Man is possessed of two aspects, the physical and the
divine. The divine aspect consists of reconciliation, purity, love and faithfulness
but the animal aspect consists of war, contention, bloodshed and massacre. If
the animal side in man should overcome, he becomes more degraded than animals.
If the divine side should triumph, he becomes an angel. The teachings of the
Prophets were solely directed to educate humanity in order to subdue the animal
side so that persons under the yoke of nature may find salvation and the
heavenly aspect may rule victorious. This divine aspect is the bounty of the
Holy Spirit, it is the second birth. He who possesses the divine aspect is a
well-wisher of mankind and is most kind to all. He will entertain no enmity
toward any Faith and will not belittle any religion, for the foundations of the
religions of God are one. - ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, April 21, 1912,
Washington DC; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
