If the mystic knowers be of those who have reached to the
beauty of the Beloved One (Mahbúb), this station [the Fourth Valley] is the apex
of consciousness and the secret of divine guidance. This is the center of the
mystery: “He doth what He willeth, ordaineth what He pleaseth.” [Qur’án 2:254;
5:1, etc]
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.” [Statement attributed to ‘Alí] And they asked again, and He answered, “It is the blackest of nights through which none can find his way.”
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.” [Statement attributed to ‘Alí] And they asked again, and He answered, “It is the blackest of nights through which none can find his way.”
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Four Valleys’)