11  Reflection

The next spiritual practice Bahá’u’lláh describes in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is reflection. Regularly we are commanded to reflect throughout the revelation. Reflection as a spiritual practice is not something you commonly hear about, especially in Abrahamic religious circles. I typically viewed reflection as an act of mindful contemplation, perhaps thinking about how Bahá’u’lláh teaches “O Son of Being! Bring yourself to account each day before you are summoned to account, for death will come suddenly, and you will stand in judgment over your own self.”1 Bringing to account had always seemed to be about asking myself if I have done what I was supposed to do, such as obeying Bahá’u’lláh’s laws. What if there is more to this accounting ledger?

Reflection, if I had to provide a definition, is the process of integrating prayer, recitation, and remembrance into one’s soul so as to prepare the soul to honor God. Reflection serves as the bridge towards increased God consciousness within the self. Many religious traditions define this process as the core of their religion. Islam calls it submission to God’s will although reflection is missing from the traditional pillars of faith. Reflection is recognizing that our accounting ledger is about how our inner self measures against God’s Self.

We aren’t judging based on the standards of humankind, but we are comparing how we align with God’s desire for us. If Muhammad is an example, he regularly retreated to the cave of Hira to reflect, and it was here when he first received revelation. After Jesus was baptized, he spent 40 days in the desert wilderness of Galilee, reflecting and preparing himself for His mission. Moses spent 40 days on Mount Sinai whereupon the law of the Torah eventually emerged. Bahá’u’lláh, before publicly announcing His mission from God, spent 2 years in Sulaymaniyah as a Naqshbandi Sufi detached from all He was attached to. Reflection is how God shines through us.

Reflection: When you “bring yourself to account,” what do you actually audit? Is there anything you tend to avoid?

With reflection defined as integration, we can now ask what purposes reflection serves, because purpose determines what kind of understanding is being sought.

11.1 Purposes of Reflection

Reflecting is for understanding2 through discovering hidden pearls3 such as pearls of mysteries from the Ocean.4 What are we to understand?

11.1.1 The Choice Sealed Wine

One of the hidden pearls of mystery is the Choice Sealed Wine itself. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is not merely a book of laws. Imagine you are practicing recitation of a verse of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and you take some time to reflect upon the verse. Depending on which spiritual world you are passing through, you might gain an understanding and on a different day, gain another understanding due to passing through a different spiritual world. The hidden pearls are plural, which means there could be countless forms of wisdom to be gained.

11.1.2 The Bayán

There is a section of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas addressed specifically towards the People of Eloquence, also known as the Bábís. Bahá’u’lláh says whoever “reflects on these verses (from the Bayán) and discovers the hidden pearls within them, by God, will find the fragrance of the Merciful emanating from the direction of the prison, and his heart will hasten toward it with longing—nothing will stop him, not the armies of the heavens or the earth.”5 The Primal Point says “for nothing has been ordained except for the sake of the Day of the Manifestation of He Whom God shall make manifest, so that if a soul stands before God, there should be no condition within them except refinement—that nothing may be witnessed in them except the love of God.”6 The Bayán is a love letter to Bahá’u’lláh and to reflect the Bayán, is to discover hidden pearls of love for Bahá’u’lláh.

11.1.3 The Qiblih

Bahá’u’lláh says to “reflect regarding the Qiblih7 pearls of mysteries from the ocean.” To continue the theme of love and adoration, what would it mean to reflect regarding the Qiblih? Reflection, such as in this case, is not merely to acknowledge a fact, but to feel the nuances from the ocean of meanings. Today, what am I turning towards? Tomorrow, what am I turning away from? Reflection regarding the Qiblih may offer opportunities to identify what we love, and from what we love, what do we turn to more than Bahá’u’lláh? Do we have multiple points of adoration?

11.1.4 Dawn and Evening on the Mercy and Favors of God

Bahá’u’lláh tells us to “reflect, during the dawn and evening, on the mercy and favors of God. Give thanks.”8 This could be a practice we take during the obligatory prayer. Maybe during the prayer, we take moments to pause and reflect on the portion of the prayer recited. In those moments, we are meditating on a mercy God had bestowed on you. You might not be in prayer, but curled up in bed or your sofa, reflecting on a favor. This is also a practice to help you, even on a burdensome day with some struggle or pain, to identify something good within it. This type of reflection is a difficult practice, but one which may help provide perspective to certain feelings. The heart is a great place for hidden pearls to be unveiled.

