# Soil in the Baha'i Faith

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-20 — 1 clipping.*

---

> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Arthur Lyon Dahl, Soil in the Baha'i Faith, bahai-library.com.
> ──────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
> 
> Soil in the Bahá'í Faith
> 
> Arthur Lyon Dahl
> 
> 1998-05
> 
> (1)The Bahá'í approach to the land and soil does not make
> a particular distinction between this essential natural resource and all
> other environmental resources. It is the ecological balance of the world
> that must be respected, and this applies equally to soil, water, air, flora,
> fauna and all other dimensions of the environment. Each is a component
> of a single integrated system in which everything is in relation with everything
> else.
> The mineral kingdom, with which the soil is our most immediate interface,
> is the most basic level of perfection in the material creation. From it
> spring the vegetable, animal and human kingdoms, each exemplifying higher
> levels of perfection. The atoms cycle through all of these levels, being
> transformed through myriad forms and conditions, and endowed with particular
> virtues and characteristics at each level. "For example, an atom of the
> soil or dust of earth may traverse the kingdoms from mineral to man by
> successive incorporations into the bodies of the organisms of those kingdoms.
> At one time it enters into the formation of the mineral or rock; it is
> then absorbed by the vegetable kingdom and becomes a constituent of the
> body and fibre of a tree; again it is appropriated by the animal, and at
> a still later period is found in the body of man."(2)
> For the soil, therefore, the ultimate fulfilment of its potential is
> to pass its substance on to, and to serve the production of plant life.
> "The excellency, the adornment and the perfection of the earth is to be
> verdant and fertile through the bounty of the clouds of springtime. Plants
> grow; flowers and fragrant herbs spring up; fruit-bearing trees become
> full of blossoms and bring forth fresh and new fruit. Gardens become beautiful,
> and meadows adorned; mountains and plains are clad in a green robe, and
> gardens, fields, villages and cities are decorated. This is the prosperity
> of the mineral world."(3)
> Since humanity has been endowed with science and reason, we have the
> power to modify and improve nature in support of civilization, a power
> that has been growing exponentially with recent developments in science
> and technology. This science applies to soil as to all other resources.
> But only when science is in harmony with religion, and respects and incorporates
> essential ethical principles such as equity, moderation and concern for
> future generations, will we be able to find the ecological balance necessary
> to ensure sustainable soil productivity.
> To be productive, soil must be cultivated, improved and enriched. "When
> we consider existence, we see that the mineral, vegetable, animal and human
> worlds are all in need of an educator. If the earth is not cultivated,
> it becomes a jungle where useless weeds grow; but if a cultivator comes
> and tills the ground, it produces crops which nourish living creatures.
> It is evident, therefore, that the soil needs the cultivation of the farmer."(4)
> Without cultivation, soil does not fulfil its full potential to benefit
> human society. "It is an essential condition of the soil of earth that
> thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively speaking,
> this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of nature."(5)
> It is agriculture that allows us to benefit from and augment the productivity
> of the soil, and this is therefore one of the most essential and important
> human activities. The Bahá'í writings state that "the fundamental
> basis of the community is agriculture, tillage of the soil,"(6)
> and "...the peasant class and the agricultural class exceed other classes
> in the importance of their service."(7)
> Proper management of the soil is thus essential to an ever-advancing civilization,
> and any misuse and degradation of the soil will weigh heavily on our future.
> 
> METAPHORIC USES OF SOIL AND EARTH
> All the sacred scriptures have used metaphors, analogies and parables
> to explain abstract ideas. Our universal experience of the soil and its
> productive functions provides rich imagery to communicate fundamental spiritual
> concepts, while emphasizing the importance of soil itself. The writings
> of Bahá'u'lláh and the explanations of His son 'Abdu'l-Bahá
> make frequent reference to soil and earth, often to symbolize the material
> world, the material side of human nature, or the undeveloped human potential,
> drawing on the rich literary traditions and styles of the Persian and Arabic
> cultures in which they lived.
> If the soil is compared to the human heart, soul or capacity, then the
> sun can be seen as God's love, the clouds and rain as the Holy Spirit and
> the bounty of divine Revelation, and plants as the spiritual qualities
> that grow from the effects of the spiritual on the material.
