What follows is my provisional translation (in other words, not official or authorized; see here for more) of a talk by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, the original text of which has been published in Khiṭábát-i-Ḥaḍrat-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, vol. 1, pp. 3–8.
This talk was given in Europe sometime in late 1911, but sources differ on where exactly this took place. In Khiṭábát, it is mentioned that the Arabic transcript of this talk was published in Wádí al-Níl (The Nile River) newspaper, 2 Muḥarram 1330 AH (23 December 1911), and that the talk itself was given at “St. George Church in London.” However, according to Najm-i-Bákhtar (the Persian pages of Star of the West), vol. 5, no. 18, pp. 285–86—where a slightly different version of the transcript appears—the original text of the talk was also published in al-Aḥrám al-Yawmíyya (The Daily Pyramids), no. 10255, 9 Dhu’l-Ḥijjah 1329 AH (30 November 1911), but the talk itself was given “in Paris, at the church of St. George the Great.”
According to Amín Egea’s Apostle of Peace, vol. 1, the most likely explanation is that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá gave this talk to “the congregation of St John the Divine” (this seems to have been St John’s, Smith Square) on 17 September 1911, and that “St George” mentioned in the above Persian sources is an error. The contents of the talk below are so similar to the summary of the one ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s gave at St John’s, published in an issue of The Christian Commonwealth, that I do not think it can be a coincidence. For more details, refer to Egea, Apostle, vol. 1, pp. 122–26.
—Adib Masumian
12 June 2024
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He is God
O respected persons! Know that prophethood is a mirror that reflects the divine effluence and the celestial effulgence. The brilliant rays of the Sun of Truth are imprinted upon it, and the sublime images representing the effulgences of God’s most beautiful Names are depicted therein. “He speaketh not out of His Own desire; it is but a revelation revealed.”[1] The Prophets are the mines of mercy, the repositories of revelation, the daysprings of splendors, and the sources of signs. “We sent Thee not, save as a mercy unto all humankind.”[2]
As for the Divine Reality, it is sanctified above comprehension and exalted beyond the weaving of the frail webs of people’s thoughts around its sanctuary. Whatever one might conceive of the subtlest meanings is merely an image of one’s fancy and an illusion “for which God hath sent down no warrant.”[3] Those meanings exist only in the mind; they have no objective existence. They are naught but things encompassed, not encompassing; they are limited, not the uncompounded Reality itself, whereas God encompasses all things. The human reality is greater than that, as it has both a mental and an objective existence; it encompasses those mental conceptions and perceives them. Perception is a branch of encompassment. Therefore, the “divinity” that lies within the scope of human perceptions is but an imaginary conception and not the Divine Reality, for the Reality of Divinity encompasses all things and is not encompassed by anything. It is sanctified above limitations and allusions; rather, it is true existence, exalted above mere mental existence. The minds of humankind can scarcely comprehend it, that their intellects might contain it. “No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-Informed.”[4]
If we consider with the eye of truth, we will see that the differences in the degrees of existence prevent comprehension, inasmuch as every lower degree can hardly perceive that which is above it, although both lie within the realm of contingency, not necessity. Hence, the mineral kingdom has no knowledge of the plant kingdom, for the mineral does not perceive the power of growth. The vegetable kingdom has no knowledge of the animal world, nor can a plant conceive of hearing, sight, and voluntary motion, even if it should occupy the highest degree of the vegetable kingdom. An animal cannot imagine the intellect and the rational soul that discovers the realities of things, for it is bereft of perception and captive to sensible things, unaware of every intelligible reality. Thus, every animal can hardly perceive the movement of the earth and its spherical shape, nor can it unravel the force of gravity and the ethereal matter that eludes the senses, although it is captive to the ether while being oblivious of it and deprived of perception.
