Materialists say, ‘Where is the soul? What is it? We cannot
see it, neither can we touch it’. This is how we must answer them: However much
the mineral may progress, it cannot comprehend the vegetable world. Now, that
lack of comprehension does not prove the non-existence of the plant! To however
great a degree the plant may have evolved, it is unable to understand the
animal world; this ignorance is no proof that the animal does not exist! The animal,
be he never so highly developed, cannot imagine the intelligence of man,
neither can he realize the nature of his soul. But, again, this does not prove
that man is without intellect, or without soul. It only demonstrates this, that
one form of existence is incapable of comprehending a form superior to itself.
This flower may be unconscious of such a being as man, but the fact of its
ignorance does not prevent the existence of humanity.
In the same way, if materialists do not believe in the
existence of the soul, their unbelief does not prove that there is no such
realm as the world of spirit.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Paris Talks)
