…those who in every subsequent Dispensation preceded the
rest of mankind in embracing the Faith of God, who quaffed the clear waters of
knowledge at the hand of the divine Beauty, and attained the loftiest summits
of faith and certitude, these can be regarded, in name, in reality, in deeds,
in words, and in rank, as the “return” of those who in a former Dispensation
had achieved similar distinctions. For whatsoever the people of a former
Dispensation have manifested, the same hath been shown by the people of this
latter generation. Consider the rose: whether it blossometh in the East or in
the West, it is none the less a rose. For what mattereth in this respect is not
the outward shape and form of the rose, but rather the smell and fragrance
which it doth impart.
- Baha’u’llah (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)