11.1.5 Your Lifecycle

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas tells us to “reflect on what you were created from; indeed, all were created from a base fluid.”9 Bahá’u’lláh also says to “reflect on your end, don’t be unjust.”10 He provides counsel for how we live our lives between our creation and our end. He says “the days of your life pass as the winds blow, and your glory will be rolled up as was the glory of those before you. Reflect, O people, where are your past days, and where are your vanished years? Blessed are the days that were spent in the remembrance of God, and the hours devoted to His praise, the All-Wise.”11

Reflection here is combined with remembrance. What of God do we remember? How is a name of God manifesting within my life? Is there too much dust on my soul’s mirror? Do I praise something more than God? Maybe reflecting on the beginning, knowing all people were created from an egg, a sperm, and the breath of life from God gives us new insights and understandings in how we apply our constellation of virtues. Awareness of the inevitable end may keep a regular perspective for the unique situations we find ourselves in.

11.1.6 The World and the Conditions of Its People

Reflection is also a bridge between the individual’s spiritual life and how we use our life to honor God within the world. Bahá’u’lláh says to “reflect upon the world and the condition of its people.”12 Maybe you are reading a political editorial or having a conversation with a friend regarding a social issue. Emotions are high as there are reasons to feel strongly. What if you reflect during such moments? Your prayers, recitation, and remembrance have prepared you to reflect and how to respond. You may view the world using a map, or view it from an image taken from space. You may notice or feel its vastness, or its smallness, depending on your reflection. Both can be true. You may feel the joys and pains of people near or far from you. You might feel aspects of oneness and aspects of difference, and see the truths of both aspects. We may observe what we should not do, and the potentials harms which occur when people lack faith, lack love for God, or lack the fear of God.

Reflection then, is not solely about how our souls reflect God for our own liberation, but reflection is also about the potential liberation of the world and its people. Reflection is what helps make prayer, recitation, and remembrance active within the world. Reflection is the initiator of the Cause of God.

Reflection: Which purpose of reflection draws you most—hidden pearls, love of the Bayán, discernment of the Qiblih, gratitude at dawn and evening, mortality, or the condition of the world—and why?

With the purposes established, we can now move from why we reflect to how we reflect, because method determines whether insight becomes transformation.

11.2 How Do We Reflect?

An example is set forth in the supreme word, upon which the entirety of religion is established. Through its utterance, the foundation of all religion is confirmed. In the hour of death, all will speak this word and return to Him. The reflections within mirrors inevitably return to their origin. When the mirrors reflect the image of the sun, they return to it, for their existence began with it. The mirrors’ purpose lies solely in their capacity as mirrors, reflecting the sun from which they originated.13

The quote above from the Báb encapsulates perfectly what it means to be a mirror. We are what we reflect, in this life and thereafter. If the purpose of the mirror of the soul is to reflect the light of God, what inhibits the ability to reflect?

It could be the orientation of our mirror. Reflection of divine light could be anywhere from 0 to 100%, merely based on the direction our mirror is facing. Our ability to reflect could be influenced by objects getting between the mirror and the Sun. These objects can be veils, created by ourselves or by others, which are used to keep a person from identifying the light. When a veil exists, what direction will a mirror turn? Other objects can be accumulated dust. This dust can represent a mirror which reflected the light radiantly, but stopped its spiritual practice. Maybe the mirror thought once it attained a spiritual station, that the station was permanent, mistakenly doing what it wanted. Each day which passes allows more dust to settle on the mirror. Eventually, no light reflects as the dust absorbs the light.

How do we reflect to ensure our best reflection, so that our soul may attain the liberation of paradise?

11.2.1 Detach and Purify

Bahá’u’lláh says in the Book of Certitude: “the door mentioned in the statement that the servants will not reach the shore of the sea of knowledge except by completely cutting off from everything in the heavens and the earth. Purify yourselves, O people of the earth, so that you may reach the position that God has destined for you, and enter into a pavilion that God has raised in the sky of explanation.”

