O thou who art attracted to the fragrant breathings of God! I have read
thy letter addressed to Mrs. Lua Getsinger. Thou hast indeed examined with
great care the reasons for the incursion of disease into the human body.
It is certainly the case that sins are a potent cause of physical
ailments. If humankind were free from the defilements of sin and
waywardness, and lived according to a natural, inborn equilibrium, without
following wherever their passions led, it is undeniable that diseases
would no longer take the ascendant, nor diversify with such intensity.
But man hath perversely continued to serve his lustful appetites, and he
would not content himself with simple foods. Rather, he prepared for
himself food that was compounded of many ingredients, of substances
differing one from the other. With this, and with the perpetrating of vile
and ignoble acts, his attention was engrossed, and he abandoned the
temperance and moderation of a natural way of life. The result was the
engendering of diseases both violent and diverse.
For the animal, as to its body, is made up of the same constituent
elements as man. Since, however, the animal contenteth itself with simple
foods and striveth not to indulge its importunate urges to any great
degree, and committeth no sins, its ailments relative to man's are few. We
see clearly, therefore, how powerful are sin and contumacy as pathogenic
factors. And once engendered these diseases become compounded, multiply,
and are transmitted to others. Such are the spiritual, inner causes of
sickness.
The outer, physical causal factor in disease, however, is a disturbance in
the balance, the proportionate equilibrium of all those elements of which
the human body is composed. To illustrate: the body of man is a compound
of many constituent substances, each component being present in a
prescribed amount, contributing to the essential equilibrium of the whole.
So long as these constituents remain in their due proportion, according to
the natural balance of the whole--that is, no component suffereth a change
in its natural proportionate degree and balance, no component being either
augmented or decreased--there will be no physical cause for the incursion
of disease.
For example, the starch component must be present to a given amount, and
the sugar to a given amount. So long as each remaineth in its natural
proportion to the whole, there will be no cause for the onset of disease.
When, however, these constituents vary as to their natural and due
amounts--that is, when they are augmented or diminished--it is certain that
this will provide for the inroads of disease.
This question requireth the most careful investigation. The Bab hath said
that the people of Baha must develop the science of medicine to such a
high degree that they will heal illnesses by means of foods. The basic
reason for this is that if, in some component substance of the human body,
an imbalance should occur, altering its correct, relative proportion to
the whole, this fact will inevitably result in the onset of disease. If,
for example, the starch component should be unduly augmented, or the sugar
component decreased, an illness will take control. It is the function of a
skilled physician to determine which constituent of his patient's body
hath suffered diminution, which hath been augmented. Once he hath
discovered this, he must prescribe a food containing the diminished
element in considerable amounts, to re-establish the body's essential
equilibrium. The patient, once his constitution is again in balance, will
be rid of his disease.
The proof of this is that while other animals have never studied medical
science, nor carried on researches into diseases or medicines, treatments
or cures--even so, when one of them falleth a prey to sickness, nature
leadeth it, in fields or desert places, to the very plant which, once
eaten, will rid the animal of its disease. The explanation is that if, as
an example, the sugar component in the animal's body hath decreased,
according to a natural law the animal hankereth after a herb that is rich
in sugar. Then, by a natural urge, which is the appetite, among a thousand
different varieties of plants across the field, the animal will discover
and consume that herb which containeth a sugar component in large amounts.
Thus the essential balance of the substances composing its body is
re-established, and the animal is rid of its disease.
This question requireth the most careful investigation. When
highly-skilled physicians shall fully examine this matter, thoroughly and
perseveringly, it will be clearly seen that the incursion of disease is
due to a disturbance in the relative amounts of the body's component
substances, and that treatment consisteth in adjusting these relative
amounts, and that this can be apprehended and made possible by means of
foods.
It is certain that in this wonderful new age the development of medical
science will lead to the doctors' healing their patients with foods. For
the sense of sight, the sense of hearing, of taste, of smell, of touch--all
these are discriminative faculties, their purpose being to separate the
beneficial from whatever causeth harm. Now, is it possible that man's
sense of smell, the sense that differentiates odours, should find some
odour repugnant, and that odour be beneficial to the human body? Absurd!
Impossible! In the same way, could the human body, through the faculty of
sight--the differentiator among things visible--benefit from gazing upon a
revolting mass of excrement? Never! Again, if the sense of taste, likewise
a faculty that selecteth and rejecteth, be offended by something, that
thing is certainly not beneficial; and if, at the outset, it may yield
some advantage, in the long run its harmfulness will be established.
And likewise, when the constitution is in a state of equilibrium, there is
no doubt that whatever is relished will be beneficial to health. Observe
how an animal will graze in a field where there are a hundred thousand
kinds of herbs and grasses, and how, with its sense of smell, it snuffeth
up the odours of the plants, and tasteth them with its sense of taste;
then it consumeth whatever herb is pleasurable to these senses, and
benefiteth therefrom. Were it not for this power of selectivity, the
animals would all be dead in a single day; for there are a great many
poisonous plants, and animals know nothing of the pharmacopoeia. And yet,
observe what a reliable set of scales they have, by means of which to
differentiate the good from the injurious. Whatever constituent of their
body hath decreased, they can rehabilitate by seeking out and consuming
some plant that hath an abundant store of that diminished element; and
thus the equilibrium of their bodily components is re-established, and
they are rid of their disease.
At whatever time highly-skilled physicians shall have developed the
healing of illnesses by means of foods, and shall make provision for
simple foods, and shall prohibit humankind from living as slaves to their
lustful appetites, it is certain that the incidence of chronic and
diversified illnesses will abate, and the general health of all mankind
will be much improved. This is destined to come about. In the same way, in
the character, the conduct and the manners of men, universal modifications
will be made.