The world of nature is the
world of darkness, because it is the origin of a thousand depravities; nay, rather,
it is darkness upon darkness. The illumination of the world of nature is
dependent upon the splendor of the Sun of Reality. The grace of guidance is
like unto the candle which is enkindled in the glass of knowledge and wisdom
and that glass of knowledge and wisdom is the mirror of the heart of humanity.
The oil of that luminous lamp is from the fruits of the Blessed Tree and that
oil is so refined that it will burn without light. When the intensity of the
light and the translucency of the glass and the purity of the mirror are
brought together, it will become light upon light.
(‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablets of
the Divine Plan’)
