A polished mirror held up to the sun shows the sun entire, yet the sun never leaves the sky. That is how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains the Perfect Man: the one reality in which the full splendour of the divine attributes appears, so that to know the Manifestation of God is to know God, since the Essence itself can never be known. Every created thing receives a ray; this one receives the whole, and the ancient and the contingent remain forever distinct. Colossians calls Christ the image of the invisible God, in whom all fullness dwells [1], a claim with its own theological grammar that rewards careful comparison. The phrase has other homes too, in the Qur’án’s account of the Spirit appearing to Mary, in Bahá’u’lláh’s word for the herald who prepares souls before each new Revelation, and in the soul’s own growth, which advances in perfections though not in station. An exemplary life enlarges those who meet it rather than merely drawing their admiration. The path leads on to the station of the Manifestation of God, to sinlessness and infallibility, and to the human being as the fruit of creation.
The Perfect Man is as a polished mirror reflecting the Sun of Truth, manifesting the attributes of God.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken at Dreyfus home in Paris, 1911-Oct-20 -- ABU0061)
02
For the other beings have each received only a portion of that light, but the universal Manifestation of God is the mirror held before this Sun, and the latter manifests itself therein with all its perfections, attributes, signs and effects.
The knowledge of the reality of the Divinity is in no wise possible, but the knowledge of the Manifestations of God is the knowledge of God, for the bounties, splendours and attributes of God are manifest in them. Thus, whoso attains to the knowledge of the Manifestations of God attains to the knowledge of God, and whoso remains heedless of them remains bereft of that knowledge.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 59, Man's Comprehension of God, 1904 ca. -- AB00395)
03
And when we say "man" the intention is the unique, perfect individual.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1909-Jun-20, to Aqa Habibullah Ganjihi -- AB05613)
04
Man is the sum of Creation, and the Perfect Man is the expression of the complete thought of the Creator -- the Word of God.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words spoken on 1911-Oct-28 in Paris -- ABU0491)
05
We regard man as the chief member because, among all created things, he encompasses all the perfections of existence.
Now, what we mean by "man" is the complete human being, the foremost person in the world, who is the sum of all spiritual and material perfections, and who is like the sun among all created things. Imagine, then, a time when the sun did not exist as such, in other words, when the sun was merely another celestial body. Undoubtedly, at such a time the relationships between existing things would have been disrupted.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 46, Transformation of Species, 1904-Jun ca. -- AB00278)
06
But from the beginning that has no beginning to the end that has no end, a perfect Manifestation has always existed. This Man of whom we speak here is not just any man: that which we intend is the Perfect Man. For the noblest part of the tree, and the fundamental purpose of its existence, is the fruit. A tree without fruit is of no use. Therefore, it cannot be imagined that the world of existence, whether in the realms above or below, was once populated by cows and donkeys, cats and mice, and yet was deprived of the presence of man. What a false and vacuous notion!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 50, Spiritual Proofs of the Origin of Man, 1904-Oct ca. -- AB00440)
07
This seed may be likened to the perfect soul; the souls of men in general are as the leaves and the flowers.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to Myron Phelps and Madame Canavarro in Dec. 1902 -- ABU2645)
08
Their glory hath lain in this: that their very beings have reached such heights of subtlety and delicacy that their own selves have been lifted from them, and naught but the Truth hath shown forth in them, and naught hath been seen or can be seen in them save the Point of the Bayan, in Whom naught can be seen except the Dawning-Place of Glory and the Sanctifier of Holiness.
(The Báb, Panj Sha'n (Book of the Five Modes), 1266-04 ca. [1850-Feb] -- BB00005)
09
In the Qur'an it is said: "And We sent Our Spirit to her, and He took before her the form of a perfect man", meaning that the Holy Spirit assumed a human form, as an image appears in a mirror, and conversed with Mary.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 17, The Birth of Christ, 1904 ca. -- AB00920)
10
Both before and after casting off this elemental frame, the human soul progresses in perfections but not in station. The progression of all created things culminates in perfect man, and no greater being than him exists: Man, having reached the human station, can progress only in perfections and not in station, for there is no higher station to which he can find passage than that of a perfect man.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 64, The Station of Man and His Progress after Death, 1904 ca. -- AB00420)
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Thus, among created beings, man is the most perfect of creatures. By man is meant the perfect individual, and that perfect individual is like a mirror wherein divine perfections appear and are visible. However, the Sun does not descend from its height of sanctity and enter into the mirror, but when the mirror is pure and faces the Sun of Reality, the perfections of the Sun of Reality - which are its rays and heat - become manifest and visible in that mirror. These souls are the Holy Manifestations of God.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1919-Jul-20, to John Wolcott -- AB01382)
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The sign of the invisible heaven must needs be revealed in the person of that perfect man who, before each Manifestation appeareth, educateth, and prepareth the souls of men for the advent of the divine Luminary, the Light of the unity of God amongst men.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude), 1278 ca. [1861-1862], to Haji Mirza Siyyid Muhammad, great uncle of the Bab (Khal-i-Akbar) -- BH00002)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
13
...the perfect man, the Prophet, is one who is transfigured, one who has the purity and clearness of a perfect mirror - one who reflects the Sun of Truth. Of such a one - of such a Prophet and Messenger - we can say that the Light of Divinity with the heavenly Perfections dwells in him.