We learned earlier how prayer can help increase the virtue of detachment and how remembrance can help increase the virtue of purity. These practices help identify what is important for our souls, but we can also learn a lot by what is missing from the obligatory prayers, the verses of God, and the names and attributes of God.

For example, we do not see any description of human race or differences of races. There is not a single writing from the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh discussing race. Yet, during the European Enlightenment emerging in the 15th century, the idea of race and the subsequent ideologies of race supremacy spread throughout the world as Europe colonized various parts of the globe. By the time Bahá’u’lláh emerged from the prison of Akka in the late 1870’s, nearby Beirut was an intellectual hotspot where race highly influenced the sociopolitical discourse. Beirut was the most common port of entry for pilgrims to Bahá’u’lláh. It was where his son, Abbas Effendi, sought medical care. Yet, race was notably absent from the Revelation of God through Bahá’u’lláh. This begs the question: Is race real?

Being able to set aside certain assumptions about what is real or unreal, despite there being common ideas and ideologies current among the people of the age or people of a culture, is vital to reflection. When Bahá’u’lláh says certitude can only happen by separating ourselves from these assumptions, we are no longer allowing those assumptions to be chains weighing us down. These chains are often described by Bahá’u’lláh as vain imaginings and idle fancies. A vain imagining is something we create in our own head which is not real and serves no positive purpose in our world of existence. Reflection helps use the spiritual practices to help identify what is real, what is actually true, versus what people may tell us is real and true. This discernment is incredibly important.

Other vain imaginings which people often attach themselves to can include political ideologies or parties, religious identity and labels, conditions of the ego, or even social and economic outcomes. Detach from all save God. To purify in these types of context could include identifying what we love or hate and understanding why. Do we allow our feelings to judge where we shouldn’t? Do we blindly follow what is popular or what our families commanded us to follow? Do we get caught up in our own self doubts and insecurities? These things act to turn our mirrors in directions which reflect corruption, not the radiant light of God. Even if we proclaim “I believe” and still remain attached to things which may not even be real or conducive to the liberation of self, soul, and society, we accumulate a substantial amount of dust on our mirrors.

God is the creator of all, but maybe Satan is merely the corrupter.

11.2.2 Cleanse the Mirror

So far I had avoided discussing meditation. Meditation is not explicitly commanded by the Báb or Bahá’u’lláh and it is not a spiritual practice by itself. Yet, meditation can be a tool to help a person reflect. When we have identified what to detach from or purify from, it can be beneficial to take time to be quiet.

The essence of faith is to speak little and to act abundantly; and if one’s words exceed his deeds, know that his nonexistence is better than his existence, and his demise is better than his survival. The foundation of well-being is silence, consideration of the consequences, and withdrawal from the people.14

Reflection requires silence, stillness, and a sincere desire to look both inward and while looking outward, deeply. Our spiritual eyes must be piercing. Tools such as meditation or yoga can be useful, as long as the practice themselves are not distracting. The purpose is not to empty the mind, but instead to allow the mind, heart, and soul to align with what God wills. Within my own reflection practice, I might curl up on a couch and watch birds eat, sing, and play. Hiking and camping are incredible times to reflect, even if you are with a loved one navigating the depths of your relationship. The most socially isolating time I am able to take is a road day trip, listening to music both vocal and instrumental. I’ve learned more during these 3 periods of time than I ever have only reading books, in school, or doing the common roles of life. The times of reflection helps consolidate all of these sources of knowledge, feeling, and experience into a form greater than the sum of their parts.

Through this process we can identify a truth about every aspect of our lives, and allow spiritual discernment to increasingly act as our compass. While imperfect, we strive for the process of perfection.

