The tree is already inside the seed, hidden, and appears only as the seed grows; ‘Abdu’l-Bahá returns to that image whenever He is asked about evolution. He grants that the human form has passed through many shapes over immense ages and insists in the same breath that what was changing was from the beginning the human species, not an animal that later became one. Development covers several things at once: the circulation of atoms through mineral, plant, animal and human forms, the growth of a single life, and the education of the spirit, which continues after physical form has reached its limit. Darwin’s closing pages in the first edition of the Origin, moving from the interdependence to inheritance, variation and the struggle for life, give a historical scientific account answering a different question with different evidence [1]. The inquiry leads on into the kingdoms of existence, into the law of transformation and change, and into what distinguishes a human being from the animal, with the reminder to read any teaching whole and leave empirical chronology to science.
It is even as the seed: The tree exists within it but is hidden and concealed; when the seed grows and develops, the tree appears in its fullness. In like manner, the growth and development of all beings proceeds by gradual degrees. This is the universal and divinely ordained law and the natural order. The seed does not suddenly become the tree; the embryo does not at once become the man; the mineral substance does not in a moment become the stone: No, all these grow and develop gradually until they attain the limit of perfection.
All beings, whether universal or particular, were created perfect and complete from the beginning. The most one can say is that their perfections only become apparent gradually.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 51, The Appearance of the Spirit and the Mind in Man, 1904-Oct ca. -- AB00722)
02
To summarize: Just as man progresses, evolves, and is transformed from one form and appearance to another in the womb of the mother, while remaining from the beginning a human embryo, so too has man remained a distinct essence--that is, the human species--from the beginning of his formation in the matrix of the world and has passed gradually from form to form. It follows that this change of appearance, this evolution of organs, and this growth and development do not preclude the originality of the species.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 49, The Evolution of Species, 1904 ca. -- AB00167)
03
Similarly, in the contingent world, the human species hath undergone progressive physical changes and, by a slow process, hath scaled the ladder of civilization, realizing in itself the wonders, excellencies and gifts of humanity in their most glorious form, until it gained the capacity to express the splendours of spiritual perfections and divine ideals and became capable of hearkening to the call of God.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Lawh-i-Du-Niday-i-Falah va Najah (Two Calls to Success and Prosperity), 1908-Aug-04, to Bahais of the West et al -- AB00022)
04
The human spirit has certain signs and manifestations in the stage of the embryo and yet other splendours and expressions in the stages of childhood, adolescence, and maturity. The spirit is one, and yet in the embryonic stage it lacks the powers of sight and hearing, whereas in the stages of adolescence and maturity it appears with the utmost splendour and radiance.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 37, The Connection between God and His Manifestations, 1904 ca. -- AB00105)
05
Man must walk in many paths and be subjected to various processes in his evolution upward. Physically he is not born in full stature but passes through consecutive stages of fetus, infant, childhood, youth, maturity and old age.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Morey home on 1912-Aug-29 -- ABU0019)
06
However, since the development of the physical frame through the bounty of the spirit occurs gradually - proceeding through the stages of creation from a drop of sperm, to a blood clot, to a lump of flesh, to the clothing of flesh, to the bringing forth of another creation, "and blessed be God, the best of creators" - therefore the body of the world too is in the initial stages of creation through this most glorious spirit.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1895-Aug or <, to Prince Muhibbali Mirza -- AB02581)
07
In a living organism the full measure of its development is not known or realized at the time of its inception or birth. Development and progression imply gradual stages or degrees.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Brotherhood Church on 1912-May-19 -- ABU0152)
08
A wise man when looking at an egg, sees in it the whole form of a bird; he sees the beak, the claws, the plumage, the wings and the eyes, as well as the song and melody of the bird; but a child or an unwise man sees nothing but the egg, even unable to go any further than the outward shell and appearance.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Ali-Kuli Khan in Akka prior to 1902 -- ABU2702)
09
Now the world is like a seed - soon from this seed a mighty tree will grow, and from this atom will appear branches, a great tree, verdant leaves, blossoms and fruit.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, to Mirza Ali Muhammad Khan Munshi (Muhammad Ali Munshi) -- AB05275)
10
Know, verily, that the seed, however virile it may be, however strong the hand of the sower, however pure the water that watereth it, it is impossible for it to grow, blossom and bear fruit in a short time; nay, a long period is needed for its development.
So it is the Kingdom of God. Consider the seed which was sown by Christ; verily, it did not blossom until after a long period.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1903-May-17, to Marie L Botay -- AB05896)
11
But from the beginning of his existence man has been a distinct species. This is similar to the embryo of man in the womb of the mother: it possesses at first a strange appearance; then this body passes from shape to shape and from form to form until it appears in the utmost beauty and perfection. But even when it possesses in the womb of the mother a strange form entirely different from its present shape and appearance, it is the embryo of a distinct species and not of an animal: the essence of the species and the innate reality undergo no transformation at all.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 47, The Evolution of the Universe and the Origin of Man, 1904-Oct ca. -- AB00077)
12
Likewise, the various species found upon the earth have an origin in time; for it is acknowledged by all that there was a time when these species existed nowhere on the face of the earth, and indeed a time when the earth itself did not exist.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 38, The Three Stations of the Divine Manifestations, 1904 ca. -- AB00345)
13
The material philosophers insist upon their belief, and the divine philosophers reply: "Is this terrestrial globe eternal or was it originated?" The material philosophers answer that, according to well-established scientific findings, it is proven to be originated; that in the beginning it was a molten sphere and gradually became temperate; that a crust was formed around it; and that upon this crust plants came into being, then animals, and finally man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 17, The Birth of Christ, 1904 ca. -- AB00920)
14
Consider the world of created beings, how varied and diverse they are in species, yet with one sole origin. All the differences that appear are those of outward form and color. This diversity of type is apparent throughout the whole of nature.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Oct-28 in Paris -- ABU0491)
15
In the world of existence man has traversed successive degrees until he has attained the human kingdom. In each degree of his progression he has developed capacity for advancement to the next station and condition. While in the kingdom of the mineral he was attaining the capacity for promotion into the degree of the vegetable. In the kingdom of the vegetable he underwent preparation for the world of the animal, and from thence he has come onward to the human degree, or kingdom. Throughout this journey of progression he has ever and always been potentially man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at 309 W 78th St on 1912-Jul-06 -- ABU0112)
16
Yet in the East they say that, even if this human frame was not, from the beginning, composed in this present form, but passed from shape to shape until it attained this form, we may suppose that at one time it was aquatic, and at another time it crept upon the earth; nevertheless it was still man, and its species was preserved. … Yet, at the very time when in the womb it is in the form of a worm, it is of the human species; it is not like the embryo of other animals.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address to Naturalist Association of San Francisco, spoken at Open Forum on 1912-Oct-10 -- ABU0029)
17
But some of the philosophers of Europe think that one species evolves into another species. For example, that the animal evolved until it became a human being. But the prophets teach that this theory is unacceptable, as we have explained already in the book Some Answered Questions. Nay, rather evolution and growth take place within the same species.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Commentary on passages from the Tablet of Wisdom, 1910-Apr-14, to Ali Akbar Quchani -- AB00373)
18
What Western philosophers say about human evolution - that man has come from the mineral, vegetable and animal kingdoms and reached this station through growth and development - is mere fancy, for the human species is ancient. Perhaps on this earth it was initially like a seed, then progressed and reached the station of "the best of creators." But that seed which gradually developed was the human species, not animal. Therefore this species is ancient and was originally the noblest of earthly creatures.
