|  | SPIRITUAL NATURE OF MAN | 
	| 1 | 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; it is 
either a sign of the mercy of God or it is a sign of His power, 
His greatness, His justice, His lordship which imparts education; 
or it is a sign of the generosity of God, His vision, His hearing, 
His knowledge, His grace, and so on. | 
	| 2 | 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. | 
	| 3 | 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, afterwards the spiritual proofs. |