11.2.3 Reorient

The eventual goal is for the soul to be reoriented, facing away from these attachments, imaginings, and worldly affairs and turned towards God. Bahá’u’lláh asks us “O Son of the Cloud I call you to eternal life, yet you seek annihilation. Why have you turned away from what I love and turned toward what you desire?”15

I will close this section with the first paragraphs of Bahá’u’lláh’s Seven Valleys describing the Valley of the Annihilation of Self:

Upon ascending the lofty stages of bewilderment, the seeker enters the valley of true poverty, the principal annihilation. This stage is marked by the annihilation of the self and the subsistence in God…. For when the sincere lover and the concordant beloved reach the meeting of the loved one and the lover, they ignite a fire from the radiance of the loved one’s beauty and the heart’s fire of the lover. This fire burns all the curtains and veils, even burning all that is with them, down to their core and shell, until nothing remains but the beloved….This is because what is with people is limited to their own limitations, and what is with God is holy beyond that.

Reflection: When you notice “dust” on the mirror, what is your most common form of dust and what helps you cleanse it without self-condemnation?

With method established, we can now return to the Unknown Sister and see how reflection gives pure truthfulness its shape, so truth becomes alignment rather than weapon.

11.3 Illuminations of The Unknown Sister - Emergent Virtues from Pure Truthfulness

11.3.1 Eloquence

Through reflection, she senses that truth does not need force to be real. Eloquence begins as restraint, which is the understanding that when the time comes, truth must be expressed clearly, without excess or evasion. Reflection teaches her that how truth is spoken may matter as much as what is spoken, and that beauty and care can prevent truth from becoming a wound.

11.3.2 Heedfulness

Reflection awakens her to responsibility. She can no longer treat this as an abstract fact or a future problem. Heedfulness makes her aware that lives are already being shaped by what she now knows, even in stillness. This awareness does not rush her, but it prevents numbness, keeping her soul awake rather than sheltered by delay.

11.3.3 Perception

As she reflects, she begins to see multiple truths at once without forcing them into competition. The situation is not singular but layered: legal, familial, emotional, spiritual. Perception allows her to hold these realities together, recognizing that more than one truthful path may exist, each refracting the same light differently.

11.3.4 Wisdom

Reflection tempers insight with patience. Wisdom does not urge her toward immediate resolution, but toward fitting application. She understands that knowing what is true does not mean knowing when or how it should be acted upon. Wisdom grows as she senses the difference between correct action and premature action.

11.3.5 Reason

Reflection brings coherence to her thoughts. Emotion no longer dominates the landscape unchecked. Reason helps her see consequences unfolding beyond the present moment—how words spoken now may echo for years, how silence may also shape futures. It does not replace compassion; it steadies it.

11.3.6 Sincerity

In reflection, she examines her motives without flinching. She notices the subtle pull of self-protection, the desire to appear composed or benevolent. Sincerity strips these away gently, aligning her concern with love rather than image. Whatever she may eventually do, she wants it to arise from care, not from fear or convenience.

11.3.7 Pure Truthfulness (Innate Virtue)

In this moment, truthfulness is not disclosure but alignment. Reflection draws her soul into harmony with what is real, freeing her from illusion, denial, or self-deception. She becomes less concerned with managing appearances and more concerned with living honestly before God, trusting that truth, when carried with love, will eventually find its rightful expression.

Reflection: What are various things which can impair the emergent virtues from pure truthfulness? How does reflection overcome these impairments?

11.4 Summary

Reflection integrates prayer, recitation, and remembrance so that the soul becomes capable of discerning hidden pearls, cleansing the mirror, and reorienting toward God. It is both inward accounting and outward discernment, shaping truthfulness into eloquence, heedfulness, perception, wisdom, reason, and sincerity. In Chapter 12 we will turn to honoring God, and see how reflection becomes action, and how the inner alignment of the soul is translated into how we live.

  1. The Hidden Words of Arabic #31↩︎

  2. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #5↩︎

  3. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #136↩︎

  4. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #137↩︎

  5. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #136↩︎

  6. The Persian Bayán Váḥid 8 Gate 6↩︎

  7. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #137↩︎

  8. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #33↩︎

  9. The Suríy-i-Haykal (To the King of Paris)↩︎

  10. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #148↩︎

  11. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #40↩︎

  12. The Suríy-i-Haykal (To the King of Paris)↩︎

  13. The Persian Bayán: Váḥid 1 Gate 9↩︎

  14. Asl-i-Kullu’l-Khayr (Essence of All Good)↩︎

  15. The Hidden Words of Arabic #23↩︎