# What Is God?

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Stanwood Cobb, What Is God?, Washington, DC: The Avalon Press, 1955, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> WHAT IS GOD?
> BY
> 
> STANWOOD COBB
> 
> AVALON PRESS
> WASHINGTON, D.C.
> COPYRIGHT—   1955   ... BY STANWOOD COBB
> MANUFACTURED    IN UNITED   STATES OF AMERICA
> ^t)edication
> 
> To the Apocalyptic Splendor —
> 
> The Spiritual Potency that guides and inspires
> 
> May its Tide wax full upon earth's    shore,
> 
> Deep from the Ocean of Omniscience.
> 
> Dedicated to
> 
> SEERS   &    HIEROPHANTS
> Inspired by the Almighty
> reface
> 
> ^/se following verses are an attempt to open
> up vistas into the Infinite in a way that prose could
> not accomplish.      Let the    reader   look upon each
> stanza   as a   mystic avenue of Light, giving (it is
> hoped) some faint suggestion of Reality.         These
> poems are intended neither for inculcation nor in
> doctrination, but as focal points of contemplation on
> the Majesty, the Omnipresence and the All-enfolding
> Beneficence of man's Creator, King and Friend.
> 
> Let the reader, as he will, pursue whatever flights
> of spiritual imagination these stanzas lead him to in
> his own search for God. For man's spiritual search
> must be individual, his desire individual, and his at
> tainment individual.
> 
> No one can find God for another person, but we
> can lift each other up by sharing our inspirations
> and our faiths.   Our communions with Divinity
> must be in the silence of our own hearts; but our
> journey Godward can and should be in gladsome
> fellowship.
> What is God?      The World has ever sought,
> And still must seek, to solve this mystery.
> Here avails but little — scientific thought
> Or fragile cobwebs of philosophy.
> We look, we search the universe, in vain —
> The Whole is not discernible in part:
> But when soul-weary, sore with pain,
> We look within we find Him in our heart.
> Not immense learning but the gift of Grace
> Enables us to see Him face to face:
> The Ancient Beauty is the Holy Grail
> Revealed to Love where other seekers fail.
> Canto Oh,
> 
> THE SEARCH FOR GOD
> I
> 
> J).         we peer into the awesome Infinite
> 
> and question—“What      is   God?”
> The ancients were more humble—stood abashed
> 
> on ground where He had trod.
> 
> II
> 
> *   7   the majestic sky they raised imploring hands
> beseeching the Unknown
> 
> To grant protection and beneficence
> from His Almighty    throne.
> III
> 
> O.       the priests dared breathe His sacred Name,
> 
> only the privileged        approach
> 
> His august Presence where no worldliness
> could venture to encroach.
> 
> IV
> 
> S}    oes God exist?       We do not need the tomes
> 
> of philosophic     mists
> 
> To prove the sun. We only need
> its
> 
> warmth
> to know that            exists.
> it
> 
> -
> s
> V
> 
> –4.          so with   God. Discussions cannot prove
> what wisdom has not sown.
> 
> The proof of His existence comes from search
> by souls in ripeness grown.
> 
> VI
> 
> ~/.     faith, like healing, be empirical:
> 
> we learn by adept stages.
> its
> 
> Experience    achieves         certitude
> its
> 
> where doubt             battle wages.
> VII
> 
> ^^nce we have felt the tenderness,      the warmth,
> 
> the love of the Divine —
> 
> We no more doubt this Spirit of Existence
> than that the sun can shine.
> 
> VIII
> 
> God a Personality?   We err
> if we say "Yes" or "No".
> He is not less than Personality —
> this much we surely know.
> IX
> 
> could the universe in quality
> 
> surpass its   Architect?
> Or life develop attributes and traits
> only its Maker could perfect?
> 
> this could not originate
> 
> From atoms which his sovereign will compels,
> nor from      a soulless   Fate.
