The institution of marriage, as established by Bahá'u'lláh,
while giving due importance to the physical aspect of marital union, considers
it as subordinate to the moral and spiritual purposes and functions with which
it has been invested by an all-wise and loving Providence. Only when these
different values are given each their due importance, and only on the basis of
the subordination of the physical to the moral, and the carnal to the spiritual
can such excesses and laxity in marital relations as our decadent age is so
sadly witnessing be avoided, and family life be restored to its original
purity, and fulfil the true function for which it has been instituted by God.
- Shoghi Effendi (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated 8 May, 1939, to an individual
believer; The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, Divorce)
