Regarding the use of liquors: According
to the texts of the Book of Aqdas, both light and strong drinks are prohibited.
The reason for this prohibition is that it leads the mind astray and is the
cause of weakening the body. If alcohol were beneficial, it would have been
brought into the world by the divine creation and not by the effort of man.
Whatever is beneficial for man exists in creation. Now, it has been proved and
is established medically and scientifically that liquors are harmful.
Therefore the meaning of that which is written in the Tablets: "I have
chosen for thee whatsoever is in the heaven and earth," signifies those
things which are according to the divine creation and not the things which are
harmful. For instance, poison is one of the things: now, can we say that
poisons are to be used habitually because God has created them for man?
However, spirituous liquors, if prescribed by a physician for the patient and
their use is necessary, then they may be used as directed.
In brief, I hope that thou mayest find
eternal bliss and receive inexhaustible joy and happiness. The after effect of
drinking is depression, but the wine of the Love of God bestows exaltation of
the spirit. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, from a Tablet, Star of the West, vol. 1, no. 6, June
24, 1910)
