The Hidden Words: A Spiritual Guidebook for Life and Death

One of the most meaningful Baha’i experiences I’ve ever had came through institutes that my father led globally on Baha’u’llah’s most seminal mystical works, including The Hidden Words. 

Baha’u’llah revealed this remarkable book in the late 1850s in Baghdad. A powerful spiritual guide for both life and death, comprised of about 150 short passages and aphorisms, The Hidden Words lend themselves to daily meditations. Here’s one:

O Son of Man! The light hath shone on thee from the horizon of the sacred Mount and the spirit of enlightenment hath breathed in the Sinai of thy heart. Wherefore, free thyself from the veils of idle fancies and enter into My court, that thou mayest be fit for everlasting life and worthy to meet Me. Thus may death not come upon thee, neither weariness nor trouble. 

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I often tell friends interested in the Baha’i Faith to start their investigation by reading this book because it summarizes the purpose of our creation and humanity’s divine heritage. 

The Hidden Words also offers very practical advice on how we can either grow spiritually or, alternatively, keep running into obstacles on that path. The moral and spiritual virtues we develop here accompany us to the next world, but what if we have made no provisions for that journey? Put another way, if there is some kind of existence beyond the grave, shouldn’t we prepare for it? 

The Hidden Words provides that guidebook. 

Scholars say that the book has no particular sequence, although one can identify various themes. For example, mystical concepts drawn from the Sufi tradition run throughout The Hidden Words — namely, the soul’s quest to seek a reunion with its beloved. In the beginning, in particular, the work has a lot to say about this love story, including this potent passage:

O Son of Man! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.

But Baha’u’llah asks us, too, where we have been in this relationship and about the divine endowments we have neglected:

O Children of Negligence and Passion! Ye have suffered My enemy to enter My house and have cast out My friend, for ye have enshrined the love of another than Me in your hearts. Give ear to the sayings of the Friend and turn towards His paradise. Worldly friends, seeking their own good, appear to love one the other, whereas the true Friend hath loved and doth love you for your own sakes; indeed He hath suffered for your guidance countless afflictions. Be not disloyal to such a Friend, nay rather hasten unto Him.

Most people today look for this true love in intimate relationships, family, or their professions and avocations, and sometimes find it there. We often learn about love, for example, through another person’s compassion and support or in service to others. But there are times when those relationships or paths may also lead us to bitter disappointment, so it’s perhaps not a surprise to find holes in our lives when our divine reality — and our true purpose — gets pushed further and further to the margins. 

Thus, many passages in The Hidden Words are about God calling us home, which also entails some hard work on our part. Another key theme in this work, then, is that the bird of the human heart will only soar once its wings have been cleansed from the defilement of the material world. One of the greatest barriers to that flight is our own ego and self-absorption. Baha’u’llah wrote:

O Son of Spirit! Burst thy cage asunder, and even as the phoenix of love soar into the firmament of holiness. Renounce thyself and, filled with the spirit of mercy, abide in the realm of celestial sanctity. 

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The Hidden Words is, however, not just about lofty, abstract spiritual ideas. The book’s passages offer a lot of practical advice as well, such as the importance of pursuing a craft or profession in this world, working for justice, and detaching ourselves from both wealth and poverty. Other helpful advice includes “bring[ing] thyself to account each day” and diligently avoiding backbiting and gossip. Speak no evil, The Hidden Words says in one passage, “… that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great; and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement be not exposed.”  

I am a big advocate of going to the source of any faith tradition to understand it fully. Ultimately, it’s the word of God and the ability of that word to transform lives that creates change in both individuals and in the life of society. Immersing yourself in Baha’u’llah’s Hidden Words can help manifest that deep spiritual change.

If you would like to dive deeper into this amazing work, you’re invited to attend an upcoming workshop on The Hidden Words in Arizona that I am organizing in October of 2024: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/journey-to-the-heart-of-the-hidden-words-tickets-878646674857