A Greek teacher honoured by Romans and Persians alike is, for ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, a sign of how knowledge ennobles a person beyond the land of their birth. Aristotle, Plato and Socrates are praised for searching both nature and the unseen, yet Aristotle is said to have gathered only a drop from the ocean, and the most brilliant intellects never moved hearts to sacrifice as the Spirit of God moved simple souls. Bahá’u’lláh describes the sages drinking from the waters of the Prophets and singles out Socrates, who turned people from idols and was put to death for it. Plato’s own account shows that same Socrates testing those reputed to be wise and finding that honest awareness of ignorance outweighs false certainty [1]. Another counsel asks for proportion: no single statement about these figures should be mistaken for the whole picture. To walk with these philosophers is to be led toward the meeting of divine and natural philosophy, and toward the history of past ages, read for what it teaches a seeker about the reach and the limits of the mind.
O Aristotle! They say that the first teacher Aristotle was distinguished in all sciences above all nations and was among the most renowned of the children of Adam. Consider how knowledge and understanding are the cause of such glory in this contingent world that a Greek person became praised and accepted by the Roman and Persian nations, indeed by all humanity - and this although his sciences pertained to the contingent world.
The philosophers of Greece -- such as Aristotle, Socrates, Plato and others -- were devoted to the investigation of both natural and spiritual phenomena. In their schools of teaching they discoursed upon the world of nature as well as the supernatural world. Today the philosophy and logic of Aristotle are known throughout the world. Because they were interested in both natural and divine philosophy, furthering the development of the physical world of mankind as well as the intellectual, they rendered praiseworthy service to humanity.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Hall home on 1912-Sep-20 -- ABU0150)
03
This was the reason for the progress of Greek schools - they taught both divine and natural philosophy."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Mr Maxwell, spoken on 1912-Aug-31 -- ABU1166)
04
According to oriental history there have come in the past two Teachers in philosophy. The first one is Aristotle who was well-versed in all the sciences and accomplishments of his time.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to a vistor, spoken at Grand Hotel on 1913-Apr-20 -- ABU1498)
05
O thou who art firm in the Covenant!
Thy namesake, Aristotle, meticulously searched through the subtleties of reality, thoroughly and in detail, yet he obtained a mere drop from the ocean and a sheer grain from the whole harvest. However, he made such discoveries within natural philosophy that he became renowned and famous throughout all lands.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1919-Oct-16, to Arastu Hakim -- AB02372)
06
O teacher in the school of divine knowledge! The illumined philosophers say that only two persons have been entitled with the designation of "teacher" - one the renowned Aristotle and the other the famous Farabi. Ibn Sina (Avicenna) claimed to be a teacher, but since he did not fulfill the conditions, he was designated as "chief" instead.
O faithful servant of the Most Glorious Beauty! The renowned Plato was a physical physician and a mere human being, yet because he arose with great determination he became accepted throughout the horizons and famous in the world of ethics.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1919-Oct-11, to Mirza Aflatun (London) -- AB02671)
08
The well-known Plato would not accept a pupil until he saw him. He would examine the student for a time and study his features. Aristotle came to become one of his students. He knew Aristotle and knew that Aristotle did not have capacity for medicine, so he sent word, 'I cannot accept you (as my student).' Plato had seen Aristotle in childhood and that is why he would not accept him. Aristotle understood why he was not accepted and wrote a letter to Plato saying, 'Thou hast seen me as a child, when I had no capacity for medicine and I had other capacities and that is not acceptable to you. That is correct. I have no objection to that, but with education I have changed and now I have a capacity for that, therefore if thou acceptest me thou wilt become happy - thou wilt see that thy education is not spoiled.' Plato accepted Aristotle when Aristotle said, 'I have been educated.'