> XI
> 
> J.       man is mind, then God is Greater Mind.
> 
> If humans can devise—
> Then Deity is the cosmic Architect
> 
> both Skilled and Super-wise.
> 
> XII
> _9.
> 
> of
> 
> man        capable        selfless love,
> is
> 
> whence comes         this quality?
> 
> did not rise from matter's catenations,
> It
> 
> nor star-dust energy.
> XIII
> 
> ~/.      underlies existence, from solar heat
> 
> to the life beneath the sod—
> 
> A love that vitalizes matter, yet is not
> matter,   but is God.
> 
> XIV
> 
> G.     is the Gracious, and His loving thought
> 
> enfolds each living thing.
> 
> He is the radiance of dawn and dusk,
> the joy   of birds that sing.
> 
> *
> XV
> 
> G.     is the safe Protector.   His Wisdom guides,
> His spirit shelters all.
> He knows His universe, His angels speed
> at   His commanding      Call.
> 
> XVI
> 
> S.    God is Peace, but not the peace of death.
> He is the Peace of Power—
> A Power that transcends motion and achieves
> infinity each hour.
> XVII
> 
> º
> ,   he way of God is utter Peace and Power.
> 
> Then man should contemplate
> This Cosmic Way, and so transform his life
> to such celestial state.
> 
> XVIII
> 
> G.        is Creative   Will, the Great Transformer;
> to His Plan all Nature flows.
> 
> His Thought inhabits every solid form
> and every wind that blows.
> 
> *
> XIX
> 
> /   he world moves by the magic of His Mind;
> 
> His secret aim deploys
> 
> All upward growth from minuscule to man
> from grief to cosmic joys~
> 
> XX
> V                                 1
> 
> [y ast cosmic currents move as He designs,
> infinities   that terrify.
> 
> He stays forever Inaccessible,
> remoter than the sky.
> XXI
> 
> 'M/.      then can reach His throne, or worship
> 
> at his   Holy sanctuary?
> Only those who travel on such Beams of Light
> 
> as   to defy earth's gravity.
> Canto j(MVO
> 
> GOD IS THE QUEST OF LEARNING
> God, Thou art not only Knowledge,
> 
> but the quest of every learning:
> 
> The goal of search, the ardent heart's desire,
> the   essence    of all yearning.
> 
> II
> 
> JJ.       who finds Thee has found the Ultimate.
> 
> What questing further needs he
> 
> Of erudition,    vain imaginings,
> 
> arid philosophy?
> III
> 
> G.
> all
> 
> do
> is         Wisdom. Therefore             the wise,
> 
> seeking       cosmic    Way
> a
> To truth and wisdom, kindle their white light
> from His Supernal Ray.
> 
> IV
> 
> 4.        atheists deny.       Let the scholar pour
> over his musty book.
> of
> 
> Seekers        truth glean wisdom from the skies,
> low-learning
> all
> 
> forsook.
> V
> God, our reason cannot bridge Thy gulf,
> 
> nor solve   Thy mystery.
> The mind falls short: —only the humble heart
> can   find its way to Thee.
> 
> VI
> 
> J4.      is most learned who has plumbed the depths
> 
> of that Reality,
> Which like an ocean rims the shores of life
> with vast Finality.
> J/
> VII
> 
> most is wise whose inmost search is Love.
> 
> His knowledge         is most vast
> 
> Who, sitting at Supper with his Lord of Lords,
> 
> shares a   Divine repast.
> 
> VIII
> 
> _9. is not merely where the flesh-bound body
> but where desires fly                is,
> That sets the soul’s evolving destiny
> sky.
> or
> to
> 
> nearer        earth
> IX
> ay that   life has no meaning save in God —
> the temporal is void.
> 
> Life is most real when ruled celestially,
> all earthliness   destroyed.
> 
> J   immortality is not time's prolongation,
> 
> but Time spiritually
> 
> And Infinity is not mere endless space,
> betrothed.
