…man is the repository of divine perfections and heavenly
favors that bring him eternal happiness and everlasting honor. Such perfections
as justice, fidelity, truthfulness, purity, wisdom, piety, mercy, bounty, love,
amity, nobility and sagacity enable man to comprehend the realities of things
and unfold hidden mysteries. Human reality is therefore between light and
darkness and has a threefold nature: the heavenly, the human and the physical.
The physical condition is darkness upon darkness and the source of trouble,
disgrace, discord, bloodshed and war. The heavenly condition, however, which is
the zenith of the human aspect of man's nature, is light upon light and the
means of acquiring everlasting prosperity, peace and tranquillity, honor and
glory.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, December 4, New York, recorded by
Mahmud Zarqani; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
