…man is immortal and everlasting. Those who believe in God,
who cherish His love, and who have attained certitude, enjoy that blessed life
which we call life eternal; but those who are veiled from God, though they be
endowed with life, yet they live in darkness and their life, in comparison with
that of the believers, is non-existence.
Thus, the eye is alive and so too is the fingernail, but the
life of the fingernail in relation to that of the eye is non-existence. The
stone and the man both exist, but in relation to man the stone has no existence
or being. For when man dies and his body is disintegrated and destroyed, it
becomes like the stone, the earth, and the mineral. It is therefore clear that
even though the mineral exists, it is non-existent in relation to man.
Likewise, those souls who are veiled from God, although they
exist both in this world and in the world to come, are non-existent and
forgotten in relation to the sanctified existence of the children of the divine
Kingdom.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Table talks in Akka, authenticated by ‘Abdu’l-Baha;
‘Some Answered Questions’ – 2014 revised translation by the Baha’i World
Centre)