> "...the clouds of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to
> rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality their favors
> and bounties."(8)
> "Wherefore sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of
> the heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring
> from the heart and not from mire and clay."(9)
> "Ye are the saplings which the hand of Loving-kindness hath planted
> in the soil of mercy, and which the showers of bounty have made to flourish."(10)
> "...the human reality is like the soil. If no bounty of rain descends
> from heaven upon the soil, if no heat of the sun penetrates, it will remain
> black, forbidding, unproductive; but when the moistening shower and the
> effulgent glow of the sun's rays fall upon it, beautiful and redolent flowers
> grow from its bosom."(11)
> 
> Fertile and barren soil
> The comparison of fertile and barren soil with human hearts is a theme
> common to many religious traditions.
> "Christ spoke a parable in which He said His words were like the seeds
> of the sower; some fall upon stony ground, some upon sterile soil, some
> are choked by thorns and thistles, but some fall upon the ready, receptive
> and fertile ground of human hearts. When seeds are cast upon sterile soil,
> no growth follows. Those cast upon stony ground will grow a short time,
> but lacking deep roots will wither away. Thorns and thistles destroy others
> completely, but the seed cast in good ground brings forth harvest and fruitage."(12)
> "O my brother! A divine Mine only can yield the gems of divine knowledge,
> and the fragrance of the mystic Flower can be inhaled only in the ideal
> Garden, and the lilies of ancient wisdom can blossom nowhere except in
> the city of a stainless heart. 'In a rich soil, its plants spring forth
> abundantly by permission of its Lord, and in that soil which is bad, they
> spring forth but scantily.'(Qur'an 7:57)"(13)
> "Know verily that the purpose underlying all these symbolic terms and
> abstruse allusions, which emanate from the Revealers of God's holy Cause,
> hath been to test and prove the peoples of the world; that thereby the
> earth of the pure and illuminated hearts may be known from the perishable
> and barren soil. From time immemorial such hath been the way of God amidst
> His creatures, and to this testify the records of the sacred books."(14)
> The analogy applies equally to the effects of rain. "Should rain fall
> upon salty, stony earth, it will never have effect; but when it falls upon
> good pure soil, green and verdant growth follows, and fruits are produced."(15)
> "Sterile soil will produce nothing, even if the cloud of mercy pours
> rain upon it a thousand years. We must make the soil of our hearts receptive
> and fertile by tilling in order that the rain of divine mercy may refresh
> them and bring forth roses and hyacinths of heavenly planting."(16)
> "No matter how much the cloud may rain, the sun may shine and the breezes
> blow, the soil that is sterile will give no growth. The ground that is
> pure and free from thorns and thistles receives and produces through the
> rain of the cloud of mercy.... We must endeavor to free the soil of the
> hearts from useless weeds and sanctify it from the thorns of worthless
> thoughts in order that the cloud of mercy may bestow its power upon us.
> The doors of God are open, but we must be ready and fitted to enter."(17)
> 
> Cultivation and tillage
> A further extension of the analogy is to the effort and suffering that
> we must endure in order to develop spiritually, comparable to the ploughing
> and cultivation of the soil.
> "If we should relegate this plot of ground to its natural state, allow
> it to return to its original condition, it would become a field of thorns
> and useless weeds, but by cultivation it will become fertile soil, yielding
> a harvest. Deprived of cultivation, the mountain slopes would be jungles
> and forests without fruitful trees. The gardens bring forth fruits and
> flowers in proportion to the care and tillage bestowed upon them by the
> gardener. Therefore, it is not intended that the world of humanity should
> be left to its natural state. It is in need of the education divinely provided
> for it. The holy, heavenly Manifestations of God have been the Teachers.
> They are the divine Gardeners Who transform the jungles of human nature
> into fruitful orchards and make the thorny places blossom as the rose."(18)
> "Holy souls are like soil which has been plowed and tilled with much
> earnest labor, the thorns and thistles cast aside and all weeds uprooted.
