'Abdu'l-Bahá's position in the Faith is one for which we
find "no parallel" in past Dispensations. For example, Bahá'u'lláh,
in addition to His reference to the Centre of His Covenant as the "Mystery
of God", states that 'Abdu'l-Bahá should be regarded as God's
"exalted Handiwork" and "a Word which God hath adorned with the
ornament of His Own Self, and made it sovereign over the earth and all that
there is therein..." And from Shoghi Effendi we have the incontrovertible
statement that the Guardian of the Faith while "overshadowed" by the
"protection'' of Bahá'u'lláh and of the Bab, "remains essentially
human", whereas in respect of 'Abdu'l-Bahá Shoghi Effendi categorically
states that "in the person of 'Abdu'l-Bahá the incompatible
characteristics of a human nature and superhuman knowledge and perfection have
been blended and are completely harmonized."
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter dated 3 June
1982 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual
believer)
