d at the very
moment of its occurrence. Were it so, you yourself would have borne
witness unto it. This being not the case, however, it must necessarily
follow that the world in which thou livest is different and apart from
that which thou hast experienced in thy dream. This latter world hath
neither beginning nor end. It would be true if thou wert to contend that
this same world is, as decreed by the All-Glorious and Almighty God,
within thy proper self and is wrapped up within thee. It would equally be
true to maintain that thy spirit, having transcended the limitations of
sleep and having stripped itself of all earthly attachment, hath, by the
act of God, been made to traverse a realm which lieth hidden in the
innermost reality of this world. Verily I say, the creation of God
embraceth worlds besides this world, and creatures apart from these
creatures. In each of these worlds He hath ordained things which none can
search except Himself, the All-Searching, the All-Wise. Do thou meditate
on that which We have revealed unto thee, that thou mayest discover the
purpose of God, thy Lord, and the Lord of all worlds. In these words the
mysteries of Divine Wisdom have been treasured. We have refrained from
dwelling upon this theme owing to the sorrow that hath encompassed Us from
the actions of them that have been created through Our words, if ye be of
them that will hearken unto Our Voice.

LXXX: THOU HAST ASKED ME WHETHER MAN, AS APART...

Thou hast asked Me whether man, as apart from the Prophets of God and His
chosen ones, will retain, after his physical death, the self-same
individuality, personality, consciousness, and understanding that
characterize his life in this world. If this should be the case, how is
it, thou hast observed, that whereas such slight injuries to his mental
faculties as fainting and severe illness deprive him of his understanding
and consciousness, his death, which must involve the decomposition of his
body and the dissolution of its elements, is powerless to destroy that
understanding and extinguish that consciousness? How can any one imagine
that man's consciousness and personality will be maintained, when the very
instruments necessary to their existence and function will have completely
disintegrated?

Know thou that the soul of man is exalted above, and is independent of all
infirmities of body or mind. That a sick person showeth signs of weakness
is due to the hindrances that int