…it is necessary that the signs of the perfection of the
spirit should be apparent in this world, so that the world of creation may
bring forth endless results, and this body may receive life and manifest the
divine bounties. So, for example, the rays of the sun must shine upon the
earth, and the solar heat develop the earthly beings; if the rays and heat of
the sun did not shine upon the earth, the earth would be uninhabited, without
meaning, and its development would be retarded. In the same way, if the
perfections of the spirit did not appear in this world, this world would be
unenlightened and absolutely brutal. By the appearance of the spirit in the physical
form, this world is enlightened. As the spirit of man is the cause of the life
of the body, so the world is in the condition of the body, and man is in the
condition of the spirit. If there were no man, the perfections of the spirit
would not appear, and the light of the mind would not be resplendent in this
world. This world would be like a body without a soul.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Compilation: ‘The
Baha’i Faith’)
