| The highest and lowest conditions a human soul can experience. |
| In the Bahá'í Writings these terms are used in a spiritual rather than a literal, material sense. These conditions of ‘heaven' and ‘hell' are not limited to life after death: ‘the paradise and hell of existence are found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the spiritual heavenly worlds.'19 |
| ‘Heaven' is the state of perfection and nearness to God, achieved by a soul who has striven to acquire virtues during its life on earth, while ‘hell' is the condition of imperfection, remoteness and the awareness of the deprivation one has brought by one's actions. Bahá'u'lláh wrote, ‘They say: "Where is Paradise, and where is Hell?" Say: "The one is reunion with Me; the other thine own self . . .'20 Bahá'u'lláh explains in the Kitáb-i-Iqán that the use of the word ‘heaven' in earlier prophecies such as the ‘cleaving asunder of the heaven' is metaphorical not literal. |
| [BD 101] |
 |
| See also: |
|
|
