The conceptions of the devoutest of mystics, the attainments
of the most accomplished amongst men, the highest praise which human tongue or
pen can render are all the product of man’s finite mind and are conditioned by
its limitations. Ten thousand Prophets, each a Moses, are thunderstruck upon
the Sinai of their search at His forbidding voice, “Thou shalt never behold
Me!”; whilst a myriad Messengers, each as great as Jesus, stand dismayed upon
their heavenly thrones by the interdiction, “Mine Essence thou shalt never
apprehend!” From time immemorial He hath been veiled in the ineffable sanctity
of His exalted Self, and will everlastingly continue to be wrapt in the
impenetrable mystery of His unknowable Essence. Every attempt to attain to an
understanding of His inaccessible Reality hath ended in complete bewilderment,
and every effort to approach His exalted Self and envisage His Essence hath
resulted in hopelessness and failure.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah’)
