As to thy question regarding discoveries made by the soul
after it hath put off its human form: certainly, that world is a world of
perceptions and discoveries, for the interposed veil will be lifted away and
the human spirit will gaze upon souls that are above, below, and on a par with
itself. It is similar to the condition of a human being in the womb, where his
eyes are veiled, and all things are hidden away from him. Once he is born out
of the uterine world and entereth this life, he findeth it, with relation to
that of the womb, to be a place of perceptions and discoveries, and he
observeth all things through his outer eye. In the same way, once he hath
departed this life, he will behold, in that world whatsoever was hidden from
him here: but there he will look upon and comprehend all things with his inner
eye. There will he gaze on his fellows and his peers, and those in the ranks
above him, and those below. As for what is meant by the equality of souls in
the all-highest realm, it is this: the souls of the believers, at the time when
they first become manifest in the world of the body, are equal, and each is
sanctified and pure. In this world, however, they will begin to differ one from
another, some achieving the highest station, some a middle one, others
remaining at the lowest stage of being. Their equal status is at the beginning
of their existence; the differentiation followeth their passing away.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (‘Selections from the Writing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)
