Hidden Word, Arabic 22: Noble Have I Created Thee
Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words, (1858), Bahá'í Publishing Trust · Read original
When in Bahá'í history
Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Hidden Words in Baghdád in the year 1274 A.H. (1857–58), partly in Arabic and partly in Persian. Shoghi Effendi writes in God Passes By that Bahá'u'lláh was inspired with them "as He paced, wrapped in His meditations, the banks of the Tigris."
This is the twenty-second of the Arabic Hidden Words:
O SON OF SPIRIT! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.
The same thought appears as a question in the thirteenth Arabic Hidden Word:
O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
From The Hidden Words of Bahá'u'lláh (Arabic, nos. 22 and 13), translated by Shoghi Effendi. The account of their revelation is from Shoghi Effendi's God Passes By.
Cite this story
Bahá'u'lláh. (1858). *The Hidden Words*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/bahaullah/hidden-words/
This story shares quotes with 4 other stories
“as He paced, wrapped in His meditations, the banks of the Tigris.”
Also in
- Hidden Word, Arabic 1: A Pure, Kindly and Radiant Heart— Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words
- Hidden Word, Arabic 59: Thy Heart Is My Home— Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words
- Shoghi Effendi Translates The Hidden Words— Rúḥíyyih Khánum, The Priceless Pearl
“O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside…”
Also in
- Hidden Word, Arabic 3: I Knew My Love for Thee— Bahá'u'lláh, The Hidden Words
Record yourself reading this story
Recording stays on this device only. Nothing is uploaded.
Related stories
Self-Realization
Bahá’u’lláh constantly urges men to realize and give full expression to the perfections latent within them—the true inner self as distinguished from the limited outer self, which at best is but the temple, and too often is the prison of the real man.
Hidden Word, Arabic 12: With the Hands of Power I Made Thee
The twelfth Hidden Word in Arabic — Bahá'u'lláh's reminder that the soul was made with the hands of power, and that within it He has placed the essence of His light.
Hidden Word, Persian 73: Thou Art the Daystar
The seventy-third Persian Hidden Word — Bahá'u'lláh's testimony that the soul is the daystar of the heavens of His holiness, and His call to let not the defilement of the world eclipse its splendor but to rend asunder the veil of heedlessness.
Opposition of Mullás
After His return from this retirement, His fame became greater than ever and people flocked to Baghdád from far and near to see Him and hear His teachings.