There are two influences tending toward prosperity and progress
which emanate from the forefront of advancement of the world of humanity…. One
is the influence of civilization - that development of the world of nature that
concerns the material life of man. It promotes physical advancement and
cultivates the social virtues…. The other is the divine influence, the holy and spiritual
revelations, which insure eternal glory, everlasting happiness, the
illumination of the world, the appearance of merciful phenomena in the world of
humanity, and perpetual life.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a Tablet; Star of the West,
vol. 6, no. 9, August 20, 1915)
