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54: ON THE PROCEEDING OF THE HUMAN SPIRIT FROM GOD 205 |
Answer.—Know that proceeding is of two kinds: the
proceeding and appearance through emanation, and the
proceeding and appearance through manifestation. The
proceeding through emanation is like the coming forth of
the action from the actor, of the writing from the writer.
Now the writing emanates from the writer, and the discourse
emanates from the speaker, and in the same way
the human spirit emanates from God. It is not that it manifests
God—that is to say, no part has been detached from
the Divine Reality to enter the body of man. No, as the
discourse emanates from the speaker, the spirit appears in
the body of man.
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But the proceeding through manifestation is the manifestation
of the reality of a thing in other forms, like the
coming forth of this tree from the seed of the tree, or the
coming forth of the flower from the seed of the flower, for
it is the seed itself which appears in the form of the
branches, leaves and flowers. This is called the proceeding
through manifestation. The spirits of men, with reference
to God, have dependence through emanation, just as the
discourse proceeds from the speaker and the writing from
the writer—that is to say, the speaker himself does not become
the discourse, nor does the writer himself become
the writing; no, rather they have the proceeding of emanation.
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The speaker has perfect ability and power, and the
discourse emanates from him, as the action does from the
actor. The Real Speaker, the Essence of Unity, has always
been in one condition, which neither changes nor alters,
has neither transformation nor vicissitude. He is the Eternal,
the Immortal. Therefore, the proceeding of the
human spirits from God is through emanation. When it is
said in the Bible that God breathed His spirit into man,
this spirit is that which, like the discourse, emanates from
the Real Speaker, taking effect in the reality of man.
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But the proceeding through manifestation (if by this is
meant the divine appearance, and not division into parts),
we have said, is the proceeding and the appearance of the
Holy Spirit and the Word, which is from God. As it is said
in the Gospel of John, “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God”;
1
then the Holy Spirit and
the Word are the appearance of God. The Spirit and the
Word mean the divine perfections that appeared in the
Reality of Christ, and these perfections were with God; so
the sun manifests all its glory in the mirror. For the Word
does not signify the body of Christ, no, but the divine
perfections manifested in Him. For Christ was like a clear
mirror which was facing the Sun of Reality; and the perfections
of the Sun of Reality—that is to say, its light and
heat—were visible and apparent in this mirror. If we look
into the mirror, we see the sun, and we say, “It is the sun.”
Therefore, the Word and the Holy Spirit, which signify
the perfections of God, are the divine appearance. This is
the meaning of the verse in the Gospel which says: “The
Word was with God, and the Word was God”;
2
for the divine
perfections are not different from the Essence of
Oneness. The perfections of Christ are called the Word
because all the beings are in the condition of letters, and
one letter has not a complete meaning, while the perfections
of Christ have the power of the word because a complete
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meaning can be inferred from a word. As the Reality
of Christ was the manifestation of the divine perfections,
therefore, it was like the word. Why? Because He is the
sum of perfect meanings. This is why He is called the Word.
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And know that the proceeding of the Word and the
Holy Spirit from God, which is the proceeding and appearance
of manifestation, must not be understood to
mean that the Reality of Divinity had been divided into
parts, or multiplied, or that it had descended from the
exaltation of holiness and purity. God forbid! If a pure,
fine mirror faces the sun, the light and heat, the form and
the image of the sun will be resplendent in it with such
manifestation that if a beholder says of the sun, which is
brilliant and visible in the mirror, “This is the sun,” it is
true. Nevertheless, the mirror is the mirror, and the sun is
the sun. The One Sun, even if it appears in numerous mirrors,
is one. This state is neither abiding nor entering,
neither commingling nor descending; for entering, abiding,
descending, issuing forth and commingling are the
necessities and characteristics of bodies, not of spirits;
then how much less do they belong to the sanctified and
pure Reality of God. God is exempt from all that is not in
accordance with His purity and His exalted and sublime
sanctity.
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The Sun of Reality, as we have said, has always been in
one condition; it has no change, no alteration, no transformation
and no vicissitude. It is eternal and everlasting. But
the Holy Reality of the Word of God is in the condition of
the pure, fine and shining mirror; the heat, the light, the
image and likeness—that is to say, the perfections of the
Sun of Reality—appear in it. That is why Christ says in
the Gospel, “The Father is in the Son”—that is to say, the
Sun of Reality appears in the mirror.
3
Praise be to the One
Who shone upon this Holy Reality, Who is sanctified
among the beings!
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1. | John 1:1. [ Back To Reference] |
2. | John 1:1. [ Back To Reference] |
3. | Cf. John 14:11; 17:21. [ Back To Reference] |