# Unpublished Talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Abdu'l-Bahá, Unpublished Talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> Source: The Sufi Quarterly, vol. 3 (1928), pp. 227–31.
> 
> [p. 227]
> 
> UNPUBLISHED TALKS
> BY
> ‘ABDU’L BAHÁ,
> the late Leader of the Baha’i Movement,
> Given in London, December, 1912.
> 
> A verbatim translation from the original Persian,
> reported at the time.
> 
> I.
> 
> In the first chapter of the Gospel of St. John the opening words are as follows: “In the beginning was
> the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
> 
> Up to this time the explanation of it is this. In the beginning was the Word — this, they say, means: “In
> the beginning was the Son, the Lamb of God, Christ.” The word was with God means: “Christ was with
> God.” The Word was God means: “The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one.” This is what they say
> regarding the Trinity, according to all the theologians and metaphysicians in the world of
> Christendom.
> 
> This is a most delicate subject. I will explain it to you. The reason we call Christ the Word, is because
> we human beings, compared to Him, are like letters, and He as a word. A word has a complete meaning,
> whereas a letter has not. A letter has not an independent meaning: likewise all members in a political
> body have not a distinct status. A word always gives one the idea of something with a complete
> meaning, an independent meaning.
> 
> Christ is the Word. Now what may this mean? The sign of the Word of Christ is the Divine Virtues: the
> sign of the
> 
> [p. 228]
> 
> Messianic Word is the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The Word means Divine Perfection, Heavenly
> Bestowals. No one can deny that the Divine Perfections were originally with God. It is an undoubted
> fact that the most ideal virtues are inseparable from the existence of God. The rays and heat of the sun
> are co-existent with and inseparable from the sun. In the sun there is a unity of these forces, which
> blends together in an [sic] harmonious whole. The Reality of Christ is like a translucent mirror — the
> Sun of Divinity is inclusive of the properties which are manifested in it. By this we do not mean that
> the Sun has left his station and entered into the mirror. For the Reality of Divinity there is no ascent
> and no descent, no entrance, and no exit.
> 
> 2.
> 
> God, the Almighty, is the Creator. His Highness, the Divine God, has certain attributes. In thinking of
> God, one presupposes certain virtues and perfections. If one could for one moment imagine the
> cessation of the outpouring of these virtues, then would the Divinity cease. His Highness, the Almighty,
> is unknowable. All we human beings can know of Him, is the manifestation of His virtues: all the
> children of humanity can comprehend is through the showing forth of His attributes to the world.
> 
> To illustrate this point — the sun continues to be the sun only as long as it floods the world with its
> heat and with its rays. Therefore, we cannot think of the sun without its attributes of light and heat. If
> you could imagine the sun as a dark, sad body, it would no longer be the sun. It would, in fact, be
> impossible to imagine such a thing. If we could imagine such a thing, the reality of the sun would be
> accidental, not eternal. Could any one imagine a time when the sun was without rays, or without heat
> or light?
> 
> We attribute to the Reality of God certain virtues, or qualities, which are as follows: Knowledge,
> Omnipotence, Creative Power; He is the Provider, the Life-giver, the
> 
> [p. 229]
> 
> Perfecter. And if we could even imagine a time when God was not adorned with these attributes, then
> He were no longer God. We can only think of the Reality of God as an infinite and unlimited Being. If
> we could imagine the cessation of these virtues, the Divine World would exist no longer.
> 
> In thinking of the Divine Perfecter, one presupposes the existence of sentient beings. Knowledge
> presupposes the existence of certain beings who are possessed of intellect. Were it not for this power
> of understanding, how could we have any idea at all of God? The term Creator presupposes the existence
> of created beings. Were it not that we were created, how could we conceive of the Creator? In thinking
> of the Provider, one presupposes certain beings who are provided for, and One Who provides. In
> speaking of the Life-giver, one thinks of life. Were it not for the living ones, how could there be any
> thoughts about the Life-giver? The idea Giver supposes the idea of recipients. Were it not for the Divine
> Giver, how could we think of the One Who was to give?
