Now observe that it is education that brings East and West
under man’s dominion, produces all these marvellous crafts, promotes these
mighty arts and sciences, and gives rise to these new discoveries and
undertakings. Were it not for an educator, the means of comfort, civilization,
and human virtues could in no wise have been acquired. If a man is left alone
in a wilderness where he sees none of his own kind, he will undoubtedly become
a mere animal. It is therefore clear that an educator is needed…
It followeth from this clear argument that human society
requireth the care and training of a true Educator and that human souls stand
in need of a power that can regulate, bind, restrain, deter, encourage, impel,
and attract them. For unless the garden of creation be tended by a loving
gardener, sustained by the manifold grace of the one true God, and administered
by the just policies of the government, it will never acquire vitality and
grace, nor will it prosper and flourish.
This power to deter and restrain, to govern and regulate, to
lead and impel is of two kinds. The first agency of protection and deterrence
is political power, which pertaineth to the physical world. It ensureth the
material well-being of humanity; preserveth the life, property, and honour of
all; and is the source of the greatness and virtue of this noble race. The
centre of the operation of this political power and the pivot of the circle of
this divine bounty are the just sovereigns, faithful trustees, wise ministers,
and courageous commanders.
The other educator and regulator of the world of humanity is
the sanctified power of the spirit, the divinely revealed Scriptures, the
Prophets of God, the heavenly souls, and the divinely learned. For these
repositories of God’s revelation and daysprings of His inspiration educate the
hearts and souls of humanity, rectify their characters, refine their conduct,
and inspire the righteous among them. That is, these sanctified beings, even as
a force born of the spirit, deliver the souls of men from the evils of a
corrupt character, the darkness of reprehensible attributes, and the defilement
of the realm of existence, and thus illumine them with the light of human
virtues, divine attributes, and heavenly characteristics and qualities, so that
the shining truth of the words “Hallowed be the Lord, the most excellent of all
creators” and the full glory of the utterance “We created man in the most
excellent of forms” may be realized within the sacred reality of man. It is
through the liberal effusions of the grace of these daysprings of the signs and
verses of God that pure and subtle human realities become the focal centre of
the blessings of the All-Merciful.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Compilation: ‘Bahá’í Sacred
Writings: A comprehensive collection of selections from the Writings of
Bahá’u’lláh and the Writings and utterances of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, representing the
range of the Bahá’í teachings”, prepared by the Baha’i World Center, July 2025)