> 
> but Space suffused      with God.
> XI
> 
> O.      need    not die to reach this Limitless.
> Existence    can be free.
> 
> its
> The bird has but to leave              gilded cage
> 
> Infinity.
> to
> 
> reach
> Canto   J.
> GOD AS CREATOR
> hat is God?   The Infinite Creator!
> By His August Command
> Worlds come into being — universes
> fashioned by His Hand.
> 
> II
> 
> else is created   and conditioned,
> 
> He Alone the Uncreate.
> 
> All else, as non-existent in His presence,
> Is subject to His State: —
> III
> 
> G.     is the transcendent universal
> 
> of
> all   plurals that exist.
> ONE
> 
> Every event that links with Time and Space
> 
> His command        keeps    tryst.
> at
> 
> IV
> G.
> 
> the Absolute, the Primal Cause—
> is
> 
> His Essence          still vortex
> a
> 
> From which flows out creation’s myriad forms
> 3.
> 
> their Source forever Formless.
> V
> 
> G.     is
> all
> action, yet He              Calm
> 
> is
> a
> stiller than tropic sea:
> 
> The Life-pulse              existence, yet He dwells
> of
> 
> eternally.
> in
> 
> Peace
> 
> VI
> 
> /8.         creation was the Thought
> of
> 
> God:
> within creation             His Love,
> is
> 
> From which flows universal Energy
> and Wisdom interwove.
> VII
> 
> –4           that Man has of intellectual   power,
> 
> All truth   that he can find
> 
> Is but   a   faint illumination from
> 
> the Universal Mind.
> 
> VIII
> 
> G.       lies beyond the far horizons
> 
> of our finite mind and thought.
> We grasp Him only so much and so far
> 
> As the intuitive soul has caught.
> out
> 
> GOD AS THE DREAD DESTROYER
> I
> 
> 6.     is the maker   of the ruthless drought—
> the heat that sickly broods:
> 
> He is the cause of over-copious rains
> and devastating      floods.
> 
> J/
> II
> 
> is the Hurler   of the thunder-bolt,
> 
> the Heart of the cyclone:
> 
> All dreaded storms that rage on land and sea
> are sourced       from Him alone.
> Ill
> 
> or no other being shares His august Rule —
> 
> no partner and no mate;
> 
> He is the Power of the Universe
> and the sole Hand of Fate.
> 
> IV
> 
> »
> Id
> s\J
> .
> ow can we gladly chant His supreme praise?
> How turn our aching hearts
> In adoration to that Lord of Lords
> from whom such sorrow starts?
> V
> 
> 2/   ob learned we cannot hold our love for Him
> 
> only to sunny days.
> 
> “Even though He slay me, will I trust Him!” such
> 
> should be man's steadfast praise.
> 
> VI
> 
> G.     does not need   fair-weather friends.
> 
> within each heart to form
> He seeks
> 
> A faithful love, a constant fealty
> in sunshine or in storm.
> VII
> 1                             1
> 
> his is life's chief dilemma — how to keep
> 
> a   heart of loving hope
> 
> And see God as the Beloved, even when
> our feet in darkness   grope.
> 
> VIII
> 
> hat is God? He is the dread Destroyer
> 
> Who tears down every form,
> 
> With Time's Assistance all anew to build
> to the more Perfect    Norm.
> Canto    Jw
> 
> GOD AS JUSTICE
> I
> 
> 0.     is   not Vengeance.   We personify
> our own proud hearts
> 
> When we apply that quality to Him
> 
> Who only love imparts.
> 
> II
> 
> G.     is immortal unrecorded     Law,
> 
> that is not merely now
> 
> But always was and will be operative,
> 
> to guide and to endow.
> III
> 
> /3.ut Divine Law is not that fearsome thing
> we esteem law to be;
> 
> It is the creative flow of Love itself
> ruling eternally.
