Know then that “life” hath a twofold meaning. The first
pertaineth to the appearance of man in an elemental body, and is as manifest to
thine eminence and to others as the midday sun. This life cometh to an end with
physical death, which is a God-ordained and inescapable reality. That life,
however, which is mentioned in the Books of the Prophets and the Chosen Ones of
God is the life of knowledge; that is to say, the servant’s recognition of the
sign of the splendours wherewith He Who is the Source of all splendour hath
Himself invested him, and his certitude of attaining unto the presence of God
through the Manifestations of His Cause. This is that blessed and everlasting
life that perisheth not: whosoever is quickened thereby shall never die, but
will endure as long as His Lord and Creator will endure.
(Baha’u’llah, ‘Gems of
Divine Mysteries’, ‘Javáhiru’l-Asrár’)
