The stages of the soul by Abdu’l-Bahá

The stages of the soul

a. The commanding soul—the soul that commands to evil — is preoccupied with the trivialities of this world, and is in fatuated with evil and ephemeral desires.

b. The blaming soul — which becomes aware of the depths of its degradation and of its remoteness from its true goal. It awakes to a perception of its state, is filled with regret and blames itself for the depths of perversity and error to which it has sunk.

c. The inspired soul —as it rises from its lowly condition, the soul comes to understand those things that kept it abased and those thing which will lead to its elevation. It becomes averse to those things that perish and to incline towards those things that endure. It is termed the inspired soul for it is inspired as to that which on the one hand leads to depravation and on the other to righteousness.

d. The assured soul — this is the stage at which the soul is in remembrance of its Lord and sees the signs of God in the creation. As a result it is assured in its faith, its turmoil and unrest is calmed, it has quenched its thirst, soothed its torment; it has changed its darkness to light and unloaded its burdens.

e. The accepting soul — reaches a station of submission and contentment, leaving behind its searching and neediness. It entrusts its affairs to God and is content with whatever God may decree for it. This is a happiness that is not followed by sadness. There remains no will, no rest , no motion, no destiny nor any fate except in God.

f. The accepted soul — in this state all- encompassing blessings and mercy reach it. Insofar as it has  risen and left behind its passions and accepted the decree of its Lord, it becomes accepted in the sight of God, and in its state of nothingness, it is approved by its Creator.

g. The perfect soul — here it is characterized by divine perfections and comprised of godly attributes. It thus becomes the focal point of inspiration and the dawning-place for the Divine effulgences.

h. The soul of the Kingdom of God (Mal ak út)— here the soul confirms in its reality the profession of Divine Unity and establishes in its essence the sign of detachment. It attains to everlasting life and eternal living. It takes pleasure from delights the like of which no eye has seen nor any ear heard .

i. The soul of the Realm of Divine Command (Jab arút)— this is a stati on far ab ove the unde rs tand ing of the minds of men, for this stati on is created out of the elements of power, authority, sovereignty, omnipotence, and freedom and nothing that has limitations or pluralities has any resemblance to it. Here the soul becomes aware of the secrets of hidden and invisible realities. This is the ultimate goal in the world of creation .


From ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s Commentary on the Quránic Verses Concerning the Overthrow of the Byzantines: The Stages of the Soul by Moojan Momen file:///C:/Users/Leah%20Wilhelmsen/Downloads/lights2_momen_byzantines%20Complete%20.pdf