(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 80, True Pre-existence, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB00839)
Four ways of asking why
four causes
Editorial introduction
Ask why a chair exists and there are four honest answers. A carpenter made it, wood gives it body, its shape makes it a chair, and it exists so that someone may sit. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá uses this homely example to name the efficient, material, formal and final causes on which every created thing depends. Beside them He sets another triad, knowledge, volition and action, without which nothing is ever accomplished, as anyone who has tried to build a house soon discovers. The Báb carries the same fourfold pattern into the highest reaches of creation, where even the First Remembrance exists through the creative act of God, its very being, its form, and its fruit. Aristotle, who first sorted the meanings of why in this way, makes a natural companion [1]. To ask about causes is finally to ask about dependence and purpose: what holds a thing in being, and what it is for. The inquiry leads on to the law of cause and effect, to matter, essence and form, and to the purposeful motion that runs through all creation.
Selected passages
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Theosophical Lodge on 1912-May-30 -- ABU0041)
When the Pen flows with mention of the pillars of Unity, I shall indicate the establishment of the seven ranks for him who bears that Fourth Letter, for a thing in the world of principles and causes is created only through the efficient cause, which is the station of the creation by the Essence of all that He willeth from nothing, for the manifestation of His unity; then through the material cause, which is the station of Universal Prophethood for the manifestation of His Messenger's decree; then through the formal cause for the manifestation of the guardianship of thirteen souls who are the universal reeds in the thicket of the empyrean heaven, as they are the friends of God and the successors of His Messenger, peace be upon Him and His family; then through the final cause, which is the fruit in the kingdom of manifestations and the purpose in those conditions, for the manifestation of the bearer of the Fourth Letter whom God hath placed in the station of the light of absolute, universal, and all-encompassing guardianship.
(The Báb, Tafsir-i-Nubuvvat-i-Khassih (Treatise on Specific Prophethood), to Manuchihr Khan -- BB00014)
As for the argument using that which is best, know that the Pillar which is the station of the Shia is the manifestation of the three Pillars and bearer of their signs, for the First Pillar among these four Pillars is the station of the Point, the element of fire, and the manifestation of the Efficient Cause; and the Second Pillar among them is the station of the soft Alif, the element of air, and the manifestation of the Material Cause; and the Third Pillar among them is the station of the Letters, the element of water, and the manifestation of the Formal Cause; and the Fourth Pillar among them is the station of the Perfect Word, the element of earth, and the manifestation of the Final Cause. Thus it is established through this explanation that the station of the Shia is the station of earth, as indicated by His exalted words at the end of the Surih of al-Naba': "And the unbeliever will say, 'Would that I were dust!'" - meaning, would that I were among the followers of Ali, peace be upon him. For this reason the Prince of Believers was called Abu Turab (Father of Dust), because the origin of dust and its nourisher is water, as he said: "Water is the master of dust and its taste is the taste of life." And the station of Ali, peace be upon him, was that of water, from which all things live, as He, exalted be His mention, hath said: "It is He Who hath created from water a human being, then established relationships of lineage and marriage, and thy Lord is ever-powerful."
(The Báb, Treatise on the four pillars -- BB00023)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
Each thing needs four causes to be brought into being: two causes by which it subsists foundationally, which are matter and form; a cause by which it subsists through emanation (sudur), which is the active cause; ... and a final cause, which is its reason [for being]
(Shaykh Ahmad, Sharh al-Masha'ir pp. 200-201. Translated in Brown (2001), 73)
In the rank of the First Remembrance, which is the most great of the degrees of the creation, this First Remembrance must exist for four causes: the creation by God, the very being, the form, and the utility or fruit. Existence is not possible in the world of contingency except by the aid of these four aspects. Each thing, to manifest its existence, must have an element of fire, an element of air and of water to conserve this existence, and an element of earth to accept the degrees.
(The Bab, provisional translation, Suriy-i-Tawhid, in Nicolas' le Beyan Arabe, pp. 28-29 and P. Terry's trans., p. 11)
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How would the four kinds of explanation illuminate something you make, an institution you belong to, or a practice you value?
- What does the distinction between knowing, willing, and acting add to an account of how things come about?
- When causal language moves from an artifact to creation as a whole, which features of the analogy remain helpful and which need reconsideration?