A Manifestation of God is born on a particular day, in a body that will age and with a rational soul that, like every human soul, has a beginning. Yet ‘Abdu’l-Bahá names a third station, the Word of God and everlasting Grace, which has neither beginning nor end, and it is from that station that the Writings speak of pre-existence. Bahá’u’lláh praises a primal Sea, a primal Morn, a primal Sun; the Báb addresses one who believed in God before creation; a throne made by human hands becomes, once the King sits upon it, something the discerning recognise as older than the heavens. Yesterday, today, and tomorrow do not exist in the sun. When Jesus says that before Abraham was, He is, His hearers hear only an impossibility of chronology [1]. The images make understanding possible; literalising them, or assuming that soul and spirit always mean the same thing, misleads. Words, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá admits, are inadequate here. The inquiry continues into the Word sanctified from time and place, into the early self-awareness of the Manifestations, and into their station as a whole.
The second station is that of the rational soul, which is the human reality. This also has a beginning, and the Manifestations of God share it in common with all humanity.
The third station is that of divine manifestation and heavenly splendour, which is the Word of God, the everlasting Grace, and the Holy Spirit. This station has neither beginning nor end; for firstness and lastness pertain to the contingent world and not to the world of God.
… Now, the reality of prophethood, which is the Word of God and the state of perfect divine manifestation, has neither beginning nor end, but its radiance varies like that of the sun.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 38, The Three Stations of the Divine Manifestations, 1904 ca. -- AB00345)
02
2 And I praise and glorify that primal Sea which hath branched out from the ocean of the unseen Essence, and that primal Morn which hath broken forth upon the horizon of Singleness, and that primal Sun which hath risen in the heaven of everlasting splendour, and that primal Fire which was kindled from the Lamp of eternity within the Niche of oneness: He Who is called "Ahmad" in the kingdom of the exalted ones, and "Muhammad" amongst the concourse of the favoured ones, and "Mahmud" in the realm of the sincere; and in the hearts of the knowing, "whichsoever ye call upon, most beauteous are His names."
(Bahá’u’lláh, Haft Vadi (The Seven Valleys), to Shaykh Muhiyid-Din Judge of Khaniqayn et al -- BH00047)
03
When thou didst believe in God before creation, God made thee in every Dispensation a Command from His presence.
(The Báb, Kitab al-Vahid 01 (Letter to the first Temple) -- BB00447)
04
The transcendent Word of God is sanctified beyond time. The past, the present and the future are all equal in relation to God. Yesterday, today and tomorrow do not exist in the sun.
Thus the reality of Christ, Who is the Word of God, undoubtedly precedes all created things in essence, in attributes and in distinction. Before appearing in human form, the Word of God was in a state of utmost sanctity and glory, abiding in perfect beauty and splendour in the height of its majesty.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Chapter 28, The Pre-existence of Christ, 1904 ca. -- AB01528)
05
For example, consider the throne or seat or chair and their like - these are crafted by one of His creatures through the confirmations that descend upon them from the heaven of His grace and the clouds of His bounty. He takes His seat upon them, though before His sitting none recognize them, seeing them merely as the work of their hands. But after He takes His seat upon them, all relations are severed from them - they become the Throne of the All-Merciful, around which circle the realities of all things created in the heavens and earth. Their recognition then depends upon the gaze of the observers and the insight of those endowed with luminous, radiant vision who bear witness that they were created before the creation of the heavens and earth, that they have ever been the Throne of the All-Merciful and will ever continue to be as they have been, having no relation, connection, direction or indication to anything else.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Zuhur (Tablet of the Manifestation), to Hadi -- BH00686)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
06
The body of the Manifestation and His Soul have a beginning, because this part of them is human. But the spark of God in Them partakes of the preexistence of God.
(Maxwell pilgrim notes, Jan-Mar 1937, p. 5)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified
07
The Prophets, unlike us, are pre-existent. The soul of Christ existed in the spiritual world before His birth in this world. We cannot imagine what that world is like, so words are inadequate to picture His state of being.
LG#1699, HE.071 (9 Oct. 1947 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified