"O Maid of inner meanings! Step out of the chamber of utterance by the leave of God, the Lord of the heavens and the earth. Reveal, then, thyself adorned with the raiment of the celestial Realm, and proffer with thy ruby fingers the wine of the heavenly Dominion, that haply the denizens of this world may perceive the light that shone forth from the Kingdom of God when the Daystar of eternity appeared above the horizon of glory. Perchance they may arise before the dwellers of earth and heaven to extol and magnify this Youth Who hath established Himself in the midmost heart of Paradise upon the throne of His name, the All-Sufficing Helper -- He from Whose countenance shineth the brightness of the All-Merciful, from Whose gaze appear the glances of the All-Glorious, and in Whose ways are revealed the tokens and evidences of God, the omnipotent Protector, the Almighty, the All-Loving."
Comments:
• Let’s attempt to gain some insights with respect to the symbolic representation of the “Maid of inner meanings”. But before we do that, we need to recall our previous exploration of the term Maiden in Paragraph 1.6 where Baha’u’llah refers to a “Maiden … suspended in the air” before Him as “the embodiment of the remembrance of the name of My Lord”. We also reviewed the Guardian’s explanation in God Passes By that this “Maiden” is a representation of the “Most Great Spirit” in Baha’u’llah’s Dispensation and that It was represented as the “Sacred Fire, the Burning Bush, the Dove and the Angel Gabriel” in “the Zoroastrian, the Mosaic, the Christian, and Muhammadan Dispensations.”
• We also come across some further representations in the Writings with respect to this metaphor of Maids. For example in the following quote Baha’u’llah links them to the Word of God and the process of unsealing “the choice wine” of His Revelation:
“O My servants! Through the might of God and His power, and out of the treasury of His knowledge and wisdom, I have brought forth and revealed unto you the pearls that lay concealed in the depths of His everlasting ocean. I have summoned the Maids of Heaven to emerge from behind the veil of concealment, and have clothed them with these words of Mine -- words of consummate power and wisdom. I have, moreover, with the hand of divine power, unsealed the choice wine of My Revelation, and have wafted its holy, its hidden, and musk-laden fragrance upon all created things. Who else but yourselves is to be blamed if ye choose to remain unendowed with so great an outpouring of God's transcendent and all-encompassing grace, with so bright a revelation of His resplendent mercy?...” (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 327)
• The terms Maid and Maiden are also used in the Islamic Holy Scriptures -- the background of the Baha’i Faith (just like Judaism being the background of Christianity). For example in the Surih of Sad we read: “This is a reminder! verily, for the pious is there an excellent resort,-gardens of Eden with the doors open to them;-reclining therein; calling therein for much fruit and drink; and beside them maids of modest glance, of their own age …” (The Qur'an, Sura 38 – Sad, translated by E.H. Palmer).
• In Volume 1 of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah, Adib Taherzadeh explains that: “In the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, He has used the 'Maid of Heaven' to refer to Himself or to one of the attributes of God, and sometimes as the personification of the 'Most Great Spirit'.” (Adib Taherzadeh, The Revelation of Baha'u'llah v 1, p. 242).
• Furthermore, we come across passages in the Writings of the Bab where for example He says: “O People of the earth! By the righteousness of the One true God, I am the Maid of Heaven begotten by the Spirit of Baha, abiding within the Mansion hewn out of a mass of ruby, tender and vibrant …” (The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 54).
• In one of His Tablets, ‘Abdu’l-Baha refers to the “new Jerusalem” that has “come down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven”: “Verily, verily the new heaven and the new earth are come. The holy City, new Jerusalem, hath come down from on high in the form of a maid of heaven, veiled, beauteous, and unique, and prepared for reunion with her lovers on earth.” (‘Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 350)
• It is very intriguing how Baha’u’llah links the concept of “inner meanings” with a symbolic and allegorical imagery of a “Maid” – a feminine representation. Baha’u’llah instructs this “Maid” to “Step out of the chamber of utterance” and to “Reveal” herself to “the denizens of this world”! Baha’u’llah hopes that this act, combined with the injunction for the Maid” to “proffer” (offer) “the wine of the heavenly Dominion” will help “the denizens of this world” to “perceive” (recognize) the latest Manifestation of God. How tremendously inspiring, touching and caring!
• This beautiful paragraph also brings to our attention the concept of “inner meanings” with respect to our interaction with the sacred Word of God and our feeble attempts to “understand” them – whether intuitively, spiritually, intellectually, emotionally, etc.
• One last comment about this paragraph: the magnificent picture in which Baha’u’llah is portrayed as:
“the Daystar of eternity” that “appeared above the horizon of glory”;
The “Youth Who hath established Himself in the midmost heart of Paradise upon the throne of His name, the All-Sufficing Helper”;
“He from Whose countenance shineth the brightness of the All-Merciful”;
He “from Whose gaze appear the glances of the All-Glorious”; and
He “in Whose ways are revealed the tokens and evidences of God, the omnipotent Protector, the Almighty, the All-Loving.”
• Ya-Baha'ul-Abha!
