10  Remembrance

10.1 Introduction

The next spiritual practice is Dhikr, or the remembrance of God. Before exploring the formal aspects of dhikr, I want to linger on the nature of remembrance itself. What does it feel like to remember anything at all?

Sometimes remembrance is a conscious act. I choose to revisit a memory, like returning to an old house where every doorway leads to a different feeling. Perhaps I’m alone, walking through its corridors quietly, or perhaps I open the door for someone else, inviting them in through a story. It may be lighthearted, like the hope of laughter on a stage, or personal, shared only with one close listener. Whatever the reason, remembrance is not just to recall, it is to relive. I’m not just telling a story, I’m feeling it again. And the story may not even be the same one I told last time, because I am no longer the same person remembering it.

Then there are the memories that come unbidden, like visitors in the middle of the day. A flash of color, a familiar scent, a sudden voice causing something to stir. I see a bluebird glide into a patch of grass, and suddenly I’m a child again in my grandparents’ yard. I hear an accent, a cadence, and a long-buried grief awakens. These are not thoughts I chased, but echoes that found me. Through sight, sound, smell, touch, and taste, these gateways of senses, the soul is stirred. Something subtle passes through, like a breeze carrying fragrance from a distant garden.

Remembrance also comes in dreams. The real and unreal merge. A face that no longer walks this world appears and says something you didn’t know you needed to hear. You wake with a strange emotion lingering, one part truth, one part mystery. Sometimes these dreams feel like a letter from another world. Did it arrive by chance, or did a divine hand guide it?

All these are ways we remember ourselves, including our past, our longings, our unspoken questions. But how do we remember the One who is veiled in every veil, whose Name echoes behind the curtain of all things? How do we remember God, who is the Most Hidden, the Most Subtle?

This chapter will explore both formal and informal ways to remember God, the purpose remembrance fulfills in the soul’s journey, and the virtues that blossom in its light.

Reflection: Where does remembrance already visit you without effort, and what might change if you learned to treat those moments as invitations rather than interruptions?

With the inner texture of remembrance established, we can now ask what the Kitáb-i-Aqdas tells us to remember about God.

10.2 What Are We Remembering About God?

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas does describe some memories we should use when remembering God. We are to remember God among His creation.1 Creation, as we learned in Chapters 2 and 3, is everything within us and outside of us. Creation is seen and unseen. We are to remember God’s bounty2 provided to us through this Creation. Within this creation, we can remember God’s mercy3 and His greatness and power.4 If creation seems scary or intimidating, we can always remember to seek refuge in God5 such as with the prayer of the signs.

We are to remember His mighty and wondrous Name.6 This Name could refer to Bahá’u’lláh, which uses God’s name of Glorious, or it could also refer to every name of God. We learned a lot of God’s names in Chapter 1. We do not need to burden ourselves with remembering every name each time, but we should also be careful not to neglect any name over time. Nothing is excluded from the virtue moderation. When we remember Bahá’u’lláh, we remember He is not God, but the Manifestation of God and the dawning place of His most excellent names and the supreme Word (Revelation).7

Given we are to remember God, we are also to remember the Book (Kitáb-i-Aqdas)8 and what was revealed from Him,9 which is the entirety of Bahá’u’lláh’s Revelation.

Reflection: Which aspect of God do you most naturally remember? Which do you most often neglect over time?

With the content of remembrance clarified, we can now distinguish the two modes by which remembrance comes to us: what arrives unbidden, and what we choose deliberately.

10.3 Subconscious Remembrance

Subconscious remembrance is not something we do. It is something we allow. It is the state of being open to what God is constantly offering.

O Essence of Heedlessness
Alas, that a hundred thousand spiritual tongues are embodied in one speaking tongue, and a hundred thousand hidden meanings appear in one melody—yet there is no ear to hear, nor heart to grasp a single word.10

If there are a hundred thousand spiritual tongues, perhaps from those infinite spiritual worlds we have opportunities to pass through, there could also be a hundred thousand spiritual ears for every ear, or a hundred thousand spiritual hearts for every heart which grasps a single word.

