In the Name of the Lord of Utterance, the Mighty.

O YE PEOPLE THAT HAVE MINDS TO KNOW AND EARS TO HEAR!

The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose garden of the spirit. O messenger of the Solomon of love! Seek thou no shelter except in the Sheba of the well-beloved, and O immortal phoenix! dwell not save on the mount of faithfulness. Therein is thy habitation, if on the wings of thy soul thou soarest to the realm of the infinite and seekest to attain thy goal.

Bahá’u’lláh

بنامِ گویندهٔ توانا

ای صاحبانِ هوش و گوش

ِاوّل سروشِ دوست اینست ای بلبلِ معنوی جز در گلبنِ معانی جای مگزین و ای هدهدِ سلیمان عشق جز در سبایِ جانان وطن مگیر و ای عنقایِ بقا جز در قافِ وفا محلّ مپذیر اینست مکانِ تو اگر بلامکان بپرِ جان برپری و آهنگِ مقامِ خود رایگان نمائی

حضرت بهاءالله

In a letter written on his behalf (Lights of Guidance, no. 1633), Shoghi Effendi referred to The Hidden Words as “jewel-like thoughts cast out of the mind of the Manifestation of God to admonish and counsel men.” In an earlier letter (Unfolding Destiny, pp. 429–30), he noted that they were “dictated by Bahá’u’lláh to His secretary [Mírzá Áqá Ján] as He strolled on the banks of the river in Baghdád,” and that, according to ʻAbdu’l-Bahá Himself, they were revealed in 1274 A.H. (1857–58).

Original Sources

  • The source for the English translation can be found here
  • The source for the original Persian text can be found here

Further References