Speak in the Persian tongue, though the Arab please thee more;
A lover hath many a tongue at his command.(118)

How sweet is this couplet which revealeth such a truth:

See, our hearts come open like shells, when He raineth grace like
pearls,
And our lives are ready targets, when agony's arrows He hurls.

And were it not contrary to the Law of the Book, I would verily bequeath a
part of My possessions to the one who would put Me to death, and I would
name him My heir; yea, I would bestow upon him a portion, would render him
thanks, would seek to refresh Mine eyes with the touch of his hand. But
what can I do? I have no possessions, no power, and this is what God hath
ordained.(119)

Methinks at this moment, I catch the fragrance of His garment(120) blowing
from the Egypt of Baha;(121) verily He seemeth near at hand, though men
may think Him far away.(122) My soul doth smell the perfume shed by the
Beloved One; My sense is filled with the fragrance of My dear Companion.

The duty of long years of love obey
And tell the tale of happy days gone by,
That land and sky may laugh aloud today,
And it may gladden mind and heart and eye.(123)

This is the realm of full awareness, of utter self-effacement. Even love
is no pathway to this region, and longing hath no dwelling here; wherefore
is it said, "Love is a veil betwixt the lover and the beloved." Here love
becometh an obstruction and a barrier, and all else save Him is but a
curtain. The wise Sana'i hath written:

Never the covetous heart shall come to the stealer of hearts,
Never the shrouded soul unite with beauty's rose.

For this is the realm of Absolute Command and is free of all the
attributes of earth.

The exalted dwellers in this mansion do wield divine authority in the
court of rapture, with utter gladness, and they do bear a kingly sceptre.
On the high seats of justice, they issue their commands, and they send
down gifts according to each man's deserving. Those who drink of this cup
abide in the high bowers of splendor above the Throne of the Ancient of
Days, and they sit in the Empyrean of Might within the Lofty Pavilion:
"Naught shall they know of sun or piercing cold."(124)

Herein the high heavens are in no conflict with the lowly earth, nor do
they seek to excel it, for this is the land of mercy, not the realm of
distinction. Albeit at every moment these souls appear in a new office,
yet their condition is ever