The Kitáb-i-Aqdas #185 offers a simple blueprint for subconscious remembrance. Bahá’u’lláh says “This is the counsel of God, if you are among those who hear. This is the grace of God, if you are among those who turn toward Him. This is the remembrance of God, if you are among those who feel. This is the treasure of God, if you are among those who know.”

10.3.1 Receiving Through Our Senses

Subconscious remembrance is not actively remembering, but allowing memories and reminders enter our being. When Bahá’u’lláh mentions our hearing, He wants us to be able to hear God. This could be the rhythm of verses recited, the calls of birds in moments of silence, or the subtle stirrings within. We hear a voice without a voice. Hearing often calls for action. When you hear a siren, you respond. In the same way, hearing the counsel of God leads us to live it.

To know is to open the mind. Hearing is one path to knowing, but so are reading, witnessing, reflecting. Our minds process endless streams of experience, and within those may be hidden names or attributes of God waiting to be recognized. If we approach knowledge with honesty rather than bias, we allow the truth to lead. Bahá’u’lláh calls knowing the treasure of God. And like any treasure, when uncovered, it changes us.

To feel is to awaken the heart. Bahá’u’lláh says hearts are capable of enlightenment.11 Yet we often avoid feeling to avoid pain. Some pursue drugs to feel what they cannot otherwise access, or to hide what they can no longer bear. But everything we encounter evokes feeling. And what if the very feeling we fear is the doorway to insight? Perhaps it’s at least a path to empathy.

When our senses, mind, and heart are open in this way, the soul can begin to turn. Subconscious remembrance is that turning, not as a command, but as a quiet alignment. We may not always be fully oriented toward God in our daily lives, but remembrance begins in our willingness to receive. We don’t say, “I am a mirror.” We simply become one.

Reflection: What is one sense—sight, sound, smell, touch, or taste—that most often opens your heart, and how could you let it become a doorway to remembrance rather than distraction?

With subconscious remembrance described, we can now turn to conscious remembrance, where the soul chooses to remember God with intention, joy, and fragrance.

10.4 Conscious Remembrance

Conscious remembrance is the intentional act of turning the heart and soul towards God. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas provides guidance in how this remembrance should be carried out, allowing much of it to be done openly or in secret. Much like how Bahá’u’lláh did not want a person to be burdened by tiresome recitation, the Báb taught how remembrance should be done with spirit and fragrance. Bahá’u’lláh encourages us to exalt, magnify, and glorify their Lord with joy and gladness.12 We should thank Him with joy and spiritual fragrance.13

The purpose is never to perform remembrance for its own sake. Just as we use our senses to receive from God, we use our faculties to give back to God and others. We use our voices to help others hear. We use our minds to help others know. We use our hearts to help others feel. Our souls can help others turn towards Him. To do so, you have to actually feel the spirit and fragrance. It has to come from deep within you. Remembrance is felt, not merely spoken.

10.4.1 Ways to Remember

We are also to rejoice in the joy of the Greatest Name (Bahá’u’lláh), by which hearts are enraptured and the minds of the near ones are attracted.14 This is not an act of worship towards Bahá’u’lláh Himself, but a celebration this name exists, that it has manifested in the form of the temple of Bahá’u’lláh, and that it is a sign of God’s mercy. Bahá’u’lláh is the point of adoration (Qiblih).

One way we can conduct remembrance is through music. Music is a ladder for the ascent of souls to the highest horizon.15 Bahá’u’lláh warns us by saying “do not make it the wings of self and desire” and to “beware your listening does not lead you away from the path of dignity and reverence.” Ladders can be used to ascend or descend. For a soul to be liberated, it must ascend.