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Fugeta, et al, spoken on 1919-Dec-29 -- ABU0177)
09
The ancient Greek philosophers, as well as the Persian, were in the habit of delivering their discourses in the following manner: First, there would be musical melodies, and when the audience had been influenced to a certain extent thereby, they would leave their instruments and begin their discourse.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Kinney, Beede, Thompson party, spoken on 1909-Jul-09 -- ABU0381)
10
The influence of the wisest philosophers, without this Spirit Divine, has been comparatively unimportant, however extensive their learning and deep their scholarship. The unusual intellects, for instance, of Plato, Aristotle, Pliny and Socrates, have not influenced men so greatly that they have been anxious to sacrifice their lives for their teachings; whilst some of those simple men so moved humanity that thousands of men have become willing martyrs to uphold their words; for these words were inspired by the Divine Spirit of God!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Nov-18 in Paris -- ABU0416)
11
For instance, the philosophers of Greece established a material civilization whereas Christ established a spiritual civilization.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to a newspaper reporter, spoken at Hotel Lankershim on 1912-Oct-19 -- ABU1982)
12
The Greeks had philosophers and great men, but while their civilization was full of beauty and was superior to that of the Romans, it was material--neither moral nor spiritual. The foundation of the Roman civilization was force; consequently, a downfall was inevitable.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Helen Goodall and Ella Cooper spoken in Jan. 1908 -- ABU3035)
13
Among the Greek kings there was one named Lycurgus who was both king and philosopher. His intentions were very good. He thought to make his people equal in livelihood. He divided his kingdom's inhabitants into three parts: one part he made leaders, another part he made of original inhabitants as farmers who would cultivate and pay a tithe, and the third part he made merchants and craftsmen, mostly from foreigners, who would pay something annually. … When the people had sworn and committed to not changing these rules, he left the country, gave up his kingdom and never returned so that law would remain. The people had all sworn and did not change it for a while, but after some time it changed again and those laws were overturned.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Nov-14 in Paris -- ABU0462)
14
There are many militarists of the ancient, conservative school who hold the opinion that Alexander of Macedon was the greatest born leader, an empire-builder, a wonderful general and a great warrior. His conquests of the East are celebrated in songs and his matchless prowess [is] the theme of many a dramatic recital.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to some friends, spoken around 1914-Nov-15 -- ABU0133)
15
O thou who art firm in the signs of God! Alexander of Greece sought kingship and sovereignty and world conquest in this mortal realm, and in the end it became manifest loss and great harm and severe regret.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1909 or <, to Mashhadi Iskandar Ganjihi -- AB11966)
16
The sages aforetime acquired their knowledge from the Prophets, inasmuch as the latter were the Exponents of divine philosophy and the Revealers of heavenly mysteries. Men quaffed the crystal, living waters of Their utterance, while others satisfied themselves with the dregs.
… Empedocles, who distinguished himself in philosophy, was a contemporary of David, while Pythagoras lived in the days of Solomon, son of David, and acquired Wisdom from the treasury of prophethood. It is he who claimed to have heard the whispering sound of the heavens and to have attained the station of the angels.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Hikmat (Tablet of Wisdom), 1292? [1875-1876], to Mulla Muhammad Qa'ini (Nabil-i-Akbar) -- BH00223)
17
Even many Greek philosophers, such as Socrates and Pythagoras, hastened to the Holy Land and acquired sciences and arts from Israel, then returned to Greece and made the Greeks learned and awakened them from the sleep of negligence. This is how the Greek philosophers acquired such fame and renown in sciences and arts.
In the splendor of the reign of Solomon their sciences and arts advanced to such a degree that even the Greek philosophers journeyed to Jerusalem to sit at the feet of the Hebrew sages and acquire the basis of Israelitish law.
According to eastern history this is an established fact.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at Temple Emmanu-El on 1912-Oct-12 -- ABU0015)
19
Even the celebrated philosophers of Greece journeyed to Jerusalem in order to study with the Israelitish sages, and many were the lessons of philosophy and wisdom they received.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Public address given at 8th St Temple Synagogue on 1912-Nov-08 -- ABU0002)
20
O thou handmaid of God! It is recorded in eastern histories that Socrates journeyed to Palestine and Syria and there, from men learned in the things of God, acquired certain spiritual truths; that when he returned to Greece, he promulgated two beliefs: one, the unity of God, and the other, the immortality of the soul after its separation from the body; that these concepts, so foreign to their thought, raised a great commotion among the Greeks, until in the end they gave him poison and killed him.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1913-May-31, to Ella G Cooper -- AB02343)
21
Such was their progress that the philosophers of Greece would come to seek knowledge from the learned men of Israel. Among them was Socrates, who came to Syria and acquired from the children of Israel the teachings of the oneness of God and the immortality of the spirit. He then returned to Greece and promulgated these teachings, whereupon the people of that land rose up in opposition to him, accused him of impiety, arraigned him before the court, and condemned him to death by poison.
