Consider Hippocrates, the physician. He was one of the
eminent philosophers who believed in God and acknowledged His sovereignty.
After him came Socrates who was indeed wise, accomplished and righteous. He
practised self-denial, repressed his appetites for selfish desires and turned
away from material pleasures. He withdrew to the mountains where he dwelt in a
cave. He dissuaded men from worshipping idols and taught them the way of God,
the Lord of Mercy, until the ignorant rose up against him. They arrested him
and put him to death in prison. Thus relateth to thee this swift-moving Pen.
What a penetrating vision into philosophy this eminent man had! He is the most
distinguished of all philosophers and was highly versed in wisdom. We testify
that he is one of the heroes in this field and an outstanding champion
dedicated unto it. He had a profound knowledge of such sciences as were current
amongst men as well as of those which were veiled from their minds. Methinks he
drank one draught when the Most Great Ocean overflowed with gleaming and
life-giving waters. He it is who perceived a unique, a tempered, and a
pervasive nature in things, bearing the closest likeness to the human spirit,
and he discovered this nature to be distinct from the substance of things in
their refined form. He hath a special pronouncement on this weighty theme.
- Baha’u’llah (‘Tablets of Baha’u’llah revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas’)