> 
> This is a very abstruse question — attend to it. It is impossible to imagine the cessation of certain
> attributes and virtues which are co-existent with God. If we could imagine for a moment an
> interruption in the onward flow of the bounties of God, it would be to suggest that God was a finite
> being. We cannot imagine such a thing. This proves, therefore, that God has always been the Creator,
> the Provider, the Generous, the Life-giver, the Omniscient, the Omnipotent: and in the outpouring of
> His virtues there is no cessation at all. Think and ponder upon this very deeply, because this is a very
> subtle point in Divine Science.
> We cannot state that there could ever be a time, either in the past or in the future, when the bounties
> of God did not flow down upon the world of humanity. How can we limit the Divine Virtues to any
> special period of history? The virtues of God are as drops falling unrestrainedly from a mighty ocean
> — how are we to hold them back?
> 
> [p. 230]
> 
> How can we limited beings know anything of the Unlimited God? Or we finite beings of the Infinite
> God? How shall man dare to settle a point when the Divine Virtues shall cease? An ignorant man, who
> was devoid of any insight, might imagine such a cessation. How could he comprehend the Reality, the
> Unsearchable?
> 
> Man receives the bounty of God all his life: the bounties of God are the source of life. The bestowals of
> the Almighty are infinite; a wise man will never try to limit them. Limitation is the property of the
> mind of man.
> 
> That which is contained in the Holy Books is full of mystery, full of meaning. Those who do not
> understand, take it in a literal way: I hope that you will investigate the reality of the meanings and
> understand. For example, Christ said: “I am the bread which came down from Heaven; whoever
> partakes, will receive Everlasting Life.” By the Bread of Heaven Christ meant the Heavenly Benediction.
> He who realises the Divine Virtues, and takes for himself a goodly portion of the Heavenly Benediction,
> shall have eternal life. The Jews did not understand this: so they said, “How can we eat the flesh of this
> man? Can we become cannibals? How can he claim to have come down from Heaven? We know he was
> born in Nazareth.” Therefore the Jews arose in opposition to Christ. Then again, the Vision of St. John
> in the Revelation is symbolic. Likewise the description of the bride and bridegroom in the writings of
> Solomon. In short, I hope and pray that each of you may discover the Reality of the Symbols and the
> mystic meanings of the Holy Books. If the Jews had understood, they would at once have believed in
> Christ; but they only saw the literal sense, and therefore they denied Him, and arose to oppose His
> teachings. They said: “Christ come down from Heaven! We know that he was born of Mary; he has not
> a sword, not even a stick! He does not establish the throne of David. He comes in a desert: he has no
> home, and no food: he is a wanderer in the land. He has not even a mat.” They could not see the real
> meanings of the Holy
> 
> [p. 231]
> 
> Books. His Spirit came from Heaven, but His body was earthly. His sword was His thoughts, with which
> He shepherded His flock. With it He divided the right from the wrong, the truthful from the untruthful.
> The power of His sword was not like that of Buonaparte [sic]; but it was an eternal unchangeable power.
> This the Jews could not understand.
> 
> 3.
> 
> On one occasion they told ‘Abdu’l Baha a legend of the Christ: how the Christ-child gathered some
> roses from His garden and gave them away to His friends. His friends said: “Behold! you have given us
> all your roses and you have none left for yourself.” “The thorns are left for me,” the Christ-child
> answered.
> 
> “That is a very beautiful story,” said ‘Abdu’l Baha. “The meaning of that legend is that Christ says to
> us: ‘For you I have desired joy and happiness; for myself I have chosen sorrow and trials. The flower
> springs from the thorn. Out of the thorny bush springs the blossom of happiness and joy. I choose for
> myself the thorns, that you may inherit the roses, the peace and joy of Earth.’”
> 
> 4.
> 
> Another time the Bahai Master said: “This world is a theatre. It is not an eternal world: it is a stage
> where every kind of play is enacted. Man must observe every drama. There is the drama of heat and
> the drama of cold: the drama of Spring and the drama of Summer — the drama of happiness and of
> sorrow, of sickness and of health, of shame and of glory, of freedom and of prison — Yes: indeed the
> world is a great theatre, and man must observe each of these plays.”
>
> — *Unpublished Talks by 'Abdu'l-Baha (Used by permission of the curator)*