> 
> IV
> 
> od is Cosmic Justice—the moral law behind
> 
> an ordered universe.
> 
> His punishment is clear: in each wrong act
> lies its inherent    curse.
> V
> /3.     God is infinite forgiveness, love
> 
> and tender mercy,     too:
> 
> No matter what our Karmic weight of sin,
> each   day begins anew.
> 
> VI
> 
> G.     is the Merciful.   If He were not,
> who would be left alive?
> 
> To err is human; to forgive, divine.
> all
> 
> God’s grace helps               thrive.
> to
> VII
> 
> hat is God's Justice?     It is not legal fiat
> nor punishment      for tort.
> It is the universal reign of good,
> the splendor   of Love's Court.
> 
> VIII
> 
> \Jod is Equilibration, the fine balance
> of universal life
> 
> Holding the atom in its destined        place,
> 
> shielding the stars from strife.
> IX
> 
> C.       but this Balance, this Consent-to-Peace
> 
> rule the affairs of man,
> 
> Life would unfold with frictionless design
> under celestial plan.
> Canto-Si,
> 
> GOD AS BEAUTY
> herever we see beauty, we see God.
> 
> It is the shining mark
> He traces with indelible love and grace
> 
> on all His handiwork.
> 
> n
> 
> 1.             .      J
> his Beauty is bewilderment   and joy
> 
> to each perceiving soul—
> 
> And for the artist is the occult clue
> to life's dynamic Whole.
> III
> 
> 0.     is in mountains and the midnight sky,
> 
> in beauty of the stars,
> 
> The crescent moon and the amazing comet
> 
> that through the heaven flares.
> 
> IV
> 
> *   y he stir of nature in the Womb of Earth
> is the   Divine Will to bring
> From barren soil and tired bare-branched trees
> 
> the shining   new-born Spring.
> \J   od is the vigor of the winter months,
> 
> the softness      of the spring,
> The luxury of summer foliage,
> the growth in everything.
> 
> VI
> 
> J4.      is the Painter   of the sunset hues —
> 
> His promise in the sky
> That Light —even though darkness intervene —
> 
> has   immortality.
> VII
> 
> is the Creative Essence of Existence.
> 
> All things of Earth and        Sky
> 
> Are fashioned by Him into loveliness
> for our adoring eye.
> 
> VIII
> 
> since He made us in His image      for
> 
> perfection's   distant plan,
> 
> He molds all things to slowly-growing beauty —
> 
> even   the Soul   of Man.
> IX
> 
> 4.        only ugliness is the lack of life—
> 
> decadence    or decay.
> 
> Only by constant growth does Beauty hold
> 
> its
> in Earth or Man                sway.
> 
> X
> 
> 4.     Beauty, then,          the Soul's Inspiration,
> be
> 
> moral law;
> of
> 
> the symbol
> 
> God’s willing that the Spirit may
> in
> 
> time
> raise   man above all flaw.
> Cranio Seeven
> 
> GOD AS INSPIRATION
> I
> 
> G.     is the   Fire blazing from the Bush,
> 
> the Speaker on the Mount,
> 
> The Wisdom-Source of the Prophetic Word,
> 
> the soul’s perpetual   Fount.
> 
> II
> 
> G.     Wisdom and His mystic Word are one,
> 
> that through the heavens ride
> 
> And reach the spiritual sense of man
> to counsel and to guide.
> 
> /
> J/
> III
> 
> Word that was, from time's beginning, old;
> His wisdom that            creates,   L
> All this lies patent for the need of man,
> stands waiting at his gates.
> 
> IV
> 
> 4.      him who, yearning for high excellence,
> 
> is sensitive to hear,
> all
> 
> Fling open
> of
> 
> the   windows         his soul
> grown near.
> to
> 
> paradise
> V
> 
> ///.     was not made for idle ease or joys.
> In work he finds God best:
> And in creative tasks he shares with Him
> 
> the Apocalyptic   quest.
