And now do I say, “Verily we are from God, and to Him shall we
return.”(106)




The Third Valley


If the loving seekers wish to live within the precincts of the Attracting
One (Majdhúb),(107) no soul may dwell on this Kingly Throne save the
beauty of love. This realm is not to be pictured in words.

Love shunneth this world and that world too,
In him are lunacies seventy-and-two.
The minstrel of love harpeth this lay:
Servitude enslaveth, kingship doth betray.(108)

This plane requireth pure affection and the bright stream of fellowship.
In telling of these companions of the Cave He saith: “They speak not till
He hath spoken; and they do His bidding.”(109)

On this plane, neither the reign of reason is sufficient nor the authority
of self. Hence, one of the Prophets of God hath asked: “O my Lord, how
shall we reach unto Thee?” And the answer came, “Leave thyself behind, and
then approach Me.”

These are a people who deem the lowest place to be one with the throne of
glory, and to them beauty’s bower differeth not from the field of a battle
fought in the cause of the Beloved.