Bahá’í Quotes

Existence

Existence is of two kinds: One is the existence of God which is beyond the comprehension of man. He, the Invisible, the Lofty and the Incomprehensible, is preceded by no cause but rather is the originator of the Cause of Causes. He, the Ancient, has had no beginning and is the All-Independent. The second kind of existence is the human existence. It is a common existence, comprehensible to the human mind, is not ancient, is dependent and has a cause to it. The mortal substance does not become eternal and vice-versa; the human kind does not become a Creator and vice-versa. The transformation of the innate substance is impossible. "In the world of existence, that which is comprehensible, is in three stages of mortality: the first stage is the mineral world, next the vegetable world, and in the latter the mineral world does exist but has a distinctive feature which is the vegetable characteristic. Likewise, in the animal world, the mineral and vegetable characteristics are present and in addition the characteristics of the animal world are to be found: it has the faculties of hearing and of sight. In the human world the characteristics of the mineral, vegetable and animal world are found and in addition those of the human kind are existing. That is the intellectual characteristics, which discovers the realities of things and comprehends the all-important fact.

- Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance, p. 503

Quote of the Day

Istijlal 17 Izzat 183 B.E.

The second condition is that the members of the assembly should unitedly elect a chairman and lay down guide-lines and by-laws for their meetings and discussions. The chairman should have charge of such rules and regulations and protect and enforce them; the other members should be submissive, and refrain from conversing on superfluous and extraneous matters.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá – Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 88