In fine, that inner faculty in man, unseen of the eye, wresteth
the sword from the hands of nature, and giveth it a grievous blow. All other
beings, however great, are bereft of such perfections. Man hath the powers of
will and understanding, but nature hath them not. Nature is constrained, man is
free. Nature is bereft of understanding, man understandeth. Nature is unaware
of past events, but man is aware of them. Nature forecasteth not the future;
man by his discerning power seeth that which is to come. Nature hath no
consciousness of itself, man knoweth about all things.
Should any one suppose that man is but a part of the world
of nature, and he being endowed with these perfections, these being but
manifestations of the world of nature, and thus nature is the originator of
these perfections and is not deprived therefrom, to him we make reply and say:
the part dependeth upon the whole; the part cannot possess perfections whereof
the whole is deprived. (‘Abdu’l-Baha, ‘Tablet to August Forel)
