God
created man after His own image and likeness . . . but now, behaving contrarily,
man has become more merciless and fearless than rapacious beasts. A beast kills
only one animal each day for his food, while merciless man tears apart a
hundred thousand people in a day merely for fame and dominion. Should a wolf
tear a sheep apart, they would kill it; but if a man massacres a hundred
thousand men in blood and dust, he is given an ovation and is pronounced a
marshall or a general. If a man kills another or sets fire to a house, he is
condemned as a murderer; but if he annihilates an army and overturns a country,
he is called a conqueror and is admired. If a man steals a dollar he is thrown
into prison but if he plunders the homes of people and lays waste a city he is
called a commander and is praised.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, October 4, 1912, San Francisco, USA, recorded by
Mahmud Zarqani; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