> 
> VI
> 
> 0.    is the Giver of Progress, the Divine Source
> of inventions and of arts:
> 
> His spirit breathes upon creative souls
> and kindles ardent hearts.
> J/
> VII
> 
> all
> is the hidden Cause of                great work,
> 
> inspiration;
> 
> of
> the Source
> 
> The Divine Afflatus that imbues the poet
> with vision and creation.
> 
> VIII
> y
> 
> all
> he
> 
> invisible impulse              human progress,
> of
> 
> *
> 
> the Blue Prints of Perfection.
> 
> Man rises           potential   cosmic heights
> to
> 
> powered by    This Protection.
> s
> HAPPINESS AND PRAYER
> I
> 
> -   y he universe is not a hostile waste
> where man must walk alone.
> 
> Spirit is the tender Friend, the mystic Guide
> 
> of faith full-grown.
> 
> II
> 
> G.      is the faithful Answerer of Prayer.
> 
> We do not need to know
> 
> How our beseechments reach His lofty Throne,
> or how His blessings flow.
> Ill
> Q.                        J
> t is enough to pin our faith on His
> 
> ability to hear,
> And guide our actions by the simple trust
> 
> His love and aid are near.
> 
> rv
> 
> but the cause lies in ourselves —
> 
> We ask for fruits denied by Fate to him
> 
> who neither digs nor delves.
> V
> <?
> seek to develop — pray to grow, to gain
> new values and new power.
> 
> For prayer is not a magic to compel
> 
> success beyond man's dower.
> 
> VI
> 
> y.   et in God's promise for each gifted soul,
> 
> of destined far perfection,
> Our prayers can win a needed cosmic power
> and guarantee protection.
> VII
> 7           .
> or God is Joy-Bestower.
> 
> What does He wish
> but happiness      for man?
> 
> Existence, even veiled by passing woe,
> 
> has a divine Elan.
> 
> VIII
> 
> /he stars themselves revolve with vital joy;
> the atoms   owe their might
> 
> To potencies placed deep within their hearts
> 
> by the Creative Light.
> IX
> 
> G.     is the Music of the heavenly spheres,
> 
> the symphony        of life;
> His Love    begets celestial harmony,
> 
> all
> His will can quell                strife.
> 
> X
> 
> –4.        always functions normally with joy.
> 
> Sorrow        but       cloud
> is
> 
> a
> 
> Behind which shines eternally             Light
> a
> 
> that grief can never shroud.
> *
> XI
> 
> &-             all
> grief                                    Life
> 
> of
> God—the Breath
> 
> is
> 
> all
> sustaining               creation,
> of
> 
> The Essence          phenominal          existence,
> 
> Eternity’s duration.
> 
> XII
> 
> S.         then, this Eternal Beloved.
> 
> His love within our breast
> Once we feel
> 
> We enter       new birth, new consciousness
> a
> 
> of
> 
> divine dynamic rest.
> -   ---   -   - - --
> Canto %me
> 
> GOD AS LOVE
> I
> 
> G.
> 
> all
> is the abundant          Storehouse of         good,
> 
> the bounteous Bestower:
> 
> All that life needs   is   cosmically assigned
> 
> by   His creative power.
> II
> G.
> 
> of
> 
> the Boundless Ocean            Existence,
> is
> 
> the Reservoir        of Force.
> 
> Life who daily fills
> of
> 
> One need not fail
> 
> his cup           this Great Source.
> at
> ?
> III
> 
> 'M/     never need to fail or suffer lack
> 
> if we can reach to Him,
> And bring petition to His inner court
> guarded by seraphim.
> 
> IV
> 
> 0.     is the Unpossessed,   the Unconstrained
> 
> from whom possession flows.
> 
> His Wealth is freely given, His Beneficence
> freights every wind that blows.
> V
> 
> J/.       can we conceive this Inconceivable,
> 
> we who live under law?
