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Then what is prejudice? It is the descent of human beings from the highest and noblest plane of perfection to the lowest and cheapest. It is ignoring the light and adoring the lamp. It is demeaning the immortal gift, and glorifying and clinging to the disposable cover. It is degrading the station of the soul to the state of a cell. It is reducing the rank of an angel to the role of an ant. It is diminishing the splendors of the soul to the lowliness of the soil. It is debasing the lofty bird of heaven to the lowly bug of the earth. It is exchanging the glories and grandeur of God's image for the worth of a worm. For that is what our bodies will at last become! (1:6) In a letter sent to a pompous, worldly, and cruel king, Baha'u'llah asks this question: Can anyone tell the difference between the skeleton of a beggar and that of a prince? Let us ask a similar question: Can anyone tell the difference between the worms that have thrived on white skin or black skin? Fed on men's flesh or women's flesh? In The Hidden Words, Baha'u'llah uses the word dust nine times as a heading to show the worth of our physical form. He uses expressions such as: O Son of Dust, O Moving Form of Dust, O Offspring of Dust (1:8) Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul...that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest.1 Baha'u'llah (1:9) All will I gather beneath the onecolored covering of the dust and efface all these diverse colors save them that choose My own, and that is purging from every color.2 Baha'u'llah (1:10) References: 1. hwd (Arabic), no. 68: 2. hwd (Persian), no. 74
(1:11)
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