| The separation of the soul from the body. In The Hidden Words Bahá'u'lláh reveals, 'I have made death a messenger of joy to thee.'12 In the Ḥurúfát-i-'Allín (The Exalted Letters), here paraphrased by Adib Taherzadeh, Bahá'u'lláh 'directs His attention to physical death and dwells on the afflictions which befall the human temple. At this point the vehicle of so precious an entity as the soul becomes useless, is discarded and buried under the dust . . . The perfect union which for a lifetime brought the soul and the body together is now ended, as one is elevated to great heights and the other abased and condemned to perish. In this Tablet Bahá'u'lláh refers to death as an affliction for the body and confirms that since the spiritual worlds of God are hidden from the eyes of men, it is difficult for those who are bereaved by the death of their loved ones not to feel the anguish of separation in their hearts. He therefore counsels them to fix their attention on the spiritual realms of God and the immortality of the soul.'13 |
