Thou didst write as to the question of spiritual discoveries. The spirit
of man is a circumambient power that encompasseth the realities of all
things. Whatsoever thou dost see about thee--wondrous products of human
workmanship, inventions, discoveries and like evidences--each one of these
was once a secret hidden away in the realm of the unknown. The human
spirit laid that secret bare, and drew it forth from the unseen into the
visible world. There is, for example, the power of steam, and photography
and the phonograph, and wireless telegraphy, and advances in mathematics:
each and every one of these was once a mystery, a closely guarded secret,
yet the human spirit unravelled these secrets and brought them out of the
invisible into the light of day. Thus is it clear that the human spirit is
an all-encompassing power that exerteth its dominion over the inner
essences of all created things, uncovering the well kept mysteries of the
phenomenal world.
The divine spirit, however, doth unveil divine realities and universal
mysteries that lie within the spiritual world. It is my hope that thou
wilt attain unto this divine spirit, so that thou mayest uncover the
secrets of the other world, as well as the mysteries of the world below.
Thou didst ask as to chapter 14, verse 30 of the Gospel of John, where the
Lord Christ saith, 'Hereafter I will not talk much with you: for the
Prince of this world cometh, and hath nothing in Me.' The Prince of this
world is the Blessed Beauty; and 'hath nothing in Me' signifieth: after Me
all will draw grace from Me, but He is independent of Me, and will draw no
grace from Me. That is, He is rich beyond any grace of Mine.
As to thy question regarding discoveries made by the soul after it hath
put off its human form: certainly, that world is a world of perceptions
and discoveries, for the interposed veil will be lifted away and the human
spirit will gaze upon souls that are above, below, and on a par with
itself. It is similar to the condition of a human being in the womb, where
his eyes are veiled, and all things are hidden away from him. Once he is
born out of the uterine world and entereth this life, he findeth it, with
relation to that of the womb, to be a place of perceptions and
discoveries, and he observeth all things through his outer eye. In the
same way, once he hath departed this life, he will behold, in that world
whatsoever was hidden from him here: but there he will look upon and
comprehend all things with his inner eye. There will he gaze on his
fellows and his peers, and those in the ranks above him, and those below.
As for what is meant by the equality of souls in the all-highest realm, it
is this: the souls of the believers, at the time when they first become
manifest in the world of the body, are equal, and each is sanctified and
pure. In this world, however, they will begin to differ one from another,
some achieving the highest station, some a middle one, others remaining at
the lowest stage of being. Their equal status is at the beginning of their
existence; the differentiation followeth their passing away.
Thou didst write as to Seir. Seir is a locality near Nazareth in Galilee.
As to the statement of Job, chapter 19, verses 25-27, 'I know that my
Redeemer liveth, and that He shall stand at the latter day upon the
earth,' the meaning here is: I shall not be abased, I have a Sustainer and
a Guardian, and my Helper, my Defender will in the end be made manifest.
And although now my flesh be weak and clothed with worms, yet shall I be
healed, and with these mine own eyes, that is, mine inner sight, I shall
behold Him. This did Job say after they had reproached him, and he himself
had lamented the harms that his tribulations had wreaked upon him. And
even when, from the terrible inroads of the sickness, his body was covered
with worms, he sought to tell those about him that still he would be fully
healed, and that in his very body, with his very eyes, he would gaze on
his Redeemer.
As to the woman in the Revelation of Saint John, chapter 12, who fled into
the wilderness, and the great wonder appearing in the heavens--that woman
clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet: what is meant by the
woman is the Law of God. For according to the terminology of the Holy
Books, this reference is to the Law, the woman being its symbol here. And
the two luminaries, the sun and the moon, are the two thrones, the Turkish
and the Persian, these two being under the rule of the Law of God. The sun
is the symbol of the Persian Empire, and the moon, that is, the crescent,
of the Turkish. The twelve-fold crown is the twelve Imams, who, even as
the Apostles, supported the Faith of God. The newborn Child is the Beauty
of the Adored One,(49) come forth out of the Law of God. He then saith
that the woman fled into the wilderness, that is, the Law of God was
carried out of Palestine to the desert of Hijaz, where it remained 1260
years--that is, until the advent of the promised Child. And as is well
known, in the Holy Books, every day is accounted as one year.