LordOfGoblins

I recently came upon this link
Tablet of the Maiden

it is a provisional translation that was not given the green light from a schollar of dubious intentions.
Anyway there is one line I have a problem with.

"I raised my hand another time, and bared one of Her breasts that had been hidden beneath Her gown"

I understand this is written in a sufi style poem of sufi-eroticism but still I have to say this statement struck me completely. Why would Baha'u'llah have allowed himself to write such a thing in the current climate of the world. Surely he knew it would be subject to alot of misinterpretation etc. But the translator claims that he is using "breast" directly from the corresponding arabic word.

This person should never have done a translation and it should be removed from the website. I am not one to enforce cencorship but it seems this line is completely left field of everything else in the Bahai writings.
I have no doubts of Gods wisdom but it makes me feel doubt when I read something like this, sadly and it gnaws at me.

Any ideas?

Yeshua

I've had a look at the translation and personally I think its gorgeous! Stunning, beautiful...

It reads very much like erotic Christian and Islamic mysticism.

Just as a young man longs to lift up the dress of his lover and touch her breasts, Baha'u'llah is burning with desire for the Maid, who represents God's revelation.

The breast seems like a very approriate image. It contains milk, and so God's revelation - the text is telling us - contains great spiritual nutrition and sustenance.

If this is really "too much" for you then I'd warn you never to read Rumi, Saadi, Hafez, St Teresa of Avila or the biblical Song of Songs...

The latter of which even has imagery involving oral sex! Ohhh baddd...

Here's a taste from the Song of Songs (which symbolically represents the soul's desire for God):

"Kiss me, make me drunk with your kisses!
Your sweet lovemaking
is better than wine

...

Take me by the hand, let us run together!

My lover, my king, has brought me into his chambers.
We will laugh, you and I, and count each kiss,
better than wine.

Every one of them [the other maidens] wants you.

...My king lay down beside me
and my fragrance
wakened the night
All night My beloved is to me a bag of myrrh
that lies between my breasts.
My beloved is to me a cluster of
henna blossoms in the vineyards of En-ged

...

And my beloved among the young men
is a branching apricot tree in the wood.
In that shade I have often lingered,
tasting the fruit [Oral sex ]

...

Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind!
Blow upon my garden that its fragrance may be wafted abroad.
Let my beloved come to his garden, and eat its choicest fruits
[Oral Sex]

...

How beautiful you are and how pleasing,

O love, with your delights!

Your stature is like that of the palm,

and your breasts like clusters of fruit.

I said, “I will climb the palm tree;

I will take hold of its fruit.”

And oh, may your breasts be like clusters
of grapes on a vine, the scent
of your breath like apricots,
your mouth good wine-

That pleases my lover, rousing him
even from sleep."

...I imagine that would rouse me from sleep as well...

Anyhow I personally LOVE sufi-style erotic poetry. It can be read both as literal descriptions of love and/or lush descriptions our longing for union with God.

LordOfGoblins

Ok I edited my response. I guess the answer to this will come in time. Thanks for your post..

Fadl

Hi L.O.G.,

I looked at the tablet and found it beautiful, and was not shocked by it, but I think I understand how you could be. I wish I could see the Arabic and know the particular word, but it seems fine to me as a Baha'i and I'm not alarmed by it. I will quote a bit from it for the sake of reference:

I think it is important realize this is a description of a spiritual encounter, and not a physical one. Therefore, by maiden a maiden is not intended for maidens are physical, and by breast, a breast is not intended for breasts are physical. This is a description of a loving, intimate, spiritual encounter and not a physical tryst.

Think of the Master’s explanation of Adam and Eve where Eve was likened to Adam's soul rather than a physical woman, as an example of this type of metaphor. Also, the maiden is the attraction of men, and so a maiden is a wonderful metaphor for the Holy Spirit as a supremely attractive spiritual quality.

The breast is not a dirty part of the body, it is a very intimate part of the body, and for a woman to bare her breast to her lover is to share of that which is intimate and beautiful with her lover. I think it is important to realize we are speaking of the Holy Spirit and messenger of God here, so it is sanctimonious courtship here, and not something vile like what might happen in a night club. The baring of the breast in this passage is a metaphor of a very intimate and private intercourse that exists only between the Holy Spirit and the messenger of God, so it is a sacred and blessed act.

I hope this reflection helps you in some small to come to feel at ease with what you have found. I'm sure you will!

LordOfGoblins

Thanks Fadl. I can understand other Bahais might not be shocked, I was however. I realise it would have spiritual meanings and is not about a worldly love-bond. I wanted some clarification as why Baha'u'llah would go ahead and write in such a way given the current climate of the world.
In any case thankyou, hopefully these things will become clearer to me in the future, it is rare that any Bahai would understand the reasons for everything Baha'u'llah writes and does.

Fadl

You said it, brother! I like to call to mind these verses whenenver I experience challenges:

LordOfGoblins

Hi All.
I think I have answered my own question- with the help of others people here.
Thanks for your replies

Essence of GOD

wow that was beautiful,
Brest gives milk, think along those lines. after reading this master piece
im tearing up, this was one of the best reads of my entire life. thanks for sharing.

Prodaytrader

I couldn't even read enough to get to the part in question! What writings are these? It's very poetic and flys right over my head as I search for meaning. This is a very different style then I am used to from B.

tonyfish58

Tablet of the Maiden

Link to the Translator & Universal House Of Justice letters

Cheers Tony

Sboyce

i understand being shocked. When Baha'u'llah declared himself the upright Alif in the kitab-i-aqdas, i was concerned that he was referring to the numbers 616 (it is said by The Guardian), an early view of the number of the beast historically, really shook me a bit.

arthra

Tony supplied the link and here is the statement from the House of Justice dated 27 August 1998 that I think is helpful:

The subject matter of this Tablet is that of the relationship between the Divine Youth and the Maiden. In the past, as you are well aware, it has not been uncommon to use human love, passion and longing as an allegory of the divine love between God and His creatures. One has only to think of the Song of Songs in the Old Testament, the writings of some of the Christian saints and much of Persian mystical poetry. The tradition represented by such literature was used by Bahá'u'lláh in aspects of His Revelation; but in this Tablet He employs a complexity of expression that makes it extremely challenging for any translator unfamiliar with this tradition in the Persian context to render an English version without giving an entirely false impression of what Bahá'u'lláh is trying to convey. In the polluted climate of much current Western discourse on matters of this kind, an inadequate translation would no doubt increase the probability of inappropriate and irreverent reactions.

http://bahai-library.com/uhj_lawh_hu...cole.html#cole