The First Valley

Categories: THE FOUR VALLEYS
Sources: Ebook Of The Seven Valleys And The Four Valleys

If the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One (maqsud), this

station appertaineth to the self--but that self which is The Self of God

standing within Him with laws.(90)



On this plane, the self is not rejected but beloved; it is well-pleasing

and not to be shunned. Although at the beginning, this plane is the realm

of conflict, yet it endeth in attainment to the throne of splendor. As

they have aid: O Abraham of this day, O Friend Abraham of the Spirit!

Kill these four birds of prey,(91) that after death the riddle of life

may be unraveled.



This is the plane of the soul who is pleasing unto God. Refer to the

verse:



O thou soul who art well assured,

Return to thy Lord, well-pleased, and pleasing unto Him.(92)



which endeth:



Enter thou among My servants,

And enter thou My paradise.(93)



This station hath many signs, unnumbered proofs. Hence it is said:

Hereafter We will show them Our signs in the regions of the earth, and in

themselves, until it become manifest unto them that it is the truth,(94)

and that there is no God save Him.



One must, then, read the book of his own self, rather than some treatise

on rhetoric. Wherefore He hath said, Read thy Book: There needeth none

but thyself to make out an account against thee this day.(95)



The story is told of a mystic knower, who went on a journey with a learned

grammarian as his companion. They came to the shore of the Sea of

Grandeur. The knower straightway flung himself into the waves, but the

grammarian stood lost in his reasonings, which were as words that are

written on water. The knower called out to him, Why dost thou not

follow? The grammarian answered, O Brother, I dare not advance. I must

needs go back again. Then the knower cried, Forget what thou didst read

in the books of Sibavayh and Qawlavayh, of Ibn-i-Hajib and

Ibn-i-Malik,(96) and cross the water.



The death of self is needed here, not rhetoric:

Be nothing, then, and walk upon the waves.(97)



Likewise is it written, And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom

He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves. These are the wicked

doers.(98)