A chair has a carpenter, a piece of wood, a shape and a purpose, and so it owes its being to causes; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá begins with something that ordinary, because the question it opens is anything but. Does a thing that depends on a cause exist less? He answers that existence and nonexistence are relative terms: the mineral is nothing compared with a human being, yet it is fully real in its own kingdom, and the world is a mirage beside God while remaining established and undeniable in its own degree. He separates a beginning in time from dependence on a cause, as the moon’s light is derived from the sun without the sun having once shone alone, and he insists that absolute nothingness could never become anything at all. Augustine saw the same distinction in a song, whose sound is its material without ever being heard first as formless noise [1]. The vocabulary then shifts register: in prayer, nothingness is no longer a philosophical category but the honest confession of a creature before its Creator, and dependence turns into gratitude. The inquiry carries on into necessary and possible being, into the strange permanence of elementary matter that is never annihilated, and into the mystical passing away and abiding that the Sufis call fana and baqa.
Essential pre-existence is an existence which is not preceded by a cause; essential origination is preceded by a cause. Temporal pre-existence has no beginning; temporal origination has both a beginning and an end. For the existence of each and every thing depends upon four causes: the efficient cause, the material cause, the formal cause and the final cause. So this chair has a creator who is a carpenter, a matter which is wood, a form which is that of a chair, and a purpose which is to serve as a seat. Therefore, this chair is essentially originated, for it is preceded by, and its existence is conditioned upon, a cause.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 80, True Pre-existence, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB00839)
02
The sophists hold that all existence is illusory, indeed, that each and every being is an absolute illusion that has no existence whatsoever--in other words, that the existence of created things is like a mirage, or like the reflection of an image in water or in a mirror, which is merely an appearance devoid of any basis, foundation or ascertainable reality.
This notion is false, for although the existence of things is an illusion compared to the existence of God, yet in the contingent world it is established, proven, and undeniable.
… It is therefore evident that although created things have no existence compared to that of God, being instead like a mirage or an image reflected in a mirror, yet in their own degree they exist.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 79, The Reality of the World of Being, 1904-Oct-09 -- AB02618)
03
Answer: Pre-existence is of two kinds. One is essential pre-existence, which is not preceded by a cause but which exists in itself. For example, the sun shines in itself and does not depend on the radiance of the other stars for its light. This is called essential light. But the light of the moon is derived from the sun, for the moon is in need of the sun for its radiance. Thus, with respect to light, the sun is the cause and the moon the effect. The former is ancient, antecedent and prior, while the latter is preceded by something else.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 28, The Pre-existence of Christ, 1904 ca. -- AB01528)
04
Consider its likeness in luminous objects: observe the body of the moon when it is brilliant, luminous and gleaming - it has merely acquired and derived light from the sun, which is not inseparable from it and may become detached from it. This is the station of contingent existence and its condition of temporal origination in the world of being, for the quiddity is other than the existence and the existence other than the quiddity, and detachment between them is possible.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tafsir-i-Bismillah, 1891, to Abdu'llah Muhajirin Dawlatabadi -- AB00013)
05
The world of existence is contingent, inasmuch as it is preceded by a cause, while essential preexistence hath ever been, and shall remain, confined to God, magnified be His glory. This statement is being made lest one be inclined to conclude from the earlier assertion, namely that creation hath no beginning and no end, that it is preexistent. True and essential preexistence is exclusively reserved to God, while the preexistence of the world is secondary and relative.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1299-08-14 [1882-Jul-1], to Mashhadi Baqir et al -- BH00048)
06
When the soul attaineth the Presence of God, it will assume the form that best befitteth its immortality and is worthy of its celestial habitation. Such an existence is a contingent and not an absolute existence, inasmuch as the former is preceded by a cause, whilst the latter is independent thereof. Absolute existence is strictly confined to God, exalted be His glory.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Abdu'l-Vahhab, 1304-10-14 [1887-Jul-6], to Mulla Abdul-Vahhab Quchani -- BH00433)
07
This is the same word which declareth "God was, and there was nothing else besides Him" and He shall be as He hath ever been. Every person of insight testifieth that the Lord now existeth while that which is lorded over is non-existent - meaning that His sacred realm transcendeth all else, and whatsoever is mentioned in the realm of contingent being is limited by contingent limitations, while the Truth is sanctified therefrom.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Abdu'r-Razzaq, to Abd-i-Razz -- BH00060)
08
If the reality and essence are other than existence and not identical with existence, then existence can be separated from it because it is derived from other or because it is other than the essence.
Every existent whose existence is derived from another, or whose existence is other than its essence and whose essence is other than its existence, can be separated from existence. But existence itself cannot be conceived as separate from itself.
