God hath made death a door to His grace, yet most men know it not.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1307 ? [1889-1890], to Karbalai Abdul-Baqi who has attained -- BH06844)
Life, death, and spiritual awakening
life and death
Editorial introduction
God has made death a door to His grace, Bahá’u’lláh writes, and most people do not know it. Everything composed must one day decompose; the ant, the mountain, and the star each have a lifetime, and no one escapes the messenger when he comes. But the Writings use the words life and death in more than one sense. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá distinguishes a death that is appointed from one that proper care might have averted, and then speaks of a death of the heart that can afflict the outwardly living, which is what Christ meant when He let the dead bury their dead. Measured against the life of the Kingdom, the mineral’s life is death, and so is any existence turned away from its source. John’s Gospel sets the same present passing from death to life beside a resurrection still to come [1]. Such language is for self-examination, not for sentencing others. It opens onto the living waters that quicken a soul, onto the cycles of composition and decomposition that run through creation, and onto the distance between the ephemeral and the eternal.
Selected passages
Since the foundation of life, through divine power, is the connection and combination of these essences, inevitably one day it must change to separation and dissolution must occur. Therefore no soul has deliverance from death, and none can find escape from this whirlpool of mortality.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1908-Nov-27, to Mirza Musa Khan (Syria) -- AB01287)
Notwithstanding this the life of every organism, no matter how perfect, comes to an end. For example the life of an ant in comparison to the life of man is short, yet the ant, were it endowed with human intelligence would think that man lives eternally. Similarly these stars, these mountains, these seas shall come to an end. For each one of them a prescribed life is destined. It has a beginning and an ending.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Words of Baha'u'llah to Haji [Mirza Haydar?] Ali, as related to Ahmad Sohrab on January 1, 1914 -- BHU0013)
Suppose a man is ill and dies, not having summoned a physician. Had his time come to die, or would he with proper care have recovered?
There are two kinds of death. One is preordained, and the other is dependent upon many things.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Helen Goodall and Ella Cooper spoken in Jan. 1908 -- ABU2298)
Regarding what thou hadst written about reciting prayers with complete confidence for the healing of those friends, and then their passing occurring - know that there are two kinds of destined time of death: one is the inevitable destined time, and the other is the suspended destined time. These prayers, supplications, pleading, seeking of healing and protection are for preservation from the suspended destined time, not from the appointed and inevitable time. Otherwise, no soul would hasten from this mortal world to the eternal realm, for whenever someone falls ill, either they themselves would pray or others would pray for them and they would be healed.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1905 ca., to Muhammad Rida Qaini -- AB01385)
Soon will the messenger of death come; then shall no one find escape. Seest thou any protector save God?
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290 [1873] or earlier, to Haji Nabil Qabl-i-Rida -- BH03185)
Will anything on earth profit anyone when death overtaketh him? Nay, by the Lord of all worlds! Blessed is he unto whom death is the ultimate annihilation and the beginning of his immortality through God, the Almighty, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290 [1873] or earlier, to son of Ridar-Ruh -- BH08891)
Therefore ponder this blessed verse. If by death was meant physical death, and by life physical life, then the judgment of death and life would not apply to Hamza, for outwardly he was alive with elemental, physical life. Rather, what is meant by death in this noble verse and divine word is spiritual death and the death of the heart. For when Hamza (may God be pleased with him) believed in God, His verses and His Messenger Whom He sent with truth, he became alive with the life of faith and drank from the cup of the Living, the Life-Giving One, from the spring of certitude.
(Bahá’u’lláh -- BH00330)
Although the life of the creature is called life, in reality, compared to the life of the children (of the Kingdom) it is not life; on the contrary it is death.
For instance, a mineral substance contains life, but this life compared to the life of the vegetable is death; in like manner the life of the vegetable compared to the life of an animal is death; in like manner the life of human beings compared to the life of the children of the Kingdom is death.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá -- AB07834)
The meaning of Christ's saying was not that the unbelievers become absolutely annihilated; the meaning of Christ is that the life of those, who reject Him is as non-existent, compared with the life of those who accept Him.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Myron Phelps spoken around Jan. 1909 at the home of Mirza Asadu'llah -- ABU0681)
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 79, The Reality of the World of Being, 1904-Oct-09 -- AB02618)
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 22, The Miracles of Christ, 1905-Jan -- AB00381)
(Bahá’u’lláh, ca. 1289-1290? -- BH02747)
Say: The dead are they who have not been quickened today by the breezes of the All-Merciful and have not drunk the choice wine of verses from a wondrous cup.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1291 ? [1874-1875], to Karbalai Ahmad Qaini -- BH03554)
O thou who art assured of the Day of Resurrection!
On the Day of Manifestation, the trumpet was sounded and the bugle was blown. Both the assured and the doubtful were gathered together, but the assured one awakened and became conscious, became aware of death and life, crossed over the bridge, and entered the paradise of sanctification. But the heedless remained unaware of both death and life, and "they perceive not when they shall be raised."
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1900 or <, to Rajab Ali -- AB10105)
Every soul who today turns to the Luminary of the horizon of inner meanings is accounted among the living before the Divine Countenance, and whoso remains deprived is reckoned among the dead.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290-05 [1873-Jun], to Mahmud son of Mirza Khudavirdi -- BH08742)
For, no matter if the people are living in appearance, yet they may be dead in reality. That is why His Holiness Christ, sayeth in the Gospels: "Let the dead bury the dead!" Praise be to God! that you have found eternal life from among the dead; that is, you have heard the call of the divine Kingdom, are attracted to the Heavenly Countenance and have turned your faces toward the Center of the Light of Truth.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1916 or < -- AB09123)
Whoso draweth nigh and drinketh, verily he is of the people of Baha before God, the Lord of Names; and whoso is debarred, he is assuredly among the dead.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290-05 [1873-Jun] -- BH09545)
And whoso hath attained unto this, verily he liveth in Our exalted Kingdom and his mention shall endure through the eternity of God, the Lord of the worlds. And whoso is deprived, he is indeed among the dead though he be among those who speak.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290-05 [1873-Jun] -- BH06534)
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 68, Two Kinds of Fate, 1904 ca. -- AB05420)
Say: God provideth sustenance to every soul, and verily He is the Provider, the Most Exalted, the All-Powerful, the Impregnable, the Possessor of might and majesty. Say: Who causeth all things to die and then giveth them life? Say: God, more swiftly than to say "Be" and it is. Such is God, your Lord. His is the creation and the command. There is no God but Him, the Mighty, the Beloved.
(The Báb, Kitab-i-Jaza' (Book of the Reckoning), 1264-05-05 ca. (Chihriq) [1848-Apr-9], to Mulla Husayn, Quddus, 'Abdu'l-Vahhab, Aba 'Ali, Hasan, 'Azim, Yahya and others -- BB00004)
What aileth you that ye remember not within yourselves a remembrance from God, the Truth, even a little? How can ye deny God when ye were dead, knowing naught from the knowledge of the Book in truth and through truth? He it is Who created you, then sustained you, then causeth you to die, then giveth you life as He willeth.
(The Báb, Qayyumu'l-Asma' (Commentary on the Surah of Joseph), 1260-05 [1844-May] -- BB00002)
He who hath attained in the days of God, verily he is of the essence of creation before the Truth, and he who hath hesitated is accounted among the dead.
… Think not that they who are heedless today are living - they are dead in the Book of your Lord, the Almighty, the All-Powerful.
(Bahá’u’lláh, 1290-05 [1873-Jun], to Abu'l-Qasim K -- BH05840)
Continue exploring
For thought and discussion
Questions to carry forward
- How does the meaning of life or death change from one passage to another?
- What practices might make life more awake, receptive, and generous in the present?
- How can spiritual language about death deepen self-examination without diminishing compassion for others?
- What does mortality reveal about the difference between what we possess, what we do, and what may endure?