The Accounting"  and "Feast of Jamal (Beauty)"  were also inspired by these pearls of wisdom.

The Hidden Words

God's Glory
exhaled faith's perfume,
revelation's essence
and power's utterance.

Reading The Hidden Words

A child of spirit
intones eternal light's joy;
crystal radiating life.

The Hidden Words

An orchard planted
By the Glory of God to
Feed humanity.

Footnotes
1  The Hidden Words, Part Two: From the Persian: Number 4
2  https://www.bahaiblog.net/2016/06/wither-can-a-lover-go-by-gustaff-besungu/
3  https://bahaiteachings.org/discovering-the-hidden-words
4  The Hidden Words, p. 3.
5  Quoted in the article https://bahaiteachings.org/discovering-the-hidden-words by David Langness.