> Such soil is most fruitful, and the harvest from it will prove full and
> plenteous. In this same way man must free himself from the weeds of ignorance,
> thorns of superstitions and thistles of imitations that he may discover
> reality in the harvests of true knowledge."(19)
> "The labourer cuts up the earth with his plough, and from that earth
> comes the rich and plentiful harvest. The more a man is chastened, the
> greater is the harvest of spiritual virtues shown forth by him."(20)
> "Just now the soil of human hearts seems like black earth, but in the
> innermost substance of this dark soil there are thousands of fragrant flowers
> latent. We must endeavor to cultivate and awaken these potentialities,
> discover the secret treasure in this very mine and depository of God, bring
> forth these resplendent powers long hidden in human hearts. Then will the
> glories of both worlds be blended and increased and the quintessence of
> human existence be made manifest."(21)
> 
> Humility
> The earth is also the ultimate symbol of humility. "They who are the
> beloved of God... should conduct themselves in such manner that the earth
> upon which they tread may never be allowed to address to them such words
> as these: 'I am to be preferred above you. For witness, how patient I am
> in bearing the burden which the husbandman layeth upon me. I am the instrument
> that continually imparteth unto all beings the blessings with which He
> Who is the Source of all grace hath entrusted me. Notwithstanding the honor
> conferred upon me, and the unnumbered evidences of my wealth - a wealth
> that supplieth the needs of all creation - behold the measure of my humility,
> witness with what absolute submissiveness I allow myself to be trodden
> beneath the feet of men....'"(22)
> "Every man of discernment, while walking upon the earth, feeleth indeed
> abashed, inasmuch as he is fully aware that the thing which is the source
> of his prosperity, his wealth, his might, his exaltation, his advancement
> and power is, as ordained by God, the very earth which is trodden beneath
> the feet of all men. There can be no doubt that whoever is cognizant of
> this truth, is cleansed and sanctified from all pride, arrogance, and vainglory."(23)
> Can there be a better expression of the material and spiritual significance
> of soil?
> 
> REFERENCES
> 1. The views expressed are the author's own and do
> not necessarily reflect those of the United Nations Environment Programme
> 2. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> Pages: 87-88
> 
> 3. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions,
> Page: 78
> 
> 4. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Some Answered Questions,
> Page: 7
> 
> 5. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> Page: 295
> 
> 6. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal Peace,
> Page: 217
> 
> 7. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Foundations of World Unity,
> Page: 39
> 
> 8. Bahá'u'lláh: Gleanings, Pages: 68-69
> 
> 9. Bahá'u'lláh: Persian Hidden Words, Page:
> 36
> 
> 10. Bahá'u'lláh: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,
> Page: 25
> 
> 11. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 330
> 
> 12. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 149
> 
> 13. Bahá'u'lláh: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page:
> 191
> 
> 14. Bahá'u'lláh: The Kitab-i-Iqan, Page:
> 49
> 
> 15. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 92
> 
> 16. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 148
> 
> 17. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 195
> 
> 18. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 353
> 
> 19. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Pages: 293-294
> 
> 20. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Paris Talks, Page: 51
> 
> 21. `Abdu'l-Bahá: Promulgation of Universal
> Peace, Page: 294
> 
> 22. Bahá'u'lláh: Gleanings, Pages: 7-8
> 
> 23. Bahá'u'lláh: Epistle to the Son of the Wolf,
> Page: 44
> 
> METADATA
> 
> Views17499 views since posted 1998; last edit 2024-04-07 08:09 UTC;
> 
> previous at archive.org.../dahl_soil_bahai_faith;
> URLs changed in 2010, see archive.org.../bahai-library.org
> Language
> English
> Permission
> author
> Share
> 
> Shortlink: bahai-library.com/371
> Citation: ris/371
> 
> select Collection:
> Archives
> Articles
> Articles-unpublished
> Audio
> Bibliographies
> BIC
> Biographies
> Books
> Chronologies
> Compilations
> Compilations-NSA
> Compilations-personal
> Documents
> East-asia
> Encyclopedia
> Essays
> Etc
> Excerpts
> Fiction
> Glossaries
> Guardian
> Histories
> Introductory
> Letters
> Maps
> Music
> Newspapers
> NSA-documents
> NSA-letters
> Personal
> Pilgrims
> Poetry
> Presentations
> Resources
> Reviews
> Scripts
> Software
> Statistics
> Study
> Talks
> Theses
> Transcripts
> Translations
> UHJ-documents
> UHJ-letters
> Video
> Visual
> Writings
> 
> home
> 
> sitemap
> 
> series
> 
> chronology
> 
> search:
> author
> 
> title
> 
> date
> 
> tags
> 
> adv. search
> languages
> 
> inventory
> 
> bibliography
> 
> abbreviations
> 
> links
> 
> about
> 
> contact
> 
> RSS
> 
> new
>
> — *Soil in the Baha'i Faith (Used by permission of the curator)*