It is indeed in Our power to take up a handful of dust and
to adorn it with the vesture of Our Names. This, however, would be but a sign
of our favour, and not an indication of any merit it may have inherently
possessed. Thus hath it been revealed in truth by Him Who is the Sovereign
Revealer, the All-Knowing. Consider the Black Stone,[1] which God hath made a
point whereunto all men turn in adoration.
Hath this bounty been conferred upon it by virtue of its innate excellence? Nay, by Mine own Self! Or doth such
distinction stem from its intrinsic worth? Nay, by Mine own Being, Whose
Essence even the wisest and most discerning of men have failed to grasp!
(Baha'u'llah,
‘Suriy-i-Haykal, ‘The Summons of the Lord of Hosts’)
[1] A small rock situated low in the eastern
corner of the Kaaba
