Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas

O thou who art esteemed in the Threshold of the Almighty!

Praise thou God, for that thou hast found the Light of Guidance, recognized the Lord of the Kingdom, art engaged in the service of the Divine Garden and hast guided a number of souls and led them to the Kingdom of Existence. When thou occupiest thyself with all thy strength in service, thou wilt become a magnet of attraction and cause every seeker to reach the presence of the Desired One; thou wilt raise a great clamor in the world and evince such an ecstasy and rapture that will astonish the minds.

Send my loving greeting to those souls whom thou hast guided unto the divine kingdom and say unto them: “Ye must appreciate Miss ……. Move your tongues in thanksgiving and be obliged for her great effort; for she gave you to drink the wine of guidance from the cup of the love of God and led you to the kingdom of lights. Were you to thank her for many years as a reward for this guidance, ye will not be able to repay your obligation for this gift.” 204

Thou hast written concerning the Impersonality of the Divinity. Personality is in the Manifestation of the Divinity, not in the Essence of the Divinity. The reality of the divine world is purified and sanctified from limits and restriction. But the pure Mirror, which is the Manifestor of the Sun of Truth and in which the Sun of Truth is manifest in appearance—that mirror is restricted, not the lights. The soul pervadeth throughout the whole body, and its commands are effective in all the parts and limbs of man. Notwithstanding its utmost sanctification (or abstraction) this soul is manifest and evident in all its grades, in this material form. By seeing God is meant beholding the Manifestation of Himself; for witnessing the sun in its entire splendor, in a clear glassy surface, is identical with witnessing the essence of the sun itself.

When the souls of the sincere depart (from this body), then their unreal vision (i.e., seeing) is changed into a vision of reality. Even as man, when in the age of babyhood and imperfection, though he seeth things, yet that vision is superficial and external. But when he reacheth the world (or age) of perfection and becometh endowed with reasoning faculty and (the power of) discrimination and comprehension, then that vision of his is a vision (i.e., seeing) of reality 1 and not the unreality.

It is evident that the divine nearness is an unlimited nearness, be it in this world or the next one. This is a nearness which is sanctified from the comprehension of the minds. The more a man seeketh light from the Sun of Truth, the nearer he will draw. For 205 instance, a clear body is near unto the sun, and a black stone is far from the sun. This nearness dependeth upon clearness, purity and perfection and that remoteness is due to density, dullness (or obscurity) and imperfection.

As to the question whether the souls will recognize each other in the spiritual world: This (fact) is certain; for the Kingdom is the world of vision (i.e., things are visible in it), where all the concealed realities will become disclosed. How much more the well-known souls will become manifest. The mysteries of which man is heedless in this earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secret of truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he hath been associated. Undoubtedly, the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul. Even they will manifestly behold the Beauty of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the heavenly assemblage.

As to the difference and distinction between Lazarus and that “rich man”: The first was spiritual, while the second was material. One was in the highest degree of knowledge and the other in the lowest depths of ignorance. The difference and distinction will naturally become realized between all men after their departure from this mortal world. But this (distinction) is not in respect to place, but it is in respect to the soul and conscience. For the Kingdom of God is sanctified 206 (or free) from time and place; it is another world and another universe. But the holy souls are promised the gift of intercession. And know thou for a certainty, that in the divine worlds, the spiritual beloved ones (believers) will recognize each other, and will seek union (with each other), but a spiritual union. Likewise, a love that one may have entertained for any one will not be forgotten in the world of the Kingdom. Likewise, thou wilt not forget (there) the life that thou hast had in the material world.

O thou maid-servant of God! Hold fast to the Most Strong Handle 2 and be thoroughly attracted to the Kingdom of ABHA, until thou mayest at every instant find a new confirmation and attain to a wonderful gift and become a cause for the guidance of souls.