Fadl

This is from Gibran's beautiful work "The forerunner." I hope you like it!

LordOfGoblins

Isnt it interesting that eagle do sometimes eat carrion like vultures but I cannot find any reference that saying Falcons do. Baha'u'llah compares himself to a falcon, and there is also this from the valley of love.


"Love seizeth not upon a living soul,
The falcon preyeth not on a dead mouse. 3 "

And see this concering carrion. (eating of dead flesh).
Carrion - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just food for thought here.

Fadl

You are so right about the Falcon and the Eagle. It is quite interesting, as you said, that Baha'u'llah in the Lawhi Maqsud has called himself the Royal Falcon:

"I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight."
-Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 169


What a wonderful imagery this passage evokes. When I meditate upon it, I realize that the reason a drooping bird unfolds its wings in the presence of a falcon is fear, and I understand that it is the fear of God that inspires us and causes us to exert ourselves upward to the heavens. Isn't that a stunning realization?


Back to the poem. My favorite part is the bit about love:

"Let me rather starve,
And let my heart parch with thirst,
And let me die and perish,
Ere I stretch my hand
To a cup you [love] did not fill,
Or a bowl you [love] did not bless."

There is a great truth told here, because it seems we should never do anything unless it be out of love, because then it is insincere, and not truthful action. Even the very reason to obey God is love, as Baha'u'llah has revealed in The Aqdas:

"Observe My commandments for the love of My Beauty"

I also think the lack of love doesn't give us an excuse to be motionless, however. Instead, if we don't have enough love to act with sincerity and truthfulness, then the task for us is to strive to increase the capacity of our love that we may eventually lovingly accomplish all that our Lord asks us to.

Fadl

This is a delightful passage from "The Prophet" on marriage:


"Then Almitra spoke again and said, "And what of Marriage, master?"
And he answered saying:
You were born together, and together you shall be forevermore.
You shall be together when white wings of death scatter your days.
Aye, you shall be together even in the silent memory of God.
But let there be spaces in your togetherness,
And let the winds of the heavens dance between you.
Love one another but make not a bond of love:
Let it rather be a moving sea between the shores of your souls.
Fill each other's cup but drink not from one cup.
Give one another of your bread but eat not from the same loaf.
Sing and dance together and be joyous, but let each one of you be alone,
Even as the strings of a lute are alone though they quiver with the same music.
Give your hearts, but not into each other's keeping.
For only the hand of Life can contain your hearts.
And stand together, yet not too near together:
For the pillars of the temple stand apart,
And the oak tree and the cypress grow not in each other's shadow."