Were all the denizens of earth and heaven to unravel this shining allusion, this darksome riddle, until the Day when the Trumpet soundeth, yet would they fail to comprehend even a letter thereof, for this is the station of God’s immutable decree, His foreordained mystery. Hence, when searchers inquired of this, He made reply, “This is a bottomless sea which none shall ever fathom.”(116) And they asked again, and He answered, “It is the blackest of nights through which none can find his way.” Whoso knoweth this secret will assuredly hide it, and were he to reveal but its faintest trace they would nail him to the cross. Yet, by the Living God, were there any true seeker, I would divulge it to him; for they have said: “Love is a light that never dwelleth in a heart possessed by fear.” Verily, the wayfarer who journeyeth unto God, unto the Crimson Pillar in the snow-white path, will never reach unto his heavenly goal unless he abandoneth all that men possess: “And if he feareth not God, God will make him to fear all things; whereas all things fear him who feareth God.”(117) 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 Bahá;(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 Saná’í 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.