If the realities of the mineral, the vegetable, the animal, and man—all of which lie in the realm of contingency—differ to such a degree that the mineral is prevented from comprehending the perfection of the vegetable, the vegetable from comprehending the faculties of the animal, and the animal from comprehending the virtues of humanity, is it then possible for an originated being to understand the Pre-existent Reality, or for a creation to know the identity of the Mighty Creator? Never! Feeble is the seeker, and glorious is the Object of his search![5] “The strides of our minds end in immobility.”[6] There no longer remains even the slightest doubt that created things are powerless to comprehend the Ancient Being, just as He [i.e., Muḥammad]—upon Him be peace—has said: “We have not known Thee as Thou deservest to be known.”[7] But contingency, with regard to its existence and nature, requires the effluence proceeding from the Necessary Being. In light of this, He Who is the Unseen and the Inaccessible, and Who lies beyond the reach of mind, has been manifested unto the realities of things in terms of names and attributes, and there is nothing that does not have a portion of that divine effluence and celestial effulgence. “There is not a thing that doth not celebrate His praise.”[8]
As for man, he contains within himself all the perfections of the contingent realm, for he possesses the material body, the vegetable subtlety, and the animal sensation—and beyond this, he is endowed with the perfection of the divine effluence. Hence, there is no doubt that he is the noblest of creatures and has a power that encompasses the realities of contingent beings, uncovers their secrets, grasps the essences of their characteristics, and brings forth hidden mysteries from the invisible realm into the visible plane, presenting them to the minds of others. This is the sovereign might of man and the proof of his supreme nobility. Every industry and innovation, every science and art, was once a secret concealed in the invisible realm, but this discovering power with which man is endowed has found them, drawn them out from the invisible realm into the visible plane, and displayed them before the inner and outer sight of humankind. Thus it is established that the human reality is distinguished from all other beings and uncovers the realities of things. This applies especially to the Perfect Individual, the all-encompassing Effluence, and the resplendent Light—that is, every noble Prophet and mighty Messenger—for He is a clear and spotless mirror wherein sublime images are imprinted, reflecting the Sun of Truth that is manifested thereon with eternal effulgence. Nothing is seen in Him but the radiant light emanating from the Sun of Truth, and through Him it is shed upon all nations. “Verily, Thou dost guide unto a straight path.”[9]
When we say that the Sun of Truth has shed its splendors upon the spotless mirrors, we do not mean that this Sun, which is hallowed beyond comprehension, has descended from the exalted heights of its holiness and the lofty retreats of its sanctity, and entered and settled into those clear mirrors. God forbid! “They have not measured God with His true measure.”[10] Rather, we mean that, when the Sun of Truth sheds its splendors upon the mirrors, naught is seen in them but its light. “He speaketh not out of His Own desire; it is but a revelation revealed.”[11] Descent, ascent, ingress, egress, and inherence are the requirements of bodies, not spirits. How much less do they apply to the Divine Reality and the Eternal Essence, which lies far above such descriptions! The pre-existent cannot be transformed into the originated, nor the originated into the pre-existent. The transformation of essence is in no wise possible. This is the truth, and aught else is manifest error.[12] The greatest possible thing for an originated being is to receive the perfect effluence from the Pre-existent One.
Let us then consider the signs of God’s mercy in the Mosaic Manifestation; the lights that dawned most intensely from the horizon of Jesus; and the resplendently radiant and brilliant Lamp in the Muḥammadan glass. Upon Them all be blessing and peace, and also upon those through whom the lights have shone forth, the mysteries have been disclosed, and the signs have been diffused far and wide throughout the passage of ages and epochs.
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[1] Qur’án 53:3–4.
[2] Qur‘án 27:107.
[3] Qur’án 53:23.
[4] Qur’án 6:103.
[5] cf. Qur’án 22:73.
[6] A passage from a poem by Fakhr al-Dín Rází.
[7] A hadith found in Biḥár al-Anwár and other collections.
[8] Qur’án 17:44.
[9] Qur’án 42:52.
[10] Qur’án 39:67.
[11] Qur’án 53:3–4.
[12] cf. Qur’án 10:32.
A typescript of the original Arabic text of this talk appears below.
Adib Masumian 