Bahá’u’lláh also says “do not conduct remembrance in the streets or marketplaces. Do so in a place designated for remembrance or in your home. This is closer to sincerity and piety.”16 If we feel inspired to remember God in the streets and marketplaces, this would be one of those times to practice secret remembrance, done silently or in a whisper. Sometimes I imagine a musical where random people join me for a choreographed dance and singing, but it’s really only in my head. Remembrance of God can also joyously occur with spiritual fragrance even in silence.

10.4.2 A Warning

True remembrance is designed so we can feel the spirit and share the spirit. The Bayán says remembrance has no value if it keeps us from recognizing God and His Manifestations. Denying a Manifestation is the same as denying God. Bahá’u’lláh echoes this warning, telling us “beware…that remembrance veils you from this Most Mighty Remembrance.” This warning is incredibly important. What if our remembrance is contrary to what God desires? What if we end up not recognizing the future Manifestation of God, cause future generations from recognizing the future Manifestation of God, or do so in a way which prevents people of today from recognizing Bahá’u’lláh as the Manifestation of God? Say for example, we express the remembrance of God’s name All-Merciful and we respond to a person with apathy, indifference, or cruelty. Is this response in remembrance? Will a person come to love God or love Bahá’u’lláh or will they be driven away?

10.4.3 The Recitation of Alláh-u-Abhá

“Each day, the recitation of Alláh-u-Abhá (God is Most Glorious) is to be done 95 times while facing the Qiblih. Ablutions need to be done prior.17 This is a daily practice of remembrance which helps teach us one way to remember a Name of God. This recitation can be done in secret or in the open, depending on where you are. You can perform this all at once or spread it out during the day. However, if you spread it out, ablutions would need to be performed each time. You can use prayer beads or other tool to keep count, but do be mindful of the fact you are not remembering the count. You are remembering God.

This practice is derived from the Persian Bayán in Váḥid 5, Gate 17. “In this gate, it is decreed that from sunrise to sunset, every soul is permitted to recite ninety-five times phrases such as “God is Most Glorious” (Alláh-u-Abhá), “God is Most Great” (Alláh-u-A‘ẓam), “God is Most Manifest” (Alláh-u-Aẓhar), “God is Most Radiant” (Alláh-u-Anwar), “God is Most Exalted” (Alláh-u-Akbar), or similar exalted expressions.” There would be nothing wrong in adding any of these statements of praise to your remembrance, as long as you are still capable of doing so with spirit, joy, and fragrance. I could envision a worship service of the People of Baha where nothing is happening but using music to collectively sing these names and praises of God. Wouldn’t that truly be glorious?

Reflection: When remembrance is meant to be joyful and fragrant, what helps you keep it sincere when you are tired, distracted, or surrounded by others?

With remembrance described in both its quiet and deliberate forms, we now return to the Unknown Sister to see what courtesy looks like when it is fueled by remembrance.

10.5 Illuminations of The Unknown Sister - Emergent Virtues from Courtesy

10.5.1 Dignity

Through remembrance, she feels no need to justify herself inwardly or outwardly. The discovery does not diminish her worth, nor does her role enlarge it. Dignity settles her posture. She is upright but uninflated. She does not rush to explain, apologize, or defend. Remembering God frees her from measuring herself against imagined judgments, allowing her to stand quietly within the weight of what she carries.

10.5.2 Fairness

Remembrance keeps her from narrowing the situation to what is easiest or most familiar. As God’s justice comes to mind, she becomes aware that every person touched by this truth has a claim beyond her preferences. Fairness does not yet demand action, but it reshapes perception, preventing her from unconsciously privileging one life, one comfort, or one narrative over another.

10.5.3 Kindness

In remembrance, the unknown girl becomes more than an abstract complication. She is a soul, loved by God, living an ordinary life with its own tenderness and vulnerability. Kindness emerges not as sentiment, but as restraint—an unwillingness to think carelessly or harshly about anyone involved. Remembering God softens her inner language before any outer words are spoken.

