Selections from the writings of ‘Abdu'l-BaháʻAbdu'l-Bahá
Religion
Selections from the writings of ‘Abdu'l-Bahá
ʻAbdu'l-Bahá
Bahai Faith
Then how could it be possible for a contingent reality, that is, man, to
understand the nature of that pre-existent Essence, the Divine Being? The
difference in station between man and the Divine Reality is thousands upon
thousands of times greater than the difference between vegetable and
animal. And that which a human being would conjure up in his mind is but
the fanciful image of his human condition, it doth not encompass God’s
reality but rather is encompassed by it. That is, man graspeth his own
illusory conceptions, but the Reality of Divinity can never be grasped:
It, Itself, encompasseth all created things, and all created things are in
Its grasp. That Divinity which man doth imagine for himself existeth only
in his mind, not in truth. Man, however, existeth both in his mind and in
truth; thus man is greater than that fanciful reality which he is able to
imagine.
The furthermost limits of this bird of clay are these: he can flutter
along for some short distance, into the endless vast; but he can never
soar upward to the Sun in the high heavens. We must, nevertheless, set
forth reasoned or inspired proofs as to the existence of the Divine Being,
that is, proofs commensurate with the understanding of man.
It is obvious that all created things are connected one to another by a
linkage complete and perfect, even, for example, as are the members of the
human body. Note how all the members and component parts of the human body
are connected one to another. In the same way, all the members of this
endless universe are linked one to another. The foot and the step, for
example, are connected to the ear and the eye; the eye must look ahead
before the step is taken. The ear must hear before the eye will carefully
observe. And whatever member of the human body is deficient, produceth a
deficiency in the other members. The brain is connected with the heart and
stomach, the lungs are connected with all the members. So is it with the
other members of the body.
And each one of these members hath its own special function. The mind
force—whether we call it pre-existent or contingent—doth direct and
co-ordinate all the members of the human body, seeing to it that each part
or member duly performeth its own special function. If, however, there be
some interruption in the power of the mind, all the members will fail to
carry out their essential functions, deficiencies will appear in the body
and the functioning of its members, and the power will prove ineffective.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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