|  | 134: O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings ... | 
	| 1 | O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings of God!  I have read thy letter addressed to Mrs. Lua 
Getsinger.  Thou hast indeed examined with great care the 
reasons for the incursion of disease into the human body.  It 
is certainly the case that sins are a potent cause of physical 
ailments.  If humankind were free from the defilements of 
sin and waywardness, and lived according to a natural, 
inborn equilibrium, without following wherever their 
passions led, it is undeniable that diseases would no longer 
take the ascendant, nor diversify with such intensity. | 
	| 2 | But man hath perversely continued to serve his lustful 
appetites, and he would not content himself with simple 
foods.  Rather, he prepared for himself food that was compounded 
of many ingredients, of substances differing one 
from the other.  With this, and with the perpetrating of vile 
and ignoble acts, his attention was engrossed, and he 
 
abandoned the temperance and moderation of a natural 
way of life.  The result was the engendering of diseases both 
violent and diverse. | 
	| 3 | For the animal, as to its body, is made up of the same 
constituent elements as man.  Since, however, the animal 
contenteth itself with simple foods and striveth not to 
indulge its importunate urges to any great degree, and 
committeth no sins, its ailments relative to man's are few.  
We see clearly, therefore, how powerful are sin and contumacy 
as pathogenic factors.  And once engendered these 
diseases become compounded, multiply, and are transmitted 
to others.  Such are the spiritual, inner causes of sickness. | 
	| 4 | The outer, physical causal factor in disease, however, is a 
disturbance in the balance, the proportionate equilibrium of 
all those elements of which the human body is composed.  
To illustrate:  the body of man is a compound of many constituent 
substances, each component being present in a prescribed 
amount, contributing to the essential equilibrium of 
the whole.  So long as these constituents remain in their due 
proportion, according to the natural balance of the whole--
that is, no component suffereth a change in its natural proportionate 
degree and balance, no component being either 
augmented or decreased--there will be no physical cause 
for the incursion of disease. | 
	| 5 | For example, the starch component must be present to a 
given amount, and the sugar to a given amount.  So long as 
each remaineth in its natural proportion to the whole, there 
will be no cause for the onset of disease.  When, however, 
these constituents vary as to their natural and due amounts
--that is, when they are augmented or diminished--it is 
certain that this will provide for the inroads of disease. | 
	| 6 | This question requireth the most careful investigation.  
The Báb hath said that the people of Bahá must develop the 
 
science of medicine to such a high degree that they will heal 
illnesses by means of foods.  The basic reason for this is that 
if, in some component substance of the human body, an 
imbalance should occur, altering its correct, relative proportion 
to the whole, this fact will inevitably result in the 
onset of disease.  If, for example, the starch component 
should be unduly augmented, or the sugar component decreased, 
an illness will take control.  It is the function of a 
skilled physician to determine which constituent of his 
patient's body hath suffered diminution, which hath been 
augmented.  Once he hath discovered this, he must prescribe 
a food containing the diminished element in considerable 
amounts, to re-establish the body's essential 
equilibrium.  The patient, once his constitution is again in 
balance, will be rid of his disease. | 
	| 7 | The proof of this is that while other animals have never 
studied medical science, nor carried on researches into 
diseases or medicines, treatments or cures--even so, when 
one of them falleth a prey to sickness, nature leadeth it, in 
fields or desert places, to the very plant which, once eaten, 
will rid the animal of its disease.  The explanation is that if, 
as an example, the sugar component in the animal's body 
hath decreased, according to a natural law the animal 
hankereth after a herb that is rich in sugar.  Then, by a 
natural urge, which is the appetite, among a thousand 
different varieties of plants across the field, the animal will 
discover and consume that herb which containeth a sugar 
component in large amounts.  Thus the essential balance of 
the substances composing its body is re-established, and the 
animal is rid of its disease. | 
	| 8 | This question requireth the most careful investigation.  
When highly-skilled physicians shall fully examine this 
matter, thoroughly and perseveringly, it will be clearly seen 
 
that the incursion of disease is due to a disturbance in the 
relative amounts of the body's component substances, and 
that treatment consisteth in adjusting these relative amounts, 
and that this can be apprehended and made possible by 
means of foods. | 
	| 9 | It is certain that in this wonderful new age the development 
of medical science will lead to the doctors' healing 
their patients with foods.  For the sense of sight, the sense of 
hearing, of taste, of smell, of touch--all these are discriminative 
faculties, their purpose being to separate the 
beneficial from whatever causeth harm.  Now, is it possible 
that man's sense of smell, the sense that differentiates odours, 
should find some odour repugnant, and that odour be 
beneficial to the human body?  Absurd!  Impossible!  In the 
same way, could the human body, through the faculty of 
sight--the differentiator among things visible--benefit from 
gazing upon a revolting mass of excrement?  Never!  Again, 
if the sense of taste, likewise a faculty that selecteth and 
rejecteth, be offended by something, that thing is certainly 
not beneficial; and if, at the outset, it may yield some 
advantage, in the long run its harmfulness will be established. | 
	| 10 | And likewise, when the constitution is in a state of 
equilibrium, there is no doubt that whatever is relished will 
be beneficial to health.  Observe how an animal will graze in 
a field where there are a hundred thousand kinds of herbs 
and grasses, and how, with its sense of smell, it snuffeth up 
the odours of the plants, and tasteth them with its sense of 
taste; then it consumeth whatever herb is pleasurable to 
these senses, and benefiteth therefrom.  Were it not for this 
power of selectivity, the animals would all be dead in a 
single day; for there are a great many poisonous plants, and 
animals know nothing of the pharmacopoeia.  And yet, 
 
observe what a reliable set of scales they have, by means of 
which to differentiate the good from the injurious.  Whatever 
constituent of their body hath decreased, they can 
rehabilitate by seeking out and consuming some plant that 
hath an abundant store of that diminished element; and thus 
the equilibrium of their bodily components is re-established, 
and they are rid of their disease. | 
	| 11 | At whatever time highly-skilled physicians shall have 
developed the healing of illnesses by means of foods, and 
shall make provision for simple foods, and shall prohibit 
humankind from living as slaves to their lustful appetites, it 
is certain that the incidence of chronic and diversified illnesses 
will abate, and the general health of all mankind will 
be much improved.  This is destined to come about.  In the 
same way, in the character, the conduct and the manners of 
men, universal modifications will be made. |