The creative power of the eternal, i.e. the timeless, which is inherent in nature, creates continuously and dynamically, so that progressively and potentially all earthly creatures have developed from one primal cell. Here we already find the germ of Darwin's theory of development and descent.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken in the house of Abdu'l-Baha in Jan 1910 -- ABU0148)
20
As the completeness of man stems entirely from the component elements, their measure, their manner of combination, and the mutual action and interaction of other beings--and since man was produced ten or a hundred thousand years ago from the same earthly elements, with the same measures and quantities, the same manner of composition and combination, and the same interactions with other beings--it follows that man was exactly the same then as exists now.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 46, Transformation of Species, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB00278)
21
For example, the human species and human nature have been and will forever remain preserved and protected. As can be observed, the mummified ancient human bodies that have been extracted from the pyramids of Egypt, though five thousand years have passed since their death, have not changed or altered even by a hair's breadth from the human form. Likewise the images of animals that exist in Akhmim, Egypt are exactly like existing animals - a monkey is a monkey with that ugly appearance, a human is human with that beautiful, pleasing countenance. There is no altering in God's creation.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1902 or <, to Usku'i, Haydar Ali (Son of Karbala'i Hasan of Matanih) -- AB02206)
22
In the pyramids are to be found the bodies of men who lived four or five thousand years ago. They show forth the same characteristics as men of today. There are also records of their births and deaths, indicating that they lived sixty or seventy years, as men do today."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Louis Gregory, spoken on 1911-Apr-12 -- ABU3045)
23
Moses teaches that the world was created in six days of creation! This is a symbol, a symbolic expression of the ancient truth that the world has evolved slowly. Darwin can refer in his doctrine of evolution to Moses. God did not create the world suddenly but God's breath of life becomes God's creative word of command, logos, which continuously creates the world. We have a continuing and not a single act of creation. Moses's days of creation are periods of millions of years.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, On the creation of the world: words to Miss St. and others in summer of 1910 -- ABU0017)
24
Material scientists endeavor to show the evolution of the species man from the monkey. The Prophets of God have been occupied in explaining that man has descended from the Divine Spirit.
The professors and learned scientists of materialism glory in the evidences that the ape is the progenitor of humanity and make exhaustive efforts to discover proof of it. If we should ask the ape, he would say "Unquestionably we are all one,--of this I am certain without the aid of scientific inquiry, ethnological proof, biological deductions or geological findings; I believe what I see"--for the ape is a real, a true materialist.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken in 1912 in the United States -- ABU2804)
25
They were led to speak of their idea of evolution of man from the atom and molecule all through the different stations until at last man was evolved from all these previous conditions.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to some materialist scholars spoken in Dec. 1900 -- ABU3186)
26
The Primal Will operates in the element, in the primal atom, as attraction and repulsion; on the next higher level as organic life; then as animal-vegetative; and finally as spiritual life, which is destined to rise to the super-spiritual. What develops is not the physical substratum (base), which actually exists from the beginning in its different kinds, each of which then develops only within its own kind to higher perfection, but rather does the Cosmic Spirit, the divine Primal Will, unfold within the creature just as the bud of a flower unfolds ever more completely, purely and beautifully, and will finally, in the fully-redeemed, totally purified man, return to the Godhead, to be immersed and fused in the Godhead.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken ca. 1909-1910 -- ABU0170)
27
As to the question of man's progress from the mineral kingdom to the vegetable, from the vegetable to the animal, and to the station of man--these represent man's physical progress, and when he attains the utmost physical perfection in that station, the heavenly station becomes manifest. The meaning is that every being advances within its own station, but its transition from one station to a higher one depends upon divine bestowal. For instance, the plant progresses in its vegetable station, but its transition from the vegetable to the animal kingdom depends upon the mercy of the All-Merciful.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Oct-22, to Ella G Cooper -- AB04427)
28
As each component atom or element in the physical organisms of existence is subject to transference through endless forms and stages, possessing virtues peculiar to those forms and stations, it is evident that all phenomena of material being are fundamentally one. In the mineral kingdom this component atom or element possesses certain virtues of the mineral; in the kingdom of the vegetable it is imbued with vegetable qualities or virtues; in the plane of animal existence it is empowered with animal virtues -- the senses; and in the kingdom of man it manifests qualities peculiar to the human station.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address at Stanford University on 1912-Oct-08 -- ABU0008)
29
Third, the human body has one form. In its composition it has been transferred from one form to another but never possesses two forms at the same time. For example, it has existed in the elemental substances of the mineral kingdom. From the mineral kingdom it has traversed the vegetable kingdom and its constituent substances; from the vegetable kingdom it has risen by evolution into the kingdom of the animal and from thence attained the kingdom of man. After its disintegration and decomposition it will return again to the mineral kingdom, leaving its human form and taking a new form unto itself.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Maxwell home on 1912-Sep-02 -- ABU0241)
30
Man is indestructible. The man you see before your eyes has travelled through all the worlds of existence. Those molecular atoms which go into the make-up of the human body were originally in the mineral world, and these atoms have had journeyings and coursings through all the various phases of the mineral kingdom, appearing under various forms and images.
Stepping up into the vegetable kingdom these atoms have been transferred from mineral to vegetable. In the vegetable kingdom they have manifested under various shades, and in a myriad of forms.
