In the world of existence—that which is comprehensible—there
are stages of mortality: the first stage is the mineral world, next is the vegetable
world. In the latter world the mineral doth exist but with a distinctive
feature which is the vegetable characteristic. Likewise in the animal world,
the mineral and vegetable characteristics are present and in addition the
characteristics of the animal world are to be found, which are the faculties of
hearing and of sight. In the human world the characteristics of the mineral,
vegetable and animal worlds are found and in addition that of the human kind,
namely the intellectual characteristic, which discovereth the realities of
things and comprehendeth universal principles.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from
the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
