…movement is essential to all existence. All material things
progress to a certain point, then begin to decline. This is the law which
governs the whole physical creation. Now let us consider the soul. We have seen
that movement is essential to existence; nothing that has life is without
motion. All creation, whether of the mineral, vegetable or animal kingdom, is
compelled to obey the law of motion; it must either ascend or descend. But with
the human soul, there is no decline. Its only movement is towards perfection;
growth and progress alone constitute the motion of the soul.
Divine perfection is infinite, therefore the progress of the
soul is also infinite. From the very birth of a human being the soul
progresses, the intellect grows and knowledge increases. When the body dies the
soul lives on. All the differing degrees of created physical beings are
limited, but the soul is limitless!
- ‘Abdu’l-Baha (From a talk, ‘Paris Talks:Addresses given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
in Paris in 1911–1912’; compilation ‘Reincarnation
and the Nature and Progress of the Soul’, prepared by the Research Department
of the Universal House of Justice)
