A man of Sufi inclinations… said, `All are from God.' The
Master replied:
Yes, this is true, but one man is so exalted that others bow
down before Him and He is adored by them like Christ or Moses, who called
people to the oneness of divinity and who became the cause of the education of
a nation, while another is so degraded that he bows down before dust and
worships ants and serpents. Are these two one and the same? No, certainly not!
Divine Manifestations are a different creation. All humanity is created by God
but how they differ in intelligence. One is the wisest of the wise and the
founder of the laws of happiness and prosperity, while the other is the most
ignorant of the ignorant and a destroyer of the edifice of peace and honor.
Prophets, therefore, have a station of their own. Many
people crossed the desert of Sinai but it was Moses who heard the voice of God
because the divine Manifestations have a spiritual power peculiar to themselves.
Mighty nations existed at the time of the appearance of the divine
Manifestations but they were degraded and became obliterated. But observe what
a banner of unique being Christ unfurled without friend or helper. All are from
God but all have different stations. Both men and animals are from God but what
a difference there is between them.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, on the train,
October 30, en route from Denver to Chicago, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani;
‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
