| Dreams |
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| In The Seven Valleys Bahá'u'lláh states, ‘One of the created phenomena is the dream. Behold how many secrets are deposited therein, how many wisdoms treasured up, how many worlds concealed. Observe, how thou art asleep in a dwelling, and its doors are barred; on a sudden thou findest thyself in a far-off city, which thou enterest without moving thy feet or wearying thy body; without using thine eyes, thou seest; without taxing thine ears, thou hearest; without a tongue, thou speakest. And perchance when ten years are gone, thou wilt witness in the outer world the very things thou hast dreamed tonight . . . Consider the difference between these two worlds . . .‘22 |
| In the Súriy-i-Vafá, Bahá'u'lláh again refers to dreams: ‘Consider thy state when asleep. Verily, I say, this phenomenon is the most mysterious of the signs of God amongst men. . . Behold how the things which thou hast seen in thy dream is, after a considerable lapse of time, fully realized. Had the world in which thou didst find thyself in thy dream been identical with the world in which thou livest, it would have been necessary for the event occurring in that dream to have transpired in this world at the very moment of its occurrence . . . This not being the case, however, it must necessarily follow that the world in which thou livest is different and apart from that which thou hast experienced in thy dream. This latter world hath neither beginning nor end. It would be true if thou wert to contend that this same world is. . . within thy proper self and is wrapped up within thee. It would equally be true to maintain that thy spirit, having transcended the limitations of sleep and having stripped itself of all earthly attachment, hath, by the act of God, been made to traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the innermost reality of this world.'23 |
| In a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi it is stated: ‘That truth is often imparted through dreams no one who is familiar with history, especially religious history, can doubt. At the same time dreams and visions are always coloured and influenced more or less by the mind of the dreamer and we must beware of attaching too much importance to them . . . In many cases dreams have been the means of bringing people to the truth or of confirming them in the Faith . . . We should test impressions we get through dreams, visions or inspirations, by comparing them with the revealed Word and seeing whether they are in harmony therewith. ‘24 |
| [BD 73-74] |
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