The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys
The Seven Valleys : the Valley of Unity
thine Eminence to such assumptions. For God is, in His Essence, holy above ascent and descent, entrance and exit; He hath through all eternity been free of the attributes of human creatures, and ever will remain so. No man hath ever known Him; no soul hath ever found the pathway to His Being. Every mystic knower hath wandered far astray in the valley of the knowledge of Him; every saint hath lost his way in seeking to comprehend His Essence. Sanctified is He above the understanding of the wise; exalted is He above the knowledge of the knowing! The way is barred and to seek it is impiety; His proof is His signs; His being is His evidence.41
Wherefore, the lovers of the face of the Beloved have said: “O Thou, the One Whose Essence alone showeth the way to His Essence, and Who is sanctified above any likeness to His creatures.”42 How can utter nothingness gallop its steed in the field of preexistence, or a fleeting shadow reach to the everlasting sun? The Friend43 hath said, “But for Thee, we had not known Thee,” and the Beloved44 hath said, “nor attained Thy presence.”
Yea, these mentionings that have been made of the grades of knowledge relate to the knowledge of the
Manifestations of that Sun of
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