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In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.” If one will ponder but for a while this utterance of ‘Alí in his heart, one will surely discover all mysteries hidden in the terms “grave,” “tomb,” “ṣiraṭ,” “paradise” and “hell.” But oh! how strange and pitiful! Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: “He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.” If by “life” be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death must needs overtake it.


While we could easily say that all these terms are symbolic in nature, and not literal, Baha'u'llah has already done this. And He has done this far better than we could.

Instead, we want to focus on why He is choosing these particular phrases and examples.

When we look back over the previous couple of paragraphs, and the stories of Jesus and Ali, we notice that He is using stories that have been used to set one people over another. These are examples that have been used to demonstrate that one group is somehow superior to another, and this, we feel, is antithetical to the teachings of these great Teachers.

Baha'u'llah is all about unity. He does whatever He can to help us overcome our own egotism and recognize the fundamental oneness of all peoples.

As you may have noticed, it seems to us that these examples, while having been used to divide people and encourage judgment, don't have to be read that way. We see them, instead, as encouraging us to be with others, but seize every opportunity to share this Message. This is a far more coherent understanding, as far as we can tell.

Another point that comes to mind is one that comes from both 'Abdu'l-Baha and the Bab. 'Abdu'l-Baha, as you recall, has said in Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, section 21, that there are various kingdoms in creation. He talks about the mineral kingdom, with the power of unity and attraction, and the vegetable kingdom with the power of growth. He moves on to the animal kingdom with the power of the senses, and on to the human kingdom. Without going into too much detail, He has defined reality in a manner different from many scientists, but far more accurately. Many people see reality as a pie, and cut away one section and call it the mineral kingdom. This other part is the animal kingdom, and this slice over here is the mammals, while that slice within it is the felines, and so forth. They see creation as a giant pie to be sliced into ever smaller pieces.

But with 'Abdu'l-Baha's description we can see it more like concentric circles. After all, He says that each kingdom comprehends the kingdoms before it. We can see the mineral kingdom in the centre, surrounded by the vegetable kingdom, and moving out towards the animal kingdom. But if we do this, as concentric circles, then it is just another way of slicing this pie. However, if we subtly shift these circles to being a spiral, then we can see this direct continuity of creation. We can see how if we move outwards from the mineral kingdom, we can see the crystals, which have a degree of the power of growth. If we move outwards from the vegetable kingdom, then we can see how we will encounter plants like the Venus fly-trap, which has a degree of sensory awareness. We can begin to see how these various kingdoms merge into each other, giving us a far more unified vision of the world.

The Bab, in addition to all this, offers us an interesting point when He says that everything in creation has its own heaven, and by extension its own hell. Heaven, He says, is the fulfillment of potential, while presumably hell would be its denial.

If we combine these two concepts, then we can think of the idea of moving outward on this spiral as a form of heaven. It would be, in a sense, moving closer to God, Who would be at the very outer most edges of this eternal spiral. The further out we move, the closer we are getting to God. But if we are moving inwards, then we are denying our potential. You see, it's not that animals are bad. They are an incredible and wonderful part of creation. But if we are moving towards being more animalistic, then we are moving in the wrong direction, and that is why it seems so bad for us. This is why being like an animal is not a good thing for us humans.

Now, what does all this have to do with the Kitab-i-Iqan? Well, if we are supremely concerned about the body, and see all these metaphors in terms of physical life, then we are looking at what distinguishes animals, not humans. When we see the spiritual significance of these terms, and move towards the spiritual in our life, then we are moving outwards in that spiral.

At the beginning of this paragraph, Baha'u'llah makes a very powerful statement that we almost overlooked. He says that "the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms" He has mentioned here. This is Their purpose. No other purpose than this.

Really? That's Their purpose? To affirm some definitions? Surely it can't be just that. What about that famous quote "...is not the object of every Revelation to effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions?"

Well, if we see these new definitions, this spiritual understanding as turning our attention away from the physical world and towards the spiritual, then He is shifting the direction of our gaze from inward towards the centre of the spiral outwards towards the more highly developed spiritual realms. And this will, necessarily, transform the individual, as well as society.

It will help us better understand how these stories from Jesus and Ali are about transformation, and not condemnation.

At this point we could say so much more, but we feel we have said too much already. Besides, Baha'u'llah continues on with this theme for another two paragraphs.