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"O thou true friend! Read, in the school of God, the lessons of the..."
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11 |
O thou true friend! Read, in the school of God, the lessons of the
spirit, and learn from love's Teacher the innermost truths. Seek out the
secrets of Heaven, and tell of the overflowing grace and favour of God.
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12 |
Although to acquire the sciences and arts is the greatest glory of
mankind, this is so only on condition that man's river floweth into the mighty
Sea, and draweth from God's ancient source His inspiration. When this cometh
to pass, then every teacher is as a shoreless ocean, every pupil a prodigal
fountain of knowledge. If, then, the pursuit of knowledge leadeth to the
beauty of Him Who is the object of all knowledge, how excellent that goal; but
if not, a mere drop will perhaps shut a man off from flooding grace, for with
learning cometh arrogance and pride, and it bringeth on error and indifference
to God.
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13 |
The sciences of today are bridges to reality; if then they lead not to
reality, naught remains but fruitless illusion. By the one true God! If
learning be not a means of access to Him, the Most Manifest, it is nothing but
evident loss.
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14 |
It is incumbent upon thee to acquire the various branches of knowledge,
and to turn thy face toward the beauty of the Manifest Beauty, that thou mayest
be a sign of saving guidance amongst the peoples of the world, and a focal
centre of understanding in this sphere from which the wise and their wisdom are
shut out, except for whoso setteth foot in the Kingdom of Lights and becometh
informed of the veiled and hidden mystery, the well-guarded secret.
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15 |
("Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá" [rev. ed.], (Haifa:
Bahá'í World Centre, 1982), Sec. 72, p. 110) [28]
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16 |
Man is in the highest degree of materiality, and at the beginning of
spirituality -- that is to say, he is the end of imperfection and the beginning
of perfection. He is at the last degree of darkness, and at the beginning of
light; that is why it has been said that the condition of man is the end of the
night and the beginning of day, meaning that he is the sum of all the degrees
of imperfection, and that he possesses the degrees of perfection. He has the
animal side as well as the angelic side, and the aim of an educator is to so
train human souls that their angelic aspect may overcome their animal side....
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17 |
("Some Answered Questions", rev. ed. (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing
Trust, 1985), pp. 235) [29]
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