Rising into a higher scale of life, we see them again in the animal kingdom, expressing themselves through multitudes of forms and images. And now we see these indestructible atoms dawning upon the horizon of man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken in Jan. 1913 -- ABU1774)
31
For instance this chicken that you are eating was once in the Mineral Kingdom, through successive stages it reached the vegetable Kingdom, then the animal Kingdom and now it is going into the make up of your constitution - which is the human Kingdom. Therefore movement, evolution and progress are witnessed in all the atoms of existence.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to a Frenchman, spoken on 1914-Jun-03 -- ABU2506)
32
For example, the progression of mineral reality from the mineral kingdom to the plant kingdom is purely through bestowal. Similarly, the transfer of plant reality to the animal kingdom is also purely through bestowal. Likewise, the transfer of animal reality to the human kingdom is also purely through grace and bestowal.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Mar-03, to George Engelmanne -- AB00430)
33
When we were in the mineral kingdom, although we were endowed with certain gifts and powers, they were not to be compared with the blessings of the human kingdom.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at the Theosophical Society on 1912-May-04 -- ABU0070)
34
Working up through the mineral and vegetable kingdoms, sense-perception is reached in the animal, and the perfection of form is attained in man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Myron Phelps and Madame Canavarro in Dec. 1902 -- ABU0343)
35
When an imaginative young man, endowed with the vibrating energies of youth, looks over the phenomena of creation, he sees life, growth and composition. But when he reaches to the age of manhood and is introduced in the school of divine philosophy, then as he looks over the things of the world he sees death, decay and decomposition. … He sees that all the created phenomena speak to him in the language of change and mutability, nothing eternal, everything mortal; nothing stable, everything being transformed...
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1914-Jun-18 -- ABU1026)
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
36
In the physical creation, evolution is from one degree of perfection to another. The mineral passes with its mineral perfections to the vegetable; the vegetable, with its perfections, passes to the animal world, and so on to that of humanity. … In this world things live and die, and live again in other forms of life, but in the world of the spirit it is quite otherwise.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Nov-03 in Paris -- ABU0626)
37
Then these animals which you are eating evolve from a low stage to a higher stage of existence. Therefore it is permissible to eat animals.
Because the purpose is for the advancement of human welfare vivisection is permissible, but provided cruelty is not practiced...
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Mrs Hoagg et al, spoken on 1920-Oct-29 -- ABU0471)
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
38
For instance, how intelligent and knowing the Arabian horse has become through training, even how polite this horse has become through education. As to the human world: It is more in need of guidance and education than the lower creatures.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Address to a group of Baha'i women at Hotel La Salle in Chicago, 1912-May-02 -- ABU0900)
39
'Should Prayer take the form of action?'
Abdu'l-Baha. -- 'Yes: In the Baha'i Cause arts, sciences and all crafts are (counted as) worship. The man who makes a piece of notepaper to the best of his ability, conscientiously, concentrating all his forces on perfecting it, is giving praise to God. Briefly, all effort and exertion put forth by man from the fullness of his heart is worship, if it is prompted by the highest motives and the will to do service to humanity. This is worship: to serve mankind and to minister to the needs of the people. Service is prayer. A physician ministering to the sick, gently, tenderly, free from prejudice and believing in the solidarity of the human race, he is giving praise'.
'What is the purpose of our lives?'
Abdu'l-Baha. -- 'To acquire virtues. We come from the earth; why were we transferred from the mineral to the vegetable kingdom -- from the plant to the animal kingdom? So that we may attain perfection in each of these kingdoms, that we may possess the best qualities of the mineral, that we may acquire the power of growing as in the plant, that we may be adorned with the instincts of the animal and possess the faculties of sight, hearing, smell, touch and taste, until from the animal kingdom we step into the world of humanity and are gifted with reason, the power of invention, and the forces of the spirit.'
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken at 97 Cadogan Gardens in London, 1912-Dec-26 -- ABU1800)
40
The friends of God must be educated in such wise that, just as the vegetable transcendeth the mineral, the animal surpasseth the vegetable, and man excelleth the animal in the perfections of existence, so too must the friends of God be distinguished from all other peoples and tribes in divine virtues and spiritual perfections.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Jan-24, to Husayn Ali -- AB07315)
41
But as to evolution, it is true of both the body and the spirit.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1920-Dec-02, to Alwyn Baker -- AB01223)
42
But as to evolution: it is true of both body and the spirit.