Those pre-eminent Sufis who founded the doctrine of the "unity of existence" never intended by this term the universally predicated existence which is conceived by the mind. For such an existence is but an accident among others occurring in association with the realities of things. That is to say, these realities are the substance, whereas that existence which is conceived by the mind, the universally predicated existence, is but an accident associated with them.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Commentary on the Unity of Existence, 1919-Oct-27, to Abdu'l-Hadi Zayyan -- AB00153)
10
To illustrate further, whenever individual elements combine in accordance with the universal divine order, a certain being comes into the world of existence. That is, when certain elements are combined, a vegetable existence is produced; when others are combined, an animal existence is produced; when yet others combine, other things come into being. In each case, the existence of things is a consequence of their realities.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 82, The Unity of Existence, 1906-Dec-12 -- AB00062)
11
There is no difference in the ruling between existences and essences, as claimed by the philosophers who say existence is pure good from God with no choice for the servants, and essence has no existence except through mental considerations and imaginal conditions - for this is polytheism in the school of the Immaculate Ones, peace be upon them.
(The Báb, Sharh-i-Hadith-i-ma min fi'lin yaf'alahu'l-'abd -- BB00366)
12
Similarly for [the objection] that has been mentioned above, that the realities of existing things were absolutely non-existent, how could they have come into being. For non-existence has no potential to exist just as it is impossible for something to be described by its opposite.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Tafsir-i-Kuntu Kanzan Makhfiyyan (Commentary on the Hadith of the Hidden Treasure), 1868 or <, to Ali Shawkat Pasha -- AB00006)
13
Apart from this, absolute non-existence lacks the capacity to attain existence. If the universe were pure nothingness, existence could not have been realized.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 47, The Evolution of the Universe and the Origin of Man, 1904-Oct ca. -- AB00077)
14
Let us say to ourselves that, if space was limited and time - without any eternity - would come to an end at some time, there would have to be a 'nothing'. But 'nothing' is totally unimaginable, totally impossible to our human spirit. A 'nothing' would always have to become a 'something' for our reason.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. April 1910 -- ABU1069)
15
The pre-existence of God is both essential and temporal, while the origination of the contingent world is essential but not temporal, as we have already explained another day at table.
… But matter and the universal elements cannot be entirely destroyed and annihilated. No, their annihilation is merely transformation. For instance, when man dies his body becomes dust, but it does not become absolute non-existence: it retains a mineral existence, but a transformation has taken place and that composition has been subjected to decomposition. It is the same with the annihilation of all other beings, for existence does not become absolute non-existence and absolute non-existence does not acquire existence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 53, The Connection between God and Creation, 1904 ca. -- AB00876)
16
When the particles of a given composition are disintegrated this may be called non-existence, but the original simple atoms will go back to their primary elements and are ever existent.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to the friends, spoken at Rue St. Didier 30 on 1913-Feb-09 -- ABU0591)
17
Neither does existence become nonexistent, nor does absolute nothingness come into existence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1912-Dec-26 in London -- ABU2254)
18
I have been asked to speak of that which is eternal and that which is contingent. Is creation a manifestation or an emanation of God? There are two kins of eternities. There is an eternity of essence, that which is without first cause, and an eternity of time, that which has no beginning.
… One can bring nothing forth from nothing, in the same way that which exists is never destroyed; the apparent annihilation is merely transmutation.
A mineral compared to us may be said to be non-existent, but in its own sphere it lives.
So this flower, this hyacinth, was for a time coming from non-existence into existence and is now passing from existence into non-existence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 63, The Progress of All Things Within their Own Degree, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB01145)
20
As to life, however, it has had no beginning nor will it have any end. The eternal grace of God has always been the cause of life. It has had no starting point and it will not approach any end.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1920-Dec-02, to Alwyn Baker -- AB01223)
21
Moses teaches: "In the beginning, God created heaven and earth. And the earth was deserted and empty, and it was dark in the depth and the spirit of God floated above the water. And God said: there shall be light! and there was light, etc." Here nowhere is written that God created the world of out nothing. Nothingness should be the antithesis, the opposite, of God. The answer to that however is: "In the beginning of the creation of the world, God emanated the heaven and the earth.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, On the creation of the world: words to Miss St. and others in summer of 1910 -- ABU0017)
22
"Were the souls created as individuals before they entered the physical bodies of this world?" Abdu'l-Baha: "They existed before coming to this world, but NOT as we know personality upon this planet."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Answer to Mrs Brittingham, New York, Jul 1912 -- ABU3556)