> 
> Man cannot fathom that Remote Control
> 
> whose Throne he never saw.
> 
> VI
> 
> J/.       can we find Him in the Universe,
> 
> Who dwells eternally
> Beyond the Universe itself—the Source,
> 
> the primal   Will-to-Be?
> 
> *
> VII
> 
> S.          then, that God is Love, earth's love and the soul's.
> 
> He is the Cosmic Love
> 
> That warms cold space, and sets the flaming suns
> its
> each in             place above.
> 
> VIII
> 0.
> 
> Pure Love expanding through the worlds
> is
> 
> all
> of
> 
> being.
> to
> 
> limits
> its
> 
> He        Life's Essence,             sustaining Breath,
> is
> 
> all
> 
> the Sight behind                    seeing.
> s
> IX
> 
> *   º here is no heart throughout His wide domains
> but shares this Divine Love:
> 
> It penetrates
> all
> 
> of
> facets        existence
> below,     around,      above.
> 
> X
> 
> his Love—this Cosmic Force alone—can          bind
> º
> 
> *
> all
> 
> atoms, every minuscule
> 
> Into       myriad diverse unity
> a
> 
> where harmony            can rule.
> XI
> 
> his Universe of Love, flooding man's soul,
> giving his spirit sooth,
> 
> Enables his aspiring will to wend
> 
> its way toward Cosmic Truth.
> 
> XII
> 
> º o know the Lord is but the mind's avowal;
> only His Presence    brings,
> 
> To hearts that yearn, the Cosmic Love and Grace
> that gives man's spirit wings.
> 
> s
> XIII
> 
> ings to soar up above earth's heaviness —
> 
> Wings to uplift, each hour,
> Man's soul to lofty planes where the soul's love
> 
> is matched   with perfect power.
> RELIGION IS MORE THAN RITUAL
> I
> 
> G.       is pure Spirit—so the Gnostics say.
> 
> And he who worships here
> Must worship in pure spirit and in truth,
> 
> with heart that’s crystal clear.
> 
> II
> jhis
> its
> all
> 
> means     that self—with                     eager   claims—
> its
> 
> must yield               motivation
> 
> Within       heart that ardent worship            lifts
> a
> 
> in
> 
> humble    adoration.
> *
> III
> 
> eligion is not mere ritual or creed.
> 
> It points to Shining Ways;
> Opens a Path to our Divinest Lord.
> 
> He worships best who prays:-
> 
> TV
> 
> ho prays with sanctity; who daily yearns
> 
> for downpouring     of Grace
> And gains a vision that in everything
> beholds   his Master's face: —
> V
> 'M/.      seeks to draw God’s Presence and    His Love
> 
> a tide   of joy to fill
> All crooks and crannies of the soul
> till Time itself stands still.
> 
> VI
> 
> –4      a young bride prepares her home with Love
> 
> against her dear mate's return,
> 
> So kindle in the altar of your heart
> 
> flames that divinely burn.
> VII
> 
> 'M/.       wrapped in Love the soul can travel safer
> 
> than clad in coat    of steel;
> For armored mail has never shown the power of Love
> to radiate, and win, and heal.
> 
> VIII
> 
> O.       through Love can the Creator share
> 
> Infinity with man.
> Only through Love can we become reborn
> 
> and the Divine Vision span.
> 
> s
> IX
> 
> G.      is man's Beginning          and his Cosmic End.
> way
> 
> its
> Each soul must wend
> 
> Through countless evolutions toward that Throne
> 
> all
> which holds                            sway.
> 
> in
> ens
> 
> X
> an
> 
> being all-submerged                  God
> L in
> is
> a
> 
> shall ever be,
> so
> 
> and
> its
> 
> Until life ends         disparateness,     slipping
> 
> glad into the Shining Sea.
> 
> E   AH
> L
> S
>
> — *What Is God? (Used by permission of the curator)*