Those who are uninformed of the world of reality, and do not
study created things, cannot investigate and discover hidden truths. They only
have a superficial idea of things, are embodiments of ignorance and blind
imitators. They believe that which they have heard from their fathers and do
not have any knowledge or understanding of their own and are bereft of hearing
and insight. They rely on traditions and tales and follow the path of their
ancestors. They imagine that God's dominion is accidental, that this world has
existed for but six thousand or eight thousand years and that before that time
God had neither creation nor sovereignty.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha,
December 4, New York, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
