Beauty beyond Words: The Language of the Sacred

 
Ruhiyyih Khanum observed the following:

    "Many wonderful prayers exist in all languages and all religions; but the prayers of Baha'u'llah possess a peculiar power and richness all their own. He calls upon God in terms of the greatest majesty, of the deepest feeling; sometimes with awe; sometimes with pathos; sometimes in a voice of such exultation that we can only wonder what transpired within His soul at such moments.
       He uses figures of speech that strike the imagination, stir up new concepts of the Divinity and expand infinitely our spiritual horizons. Much, no doubt, of their perfection is lost in translation as He often employed the possibilities and peculiarities of the Arabic and Persian languages to their fullest. Some of His prayers, following the style of the Surihs of the Qur'an, end every sentence in rhyme--though they are not poems--and the custom of alliterating words, thus imparting a flowing sense of rhythm to the sentences, is very often resorted to in all His writings, including His prayers. Nevertheless the original charm and beauty pervades the translations...

          (Ruhiyyih Khanum, "The Prayers of Baha'u'llah," Baha'i World Volume IX, 1940-1944, pp. 795-96)

   One has only to read aloud the following from the Long Obligatory Prayer to hear the rhythmic music contained in the sacred writings.
 
"Too high art Thou for the praise of those who are nigh unto Thee to ascend unto the heaven of Thy nearness, or for the birds of the hearts of them who are devoted to Thee to attain to the door of Thy gate."

                                   Prayer by Baha'u'llah