the most important aim of the universe, and
its greatest result, and
its most brilliant light, and
its subtlest and most pleasant leaven, and
a pure extract distilled from it, and
its most perfect fruit, and
its most elevated perfection, and
its most beautiful countenance, and
its most beautiful adornment, and
the secret of its unitary nature, and
the bond of its unity, and
the source of its perfections, and
something that has spirit and which is most extraordinary in respect of art and nature, and
a miraculous reality that makes the tiniest creature like a universe, and
a miracle of Divine Power which, as though serving as the means of the universe being situated in a tiny living creature, shows in that creature some sort of index of the huge universe, and connects the creature to other things and beings; and
it is a wonderful Divine art which makes a tiny part as great as the whole and some part of a whole represent the whole itself, showing that in respect of the Lordship over it the universe is an indivisible whole or a universal entity interconnected with all its parts and which allows no participation; and
life is the most brilliant, the most decisive, the most perfect of proofs testifying to the necessary Existence and Oneness of the All-Living and Self-Subsistent One; and
among Divine works of art life is both the most hidden and the most apparent, and the most valuable and the most inexpensive, and it is the purest, most shining, and most meaningful embroidery of the Lord’s Art; and
life is a graceful, refined, delicate manifestation of the Mercy of the All-Merciful which makes other beings serve itself; and
it is a most comprehensive mirror of the essential Qualities that are indispensable to His Essence; and
it is a wonder of the Lord’s creation that comprises the manifestations of numerous All-Beautiful Names, such as the All-Merciful, the All-Providing, the All-Compassionate, the All-Munificent, and the All-Wise, subjecting to itself many realities like provision,
wisdom, grace, and mercy, and it is the source and origin of all the senses like sight, hearing, and touch; and
life is such a transformation machine in the vast workshop of the universe that it continuously cleans and purifies everywhere, allowing progress and illuminating. And it makes living bodies, which are its dwellings, guesthouses, schools, or barracks for the caravans of atoms so that they may be refined and brought up to perform their duties. Quite simply, through the machine of life, the All-Living One, the Giver of Life, beautifies, makes pleasant, and illumines this dark, transient, lowly world, and gives it a sort of permanence, preparing it to go to another, everlasting world; and
both of the two faces of life, that is, both its outer and inner faces, are bright, sublime, and unsoiled and without defect. It is an exceptional creature in the creation of which the direct operation of the Divine Power has not been veiled by physical causes, so that it can clearly be shown that it has emerged directly without veil or means from the hand of the Lord’s Power; and
the reality of life relates to the six pillars of belief, supporting them in meaning and indirectly. That is to say, it is a luminous reality which relates to and proves the absolutely necessary, eternal existence of the Necessarily Existent One, the Hereafter and eternal life, and the existence of angels, and other pillars of belief;
also, just as
life is the purest essence of the universe, distilled from all of it, so too is it a mighty mystery generating thanksgiving, worship, praise, and love, which are the most important Divine purposes for the existence of the universe and the most important results of the world’s creation.”
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