… When the body of man is perfected, physical evolution comes to an end, since nature does not seek to build a higher form than that of man. But the evolution of spirit continues until reason, the mental powers, and the emotional capacities are evolved in it.
As man's physical form has been developed through various stages and degrees - that is, by evolution from the mineral to the vegetable, from that to the animal, and from that to the human kingdom; as the bodily estate of man has been reached by passing through these several stages, until at length a stage has been attained higher than the others, in which it is endowed with all the physical excellences, so his spiritual nature advances through successive stages of development until it reaches the Highest Kingdom. and the most Glorious Horizon.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Myron Phelps and Madame Canavarro in Dec. 1902 -- ABU0964)
44
Beginning with the mineral, the vegetable and the animal, the human follows, being at the end of the descending arc, and therefore the very lowest point of life.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Mr and Mrs Hannen, spoken on 1909-Feb-23 -- ABU2609)
45
There are seven general stages. The first is the stage of the inorganic being. From the mineral kingdom, it ascendeth to the stage of the plant…, and from the plant kingdom, it ascendeth to the stage of the animal….When it reacheth the stage of soul, spirit, and mind, then in accordance with that stage, it hath a death which will certainly destroy all privative aspects. Finally, the command will reach the stage of the inmost heart, which is the gulf of immortality and pure life, in the presence of the Lord of creation.
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
46
The conditions after death cannot be conceived, but observe: it is evident that man has come from the mineral kingdom. When in the mineral state, the vegetable kingdom could not be conceived. Then he progressed to the vegetable kingdom. In the vegetable state, the animal kingdom could not be conceived. Before transferring from the animal kingdom to the human kingdom, the life of human reason and consciousness was inconceivable - that is, it was impossible; there was no awareness of it.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1920-Oct-15, to J. Isbrucker -- AB01007)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
47
Take mankind: God created man from the mineral and enabled him to attain to his present station
Sentence boundary needs source review; the supplied wording is retained.
48
The forms assumed by the human embryo in its successive changes do not prove that it is animal in its essential character. Throughout this progression there has been a transference of type, a conservation of species or kind. Realizing this we may acknowledge the fact that at one time man was an inmate of the sea, at another period an invertebrate, then a vertebrate and finally a human being standing erect. Though we admit these changes, we cannot say man is an animal. In each one of these stages are signs and evidences of his human existence and destination.... in the protoplasm, man is man. Conservation of species demands it.
PUP.359 (Last two sentences are not found in KHT2.304, and may be a later addition)
Sentence boundary needs source review; the supplied wording is retained.
49
If the human body (haykal) was originally not in its present composition, but was gradually transferred from one stage to another until it appeared in its present form [as the philosophers of the West say], then we would postulate that although at one time it was a swimmer and later a crawler, still it was human, and its species has remained unchanged.
PUP.359, KHT2.304 (Revised translation in Brown (2001), 98)
We Baha'is do not believe in Genesis literally. We know this world was not created in seven days, or six, or eight, but evolved gradually over a period of millions of years, as science has proved.
LG#1658 (28 Oct. 1949 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
51
With reference to the statement to the effect that man has lived as man upon the earth only 300,000 years: I am directed by the Guardian to inform you that this has never originated from him, and is a misquotation. Questions such as this are for scientists to investigate and decide upon.
(23 Nov. 1937 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
52
These various statements [on evolution] must be taken in conjunction with all the Baha'i teachings; we cannot get a correct picture by concentrating on just one phrase.
(7 Jun. 1946 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, in Arohanui, p. 85)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
How does the meaning of development change across passages about atoms, embryos, species, education, and spiritual life?
What distinctions between form, capacity, and identity help illuminate the seed analogy, and where might that analogy reach its limits?
Which passages appear to be in tension, and what additional context, translation evidence, or information about their authority would help you study them?
How does Darwin’s explanation of the diversity of life differ in purpose and method from the compilation’s discussions of human reality?
What questions can scientific investigation address here, and what philosophical or spiritual questions call for other kinds of reasoning?
How might the instruction to read teachings as a whole shape a conversation in which participants initially reach different conclusions?