… The materialistic thinkers, the Greek philosophers, and the great men of Rome who became renowned in the world were each versed in but one branch of learning. Thus Galen and Hippocrates were celebrated for their skill in medicine, Aristotle in logic and speculative reasoning, and Plato in ethics and divine philosophy.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 5, Moses, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB00855)
22
Mrs. F...In Abdul Baha's talk at Stanford University in California, he stated that the Greek philosophers journeyed to the holy land, studied with the Jewish doctors and then returned to Greece. Did Socrates travel to the Holy Land.
A.B...Yes, after returning from the Holy Land to Greece, he established the principle of the unity of God and the immortality of the soul.
The people opposed him because this teaching was contrary to their belief. They brought him before the king and gave him poison. When he took the cup he said that he was glad he was going from this land to another one. It is written in Greek history.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken at Haifa Pilgrim House, 1920-Nov-06 -- ABU0539)
The available source contains an omission or incomplete wording; sentence boundaries need review.
23
The ancient philosophers of Greece, Persia, and Egypt believed that God manifested in material things His final and supreme Reality.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Myron Phelps and Madame Canavarro in Dec. 1902 -- ABU1567)
24
When Aristotle would go forth with Alexander, they would carry nine idols before him.
These ten intellects are Aristotle's concept.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1916-Jul-13 in Haifa -- ABU0675)
25
Exalted then be God above what the peripatetic philosophers have fabricated concerning the word of connection between the Lord and creation, taking their ruling from the word of the Christians after God had detailed the signs of His love in their realities. They went astray and led others astray unknowingly, and they were followed in their vain desires by the illuminationist philosophers and some of the divine theologians regarding the word of unity in existence.
(The Báb, Khutba written one stage from Medina (Khutbiy-i-Shajariyyih), 1260-12 (after Mecca) [1844-Dec] -- BB00216)
26
The philosophers have been and are of different schools. Some derived their statements from the Books of the Prophets. The first to study philosophy was Idris, hence he was named thus, and he was also called Hermes. In every tongue he has a name, and in every branch of wisdom he gave sufficient and complete explanations. After him, Balinus extracted certain sciences from the Hermetic tablets, and most philosophers derived their scientific and philosophical arts from his words and explanations.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Basitatu'l-Haqiqah, to Husayn -- BH00409)
27
They would even change their own views: for twenty years they would deduce the existence of something through rational arguments, and then afterwards they would disprove the same, again through rational arguments. Even Plato at first proved through rational arguments the immobility of the earth and the movement of the sun, and then subsequently established, again through rational arguments, the centrality of the sun and the movement of the earth. Then the Ptolemaic theory became widespread and Plato's theory was entirely forgotten until a modern astronomer revived it.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 83, The Four Criteria of Comprehension, 1904 ca. -- AB00520)
28
Question: What is the nature of the "unity of existence" [wahdatu'l-wujud] propounded by the Theosophists and the Sufis, and what in reality do they intend by it? Is this belief true or not?
Answer: Know that the idea of the unity of existence is ancient and is not restricted to the Theosophists and the Sufis alone. Indeed, it was espoused by some of the Greek philosophers, such as Aristotle, who said: "The uncompounded Reality is all things, but it is not any single one of them."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 82, The Unity of Existence, 1906-Dec-12 -- AB00062)
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29
We must not take many of `Abdu'l-Baha's statements as dogmatic finalities, for there are other points which when added to them round out the picture. … Historians cannot be sure Socrates did not visit the Holy Land. But believing as we do that 'Abdu'l-Baha had an intuitive knowledge quite different from our own, we accept His authority on the matter...
(7 Jun. 1946 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Arohanui, p. 88)
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30
We have no historical proof of the truth of the Master's statement regarding the Greek philosophers visiting the Holy Land etc., but such proof may come to light through research in the future.
(15 Feb. 1947 on behalf of Shoghi effendi)
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31
It is noteworthy that at both the beginning and end of this section of the Tablet, Baha'u'llah indicates that He is quoting "some accounts of the sages". These would have been the historical accounts familiar to the person whom He is addressing in the Tablet. The fact that Baha'u'llah makes such statements for the sake of illustrating the spiritual principles that He wishes to convey, does not necessarily mean that He is endorsing their historical accuracy.
(3 Nov. 1987 on behalf of the Universal House of Justice, in a Research Department memorandum on Socrates in the Baha'i Writings)
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