Tablets! Know thou that he who
embarketh upon this journey will marvel at the signs of the power of God
and the wondrous evidences of His handiwork. Bewilderment will seize him
from every side, even as hath been attested by that Essence of immortality
from the Concourse on high: "Increase My wonder and amazement at Thee, O
God!"(62) Well hath it been said:

99

I knew not what amazement was
Until I made Thy love my cause.
O how amazing would it be
If I were not amazed by Thee!(63)

100 In this valley the wayfarers stray and perish ere they attain their
final abode. Gracious God! So immense is this valley, so vast this city in
the kingdom of creation, that it seemeth to have neither beginning nor
end. How great the blessedness of him who completeth his journey therein
and who traverseth, through the assistance of God, the hallowed soil of
this heavenly city, a city in which the favoured ones of God and the pure
in heart are overcome with wonder and awe. And We say: "Praise be to God,
the Lord of the worlds."

101 And should the servant ascend to even loftier heights, quit this
mortal world of dust, and seek to ascend unto the celestial abode, he will
then pass from this city into the City of Absolute Nothingness, that is,
of dying to self and living in God. In this station, this most exalted
habitation, this journey of utter self-effacement, the wayfarer forgetteth
his soul, spirit, body, and very being, immerseth himself in the sea of
nothingness, and liveth on earth as one unworthy of mention. Nor will one
find any sign of his existence, for he hath vanished from the realm of the
visible and attained unto the heights of self-abnegation.

102 Were We to recount the mysteries of this city, the dominions of the
hearts of men would be laid to waste in the intensity of their longing for
this mighty station. For this is the station wherein the effulgent glories
of the Beloved are revealed to the sincere lover and the resplendent
lights of the Friend are cast upon the severed heart that is devoted to
Him.

103 How can a true lover continue to exist when once the effulgent glories
of the Beloved are revealed? How can the shadow endure when once the sun
hath shone forth? How can a devoted heart have any being before the
existence of the Object of its devotion? Nay, by the One in Whose hand is
my soul! In this station, the seeker's complete surrender and utter
effacement before his Creator will be such that,