t
the soul hath limitless manifestations of its own. The mind is
circumscribed, the soul limitless. It is by the aid of such senses as
those of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch, that the mind
comprehendeth, whereas the soul is free from all agencies. The soul as
thou observest, whether it be in sleep or waking, is in motion and ever
active. Possibly it may, whilst in a dream, unravel an intricate problem,
incapable of solution in the waking state. The mind, moreover,
understandeth not whilst the senses have ceased to function, and in the
embryonic stage and in early infancy the reasoning power is totally
absent, whereas the soul is ever endowed with full strength. In short, the
proofs are many that go to show that despite the loss of reason, the power
of the soul would still continue to exist. The spirit however possesseth
various grades and stations.

As to the existence of spirit in the mineral: it is indubitable that
minerals are endowed with a spirit and life according to the requirements
of that stage. This unknown secret, too, hath become known unto the
materialists who now maintain that all beings are endowed with life, even
as He saith in the Qur'an, 'All things are living'.

In the vegetable world, too, there is the power of growth, and that power
of growth is the spirit. In the animal world there is the sense of
feeling, but in the human world there is an all-embracing power. In all
the preceding stages the power of reason is absent, but the soul existeth
and revealeth itself. The sense of feeling understandeth not the soul,
whereas the reasoning power of the mind proveth the existence thereof.

In like manner the mind proveth the existence of an unseen Reality that
embraceth all beings, and that existeth and revealeth itself in all
stages, the essence whereof is beyond the grasp of the mind. Thus the
mineral world understandeth neither the nature nor the perfections of the
vegetable world; the vegetable world understandeth not the nature of the
animal world, neither the animal world the nature of the reality of man
that discovereth and embraceth all things.

The animal is the captive of nature and cannot transgress the rules and
laws thereof. In man, however, there is a discovering power that
transcendeth the world of nature and controlleth and interfereth with the
laws thereof. For instance, all minerals, plants and animals are captives
of nature. The sun itself with all its majesty is so subservien