Say: Of all that lieth between heaven and earth, naught can
stir except by My leave, and unto My Kingdom none can ascend save at My behest.
My creatures, however, have remained veiled from My might and My sovereignty,
and are numbered with
the heedless. Say: Naught is seen in My revelation but the
Revelation of God, and in My might but His Might, could ye but know it. Say: My creatures are even as the leaves of a
tree. They proceed from the tree, and depend upon it for their existence, yet
remain oblivious of their root and origin. We draw such similitudes for the
sake of Our discerning servants that perchance they may transcend a mere
plant-like level of existence and attain unto true maturity in this resistless
and immovable Cause. Say: My creatures are even as the fish of the deep. Their
life dependeth upon the water, and yet they remain unaware of that which, by
the grace of an omniscient and omnipotent Lord, sustaineth their very existence. Indeed, their heedlessness is such that were
they asked concerning the water and its properties, they would prove entirely
ignorant. Thus do We set forth comparisons and similitudes, that perchance the
people may turn unto Him Who is the Object of the adoration of the entire
creation.
(Baha'u'llah, ‘Suriy-i-Haykal, The Summons of the Lord of
Hosts’)
