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‘ABDU’L-BAHÁ’S TABLET TO DR. FOREL 1[Pages 6–10] 6 |
O revered personage, lover of truth! Thy letter
dated 28 July 1921
2
hath been received. The contents
thereof were most pleasing and indicated that,
praised be the Lord, thou art as yet young, and
searchest after truth, that thy power of thought is
strong and the discoveries of thy mind manifest.
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Numerous copies of the epistle I had written to
Dr. F. are spread far and wide and every one
knoweth that it hath been revealed in the year 1910.
Apart from this, numerous epistles have been
written before the war upon the same theme, and
reference, too, hath been made to these questions
in the Journal of the San Francisco University, the
date whereof is known beyond any doubt.
3
In like
manner have the philosophers of broad vision
praised highly the discourse eloquently delivered
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in the above-named University.
4
A copy of that
paper is thus enclosed and forwarded. Thy works
are no doubt of great benefit, and if published, send
us a copy of each.
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By materialists, whose belief with regard to
Divinity hath been explained, is not meant philosophers
in general, but rather that group of
materialists of narrow vision who worship that
which is sensed, who depend upon the five senses
only, and whose criterion of knowledge is limited
to that which can be perceived by the senses. All
that can be sensed is to them real, whilst whatever
falleth not under the power of the senses is either
unreal or doubtful. The existence of the Deity they
regard as wholly doubtful.
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It is as thou hast written, not philosophers in
general but narrow-minded materialists that are
meant. As to deistic philosophers, such as Socrates,
Plato and Aristotle, they are indeed worthy of
esteem and of the highest praise, for they have
rendered distinguished services to mankind. In like
manner we regard the materialistic, accomplished,
moderate philosophers, who have been of service
(to mankind).
8
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Now concerning mental faculties, they are in
truth of the inherent properties of the soul, even
as the radiation of light is the essential property of
the sun. The rays of the sun are renewed but the
sun itself is ever the same and unchanged. Consider
how the human intellect develops and weakens,
and may at times come to naught, whereas the soul
changeth not. For the mind to manifest itself, the
human body must be whole; and a sound mind
cannot be but in a sound body, whereas the soul
dependeth not upon the body. It is through the
power of the soul that the mind comprehendeth,
imagineth and exerteth its influence, whilst the soul
is a power that is free. The mind comprehendeth
the abstract by the aid of the concrete, but the soul
hath limitless manifestations of its own. The mind
is circumscribed, the soul limitless. It is by the aid
of such senses as those of sight, hearing, taste, smell
and touch, that the mind comprehendeth, whereas
the soul is free from all agencies. The soul as thou
observest, whether it be in sleep or waking, is in
motion and ever active. Possibly it may, whilst in
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a dream, unravel an intricate problem, incapable
of solution in the waking state. The mind, moreover,
understandeth not whilst the senses have
ceased to function, and in the embryonic stage and
in early infancy the reasoning power is totally
absent, whereas the soul is ever endowed with full
strength. In short, the proofs are many that go to
show that despite the loss of reason, the power of
the soul would still continue to exist. The spirit
however possesseth various grades and stations.
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As to the existence of spirit in the mineral: it is
indubitable that minerals are endowed with a spirit
and life according to the requirements of that stage.
This unknown secret, too, hath become known
unto the materialists who now maintain that all
beings are endowed with life, even as He saith in
the Qur’án, ‘All things are living’.
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In the vegetable world, too, there is the power
of growth, and that power of growth is the spirit.
In the animal world there is the sense of feeling,
but in the human world there is an all-embracing
power. In all the preceding stages the power of
reason is absent, but the soul existeth and revealeth
itself. The sense of feeling understandeth not the
soul, whereas the reasoning power of the mind
proveth the existence thereof.
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In like manner the mind proveth the existence
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of an unseen Reality that embraceth all beings, and
that existeth and revealeth itself in all stages, the
essence whereof is beyond the grasp of the mind.
Thus the mineral world understandeth neither the
nature nor the perfections of the vegetable world;
the vegetable world understandeth not the nature
of the animal world, neither the animal world the
nature of the reality of man that discovereth and
embraceth all things.
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The animal is the captive of nature and cannot
transgress the rules and laws thereof. In man, however,
there is a discovering power that transcendeth
the world of nature and controlleth and interfereth
with the laws thereof. For instance, all minerals,
plants and animals are captives of nature. The sun
itself with all its majesty is so subservient to nature
that it hath no will of its own and cannot deviate
a hair’s-breadth from the laws thereof. In like manner
all other beings, whether of the mineral, the
vegetable or the animal world, cannot deviate
from the laws of nature, nay, all are the slaves
thereof. Man, however, though in body the captive
of nature is yet free in his mind and soul, and
hath the mastery over nature.
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1. | Original Persian text first published Cairo 1922. This translation taken from The Bahá’í World, Vol. XV, pp. 37–43. [ Back To Reference] |
2. | ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is obviously referring to the letter from Forel translated above and dated 28 December 1920. [ Back To Reference] |
3. | ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to His talk at Stanford University, Palo Alto, California, in 1912, which was published in the local newspaper and is also included in the collection of His talks in America, entitled The Promulgation of Universal Peace. [ Back To Reference] |
4. | There ‘Abdu’l-Bahá distinguishes the materialistic and empirical philosophy of the modern West from the standard rationalistic philosophy of the Greeks and Persians, and highlights the difference between theories of the essence of nature and of the origin of man. [ Back To Reference] |