10.5.4 Purity

Remembrance clarifies her intention. She notices how easily curiosity, fear, or a desire for control could contaminate her thoughts. Purity keeps her from rehearsing explanations or imagining outcomes that serve her own relief. By returning to God inwardly, she keeps the situation from becoming a stage for ego, even privately within her own mind.

10.5.5 Radiance

As remembrance steadies her, a quiet calm begins to show. Not cheerfulness, not resolve, just presence without agitation. Radiance here is subtle: the absence of sharpness, the easing of tension in the room, the way her stillness reassures her child and does not alarm her brother. It is light without display.

10.5.6 Refinement

Remembrance trains her in care. She becomes attentive to small things which matter. Her tone, her silences, the way she folds the pages, the way she answers her child are all meaningful. Refinement does not mean elegance; it means avoiding harm through roughness or haste. Even not speaking becomes an act shaped by consideration rather than avoidance.

10.5.7 Courtesy (Innate Virtue)

In this moment, courtesy is remembrance made visible. By remembering God, she remembers others as souls rather than obstacles. Courtesy governs her presence, restraining impulse and sharpening awareness. It does not resolve the situation, but it ensures that whatever follows will not be careless, dismissive, or self-serving.

Reflection: Which of these emergent virtues—dignity, fairness, kindness, purity, radiance, or refinement—most often fails first when you feel pressure, and why?

To end the chapter, we now turn to a warning, because remembrance is not proven by speech but by the way power is used.

10.6 In Closing

Here is a prophetic warning Bahá’u’lláh sent to Napoleon III and his fake claim of remembrance and how it violated the innate virtues of courtesy by betraying the people of Europe:

O King, We heard a word from you when the King of Russia asked you about the judgment of war. Your Lord is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. You said, I was asleep in the cradle, the call of the oppressed woke me until they were drowned in the Black Sea. Thus We heard, and your Lord is a witness to what I say. We testify that it was not the call that woke you but desire, for We tested you and found you secluded. Recognize the tone of speech and be of the discerning.

We do not wish to return to you a bad word to preserve the station We granted you in the visible life. We chose courtesy and made it a habit of the close ones. It is a garment that suits every soul, young and old. Blessed is the one who made it the adornment of his body, and woe to the one who is deprived of this great favor. If you were the possessor of the word, you would not have cast the Book of God behind your back when it was sent to you from the Mighty, the Wise. We tested you with it, and We did not find you as you claimed. Arise and make up for what you missed. The world will perish and what you have, and the dominion will remain for God, your Lord, and the Lord of your forefathers. You should not limit matters to what your desire wants. Beware the sighs of the oppressed, protect him from the arrows of the oppressors. What you did will cause matters to differ in your kingdom, and the dominion will leave your hand as a result of your actions. Then you will find yourself in manifest loss, and earthquakes will seize all tribes there unless you arise to support this cause and follow the Spirit in this straight path.18

True remembrance is not proclaimed but it is proven. May our remembrance never be a veil, but a mirror turned toward the Sun, that all who witness us may remember Him. Remembrance deepens prayer and recitation by teaching the soul how to stay turned toward God even when no words are being spoken. By learning to receive through the senses and to consciously magnify God with joy and fragrance, courtesy emerges in forms that protect others from harm: dignity, fairness, kindness, purity, radiance, and refinement. In Chapter 11 we will turn to reflection, and see how the mind learns to listen inwardly so that remembrance becomes insight rather than mere emotion.

  1. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #117↩︎

  2. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #112↩︎

  3. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #14↩︎

  4. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #11↩︎

  5. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #167↩︎

  6. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #50↩︎

  7. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #143↩︎

  8. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #185↩︎

  9. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #172↩︎

  10. The Hidden Words in Persian #16↩︎

  11. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #31↩︎

  12. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #16↩︎

  13. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #74↩︎

  14. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #51↩︎

  15. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #51↩︎

  16. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #108↩︎

  17. Kitáb-i-Aqdas #18↩︎

  18. Suríy-i-Haykal (Súrah of the Temple)↩︎