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Tablets of `Abdu'l-Bahá `Abbás
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Pages 561-563
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"O thou youth of God!..."
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1 |
O thou youth of God!
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2 |
Thank God that thou hast found thy way to the
Radiant Kingdom, torn asunder the veil of superstition
and learned the reality of the mysteries.
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All the people have formed a god in the world of
thought, and that form of their own imagination they
worship; when the fact is that the imagined form is
finite and the human mind is infinite.
[1]
Surely the infinite
is greater than the finite, for imagination is accidental
(or non-essential) while the mind is essential;
surely the essential is greater than the accidental.
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4 |
Therefore consider: All the sects and peoples worship
their own thought; they create a god in their
own minds and acknowledge him to be the creator of all
things, when that form is superstition - thus people
adore and worship imagination (or illusion).
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5 |
That Essence of the Divine Entity and the Unseen
of the unseen is holy above imagination and is beyond
thought. Consciousness doth not reach It. Within the
capacity of comprehension of a produced (or created)
reality that Ancient Reality cannot be contained. It is
a different world; from it there is no information;
arrival thereat is impossible; attainment thereto is prohibited
and inaccessible. This much is known: It
exists and Its existence is certain and proven - but the
condition is unknown.
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6 |
All the philosophers and the doctors knew that It is,
but they were perplexed in the comprehension of Its
existence and were at last discouraged, and in great
despair they left this world. For the comprehension of
the condition and mysteries of that Reality of realities
and Mystery of mysteries there is need for another
power and another sense. That power and sense is
not possessed by mankind, therefore they have not found
any information. For example: If a man possess the
power of hearing, the power of tasting, the power of
smelling and the power of feeling, but no power of
seeing, he cannot see. Hence, through the powers and
senses present in man the realization of the Unseen
Reality, which is pure and holy above the reach of
doubts, is impossible. Other powers are needed and
other senses required. If those powers and senses are
obtained, then information can be had; otherwise, not.
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7 |
As to the question of marriage, according to the law
of God: First you must select one, and then it depends
upon the consent of the father and mother. Before
your selection they have no right of interference.
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8 |
Endeavor as much as thou canst to acquire the English
language with the utmost of eloquence and excellence,
so that thou mayest be enabled to translate the
Tablets into the Japanese tongue. This is my advice.
Certainly exert thy utmost endeavor to attain this
bounty.
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Notes
1. [Infinite in regard to imagination, for without the mind there would be no imagination. Another translation of this paragraph is as follows: "All the people have formed a god in the world of thought and they worship that form of their own imagination, while the fact is that the imagined concept is comprehended by the mind which is comprehensive. Surely that which comprehends is greater than the comprehended, for imagination is accidental (non-essential), while the mind is essential. Surely the essential is greater than the accidental."]
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