| Understanding, awareness. |
| For Bahá'ís, ‘true knowledge. . . is the knowledge of God, and this is none other than the recognition of His Manifestation in each Dispensation.'23 The purpose of man's creation is to know God: ‘I bear witness, 0 My God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee.'24 |
| The knowledge of oneself is a high station conferred upon man by God: ‘Whatever duty Thou hast prescribed unto Thy servants of extolling to the utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy grace unto them, that they may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves.'25 Further, Bahá'u'lláh links man's knowledge of himself with the ability to know God: ‘Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves — a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. ‘26 |
| The acquisition of knowledge — education — is an important Bahá'í principle: ‘Knowledge is one of the wondrous gifts of God. It is incumbent upon everyone to acquire it.'27 ‘Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone. The knowledge of such sciences, however, should be acquired as can profit the peoples of the earth, and not those which begin with words and end with words . . . In truth, knowledge is a veritable treasure for man, and a source of glory, of bounty, of joy, of exaltation, of cheer and gladness unto him.'28 |
| [BD 136] |
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