In brief, their [“the children of Israel”] growth and
progress reached such an exalted state than even the Greek philosophers took
journeys to the Holy Land in order to study philosophy with the children of
Israel. It is an established historical fact that even Socrates, the Greek
philosopher, came to the Holy Land and consorted with Jewish leaders, studying
wisdom with them. When he returned to Greece, he formulated his basis for
divine unity and advanced his belief regarding the immortality of the spirit after
the dissolution of the body. These verities Socrates learned from the children
of Israel.
Likewise Hippocrates and many other philosophers went to the
Holy Land and acquired lessons from the Jewish prophets about the basis of
philosophy and returned to their country to spread such verities.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of
‘Abdu’l-Baha, From a talk at San Francisco’s Jewish Temple, October 12, 1912,
San Francisco, USA, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
