-----Original Message-----
From: Brian Williams
Sent: Monday, September 22, 2003 7:52 PM
".... 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, p. 65)
Dear Brian,
'Abdu'l-Baha expresses the same things in similar terms.
Interestingly, His interpretation may be that "This Man of Whom we speak is
not every man; we mean the Perfect Man" [the Manifestation of God].
Best regards,
--- Vaughn
The proofs which we have adduced relative to the origin of the human
species were logical proofs. Now we will give the spiritual proofs, which
are essential. For, as we have proved Divinity by logical arguments, and
have also proved logically that man exists from his origin and foundation as
man, and that his species has existed from all eternity, now we will
establish spiritual proofs that human existence - that is, the species of
man - is a necessary existence, and that without man the perfections of
Divinity would not appear. But these are spiritual proofs, not logical
proofs.
We have many times demonstrated and established that man is the noblest
of beings, the sum of all perfections, and that all beings and all
existences are the centers from which the glory of God is reflected - that
is to say, the signs of the Divinity of God are apparent in the realities of
things and of creatures. Just as the terrestrial globe is the place where
the rays of the sun are reflected - as its light, its heat and its influence
are apparent and visible in all the atoms of the earth - so, in the same
way, the atoms of beings, in this infinite space, proclaim and prove one of
the divine perfections. Nothing is deprived of this benefit; either it is a
sign of the mercy of God, or it is a sign of His power, His greatness, His
justice, His nurturing providence; or it is a sign of the generosity of God,
His vision, His hearing, His knowledge, His grace and so on.
Without doubt each being is the center of the shining forth of the
glory of God - that is to say, the perfections of God appear from it and are
resplendent in it. It is like the sun, which is resplendent in the desert,
upon the sea, in the trees, in the fruits and blossoms, and in all earthly
things. The world, indeed each existing being, proclaims to us one of the
names of God, but the reality of man is the collective reality, the general
reality, and is the center where the glory of all the perfections of God
shine forth - that is to say, for each name, each attribute, each perfection
which we affirm of God there exists a sign in man. If it were otherwise,
man could not imagine these perfections and could not understand them. So
we say that God is the seer, and the eye is the sign of His vision; if this
sight were not in man, how could we imagine the vision of God? For the
blind (that is, one born blind) cannot imagine sight; and the deaf (that is,
one deaf from birth) cannot imagine hearing; and the dead cannot realize
life. Consequently, the Divinity of God, which is the sum of all
perfections, reflects itself in the reality of man - that is to say, the
Essence of Oneness is the gathering of all perfections, and from this unity
He casts a reflection upon the human reality. Man, then, is the perfect
mirror facing the Sun of Truth and is the center of radiation: the Sun of
Truth shines in this mirror. The reflection of the divine perfections
appears in the reality of man, so he is the representative of God, the
messenger of God. If man did not exist, the universe would be without
result, for the object of existence is the appearance of the perfections of
God.
Therefore, it cannot be said there was a time when man was not. All
that we can say is that this terrestrial globe at one time did not exist,
and at its beginning man did not appear upon it. But from the beginning
which has no beginning, to the end which has no end, a Perfect Manifestation
always exists. This Man of Whom we speak is not every man; we mean the
Perfect Man. For the noblest part of the tree is the fruit, which is the
reason of its existence. If the tree had no fruit, it would have no meaning.
Therefore, it cannot be imagined that the worlds of existence, whether the
stars or this earth, were once inhabited by the donkey, cow, mouse and cat,
and that they were without man! This supposition is false and meaningless.
The word of God is clear as the sun. This is a spiritual proof, but one
which we cannot at the beginning put forth for the benefit of the
materialists. First we must speak of the logical proofs, afterward the
spiritual proofs.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Some Answered Questions, Pages 195-197)
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