A request from our study circle to those on this list whose knowledge of the Baha'i writings, the ability to translate from Arabic to English, and of the Arabic language and the possible associations the an Arabic word can have.
Below is a quotation from "Gleanings". While our group discussion was interesting and fruitful on the subject of God's names and attributes, a specific question arose based on the phrase "a mirror of His own Self". Specific to the phrase is the word "Self" and the understanding that this word is applied to the "Self" of our creator. To ask my question some background information is provided:
1. Part of our discussion contained the information that Baha'u'llah revealed the words of God in the Arabic and Persian language. That what we were reading is a translation from Arabic to English, and with writings in Gleanings this was done by the Guardian.
2. Our discussion also contained references to the self of the human creation; the attachment of the soul to the material body for a time, but the true self being the awareness of the soul to its own self, and the care and maintenance of the soul by the human material awareness. Since God is an unknowable essence, and words to describe our creator provide limited knowledge and understanding of God, this word of the "Self" of God came open to further questioning.
Here, one of our members asked if the Arabic word used by Baha'u'llah to refer to the "Self" of God might have more meanings than the translation can provide. Here, also, is the possibility that a description of the "Self" of God may also have differences that are specific to God alone as compared to the self of man (being a mirror of God's Self). But, here also is the possibility that God's Self is actually so completely revealed in the soul of man.
Would someone on this list entertain a response to this question, and also, as needed, restate this question I pose in a form that is better expressed.
"Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth therein, He, through the direct operation of His unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him and to love Him -- a capacity that must needs be regarded as the generating impulse and the primary purpose underlying the whole of creation.... Upon the inmost reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man, however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty".
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 65)
Brian Williams
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