23
Q. In what condition is the soul before entering the body?
A. In a state of potentiality, possessing no consciousness as we understand it.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Oct-18 in Paris -- ABU3604)
24
But the realities and spirits which are separate from matter are inviolable and impregnable, for the fundamental powers are eternal. It is through the transformation of bodies and material forms that the manifestation of spirit is diversified. It is not possible for spirit itself to become annihilated.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1912-Oct-17 in San Francisco -- ABU2233)
25
His existence is true existence which is self-subsistent, not an intellectually perceived and comprehended existence; it is an Existence by which all created things come into being. … We refer to Him as Self-Existent because we need to make use of a term but we do not mean that that Being can be contained within our comprehension. What is intended is the Reality from Whom all things emanate, the Reality through Whom all things exist.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Answer to questions, Dublin, 1912-Aug-08 -- ABU1537)
26
For verily I and all else, as encompassed by Thy knowledge, are but utter nothingness in the depths of contingency and the seas of creation, and absolute poverty that hath perished. How then can one whose limit is that of non-existence and evanescence describe the Sovereign of pre-existence and invisibility?
(The Báb, to Haj Husayn 'Ali and Aqa Muhammad Hasan-Isfahani -- BB00197)
27
Thou didst bring me forth from utter and absolute nothingness into the realm of being and existence, and honored me with the glory of beholding Thy presence--the highest aspiration of all Thy Prophets and chosen ones.
How can we render thanks that He brought us into being from nothingness, bestowed the spirit of existence upon us when we were utter void, granted us divine manifestation when we were sheer nothingness, guided us to the fountain of life when we were thirsting, clothed us in the garment of "Blessed be God, the Best of Creators" when we were naked, gave us direction when we were wandering, led us to His shelter when we were lost, granted seeing eyes when we were blind, bestowed hearing when we were deaf, gave us eternal life when we were dead, and granted spiritual freshness and grace when we were withered.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1909-Jun-18, to Abdur-Rahim son of Ali Muhammad Kashipaz -- AB04727)
29
All that comes within one's imagination as well as all that appearance in external reality whether potential or actual existence all are in truth absolute non entities, they are nothing itself except that which is to be related to the Ancient Beauty or which can be attributed to His Holiness our Merciful Lord.
The world of existence is like an ocean and these determined beings are its waves. Although they have existence and visibility, they are considered non-existent and lost, except for the sacred realities of divine souls. Although they too are determined beings, yet being illumined from the praised station and assisted from the extended shadow, they attain eternal realization in the world of existence and find everlasting determination. This is the meaning of "All things perish save His face."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Abdu'llah Khan Masud (Khalkhal) et al -- AB01156)
31
O candle of the love of God! In this world of nonexistence, in which existence is only an appearance, strive to obtain real existence; in this dark world, endeavor to shine out as a luminous candle; and in this constricted arena, seek a vast and spacious domain.
Since thou art a servant of the Eternal and a seeker of the Face of God and fleeing from extinction, follow not the setting star and seek not that which vanisheth. Seek thou that which is eternal, everlasting and sempiternal, and that which is perpetual, endless, and without peer or likeness - so that thou mayest truly be Abdul-Baqi (Servant of the Eternal) and a servant of the Everlasting Lord.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Akkas, Abdu'l-Baqi brother of Mirza Hasan Knan -- AB06301)
33
O thou who art gladdened by the fragrances of God!
In this mortal dust-heap, every nostril that becomes perfumed with the divine breaths hath received a portion from the realm of pre-existence and gained a share from the bounty of God's immortal kingdom of being. Otherwise, alas for us! Woe unto us! The hours of all would be fruitless, the foundation carried away by the wind, and manifest loss would appear.
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
34
Therefore, nonexistence is only relative and absolute nonexistence inconceivable.
… For existence there is neither change nor transformation; existence is ever existence; it can never be translated into nonexistence. It is gradation; a degree below a higher degree is considered as nonexistence.
PUP.088-089
Sentence context restored from the reviewed catalogue reference ABU0070. Every supplied quotation segment matches this text; the catalogue-match status remains unchanged.
Catalogue reference: ABU0070 · passage alignment is approximate.
35
What is intended by pre-existence [qidam] is temporal [zamani] pre-existence, not essential [dhati] pre-existence, since the former is preceded by a cause. Far exalted be God from being connected with the world of contingency! We testify that that same pre-existence perceived by the devoted and near ones is contingent [hadith] in the eyes of God, that He hath ever been sanctified above terms denoting pre-existence and contingency, that He is holy above mention and explanation...
Sentence boundary needs source review; the supplied wording is retained.
36
How does one thing precede another? Four kinds of precedence: Precedence in eternity is how God precedes all things; precedence in time is how the flower precedes the fruit; precedence in preferability is how the fruit precedes the flower; precedence in origin is how the sound precedes the singing. (St. Augustine, Confessions 12.39.40) See also the discussion of priority in Aristotle's Metaphysics V.11 and Gersons's Companion to
Plotinus, pp. 68ff
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
Sentence boundary needs source review; the supplied wording is retained.