The Divine Reality presupposes a creation, the All-Provider
presupposes a recipient of His bounty. To imagine a God without His creatures
is like imagining a king without a country and a people. A king must have a
kingdom. Could there be a king without a country and subjects? It is an
impossibility. If there had been a time when there were no country and no army,
how could we say there was a king at that time? Thus he must have had his
people. Thus, as the Divine Eternity is infinite, His creation is also without
beginning and without end. From everlasting God was the Creator, the
All-Provider, the Quickener and the Bestower. There was no time when His
attributes did not express themselves. Cessation is wholly inconceivable. The
sun is the sun because of its light and heat. If we conceive the cessation of
heat and light, we predicate the non-existence of the sun. If it had no light
and no heat, it was not the sun. Likewise, when we say that at one time God had
no creation and no recipient of His grace, we assert that there was no Creator.
This is denying the eternity of the Divine Entity and regarding Him as an
accidental being.
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, December 4, New York,
recorded by Mahmud Zarqani; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’)
