Creation

The mystery of Creation

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Hinduism c. 3000 BC
Nothing whatsoever exists without Me or beyond Me.
The atoms of the universe may be counted, but not so
My manifestations; for eternally I create innumerable
worlds.
– Srimad Bhagavatam 11.10
I am the nucleus of every creature, Arjuna; for without
Me nothing can exist, neither animate nor inanimate....
Wherever you find strength, or beauty, or spiritual
power, you may be sure that these have sprung from a
spark of My essence.
– Bhagavad Gita 10.39, 41
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
O SON OF SPIRIT!
I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to
poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase
thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee
being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone
beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how
dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto
thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee,
mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.
O SON OF LOVE!
Thou art but one step away from the glorious heights
above and from the celestial tree of love. Take thou one
pace and with the next advance into the immortal realm
and enter the pavilion of eternity. Give ear then to that
which hath been revealed by the pen of glory.
– Bahá'u'lláh
The Hidden Words
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
Having created the world and all that liveth and moveth
therein, He, through the direct operation of His
unconstrained and sovereign Will, chose to confer upon
man the unique distinction and capacity to know Him
and to love Him—a capacity that must needs be regarded
as the generating impulse and the primary purpose
underlying the whole of creation…. Upon the inmost
reality of each and every created thing He hath shed the
light of one of His names, and made it a recipient of the
glory of one of His attributes. Upon the reality of man,
however, He hath focused the radiance of all of His
names and attributes, and made it a mirror of His own
Self. Alone of all created things man hath been singled
out for so great a favor, so enduring a bounty.
– Bahá'u'lláh
Gleanings
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Judaism c. 1500 BC
In the beginning God created the heavens and the
earth.
– Genesis 1:1
When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,
The moon and the stars, which You have ordained;
What is man that You take thought of him,
And the son of man that You care for him?
Yet You have made him a little lower than God,
And You crown him with glory and majesty!
You make him to rule over the works of Your hands;
You have put all things under his feet
– Psalms 8:4-10
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Zoroastrianism c. 900 BC
This do I ask, O Lord, reveal unto me the truth!
Who is the first begetter, father of the Cosmic Law?
Who assigned orbit to the sun and the stars?
Who causes the moon to wax and again to wane?
Who other than Thee? This and else I wish to know!
Who is the upholder of the earth and of the sky?
Who prevents them from falling down?
Who maintains the waters and also the plants?
Who yoked speed to winds and clouds?
Who is the creator of the creatures?
Who is the architect of light and darkness?
Who created sleep and wakefulness?
By whom exists dawn, mid-day and night,
Which monitor the duties of men?
– Avesta, Yana 44.3-5
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD
O SON OF MAN!
I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do
thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul
with the spirit of life.
O CHILDREN OF MEN!
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, to walk
with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell
in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your
deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence
of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My
counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this
counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the
tree of wondrous glory.
– Bahá'u'lláh
The Hidden Words
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The Bahá'í Faith 1844 AD Buddhism c. 400 BC

The one true God hath everlastingly existed, and will And as all things originate from one essence, so they are
everlastingly continue to exist. His creation, likewise, hath developing according to one law and they are destined to
had no beginning, and will have no end. All that is created, one aim which is Nirvana. Nirvana comes to thee, Kassapa,
however, is preceded by a cause. This fact, in itself, when thou understandest thoroughly, and when thou livest
establisheth, beyond the shadow of a doubt, the unity of according to thy understanding, that all things are of one
the Creator. essence and that there is but one law. Hence, there is but
one Nirvana as there is but one truth, not two or three.
Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the nature of
– Lal, Dhammapada, p. 5
the celestial spheres. To comprehend their nature, it
would be necessary to inquire into the meaning of the
allusions that have been made in the Books of old to the
celestial spheres and the heavens, and to discover the
The Tathagata [Buddha] sees the universe face to face and
character of their relationship to this physical world, and
understands its nature. He proclaims the truth both in its
the influence which they exert upon it. Every heart is filled
letter and in its spirit, and his doctrine is glorious in its
with wonder at so bewildering a theme, and every mind is
origin, glorious in its progress, glorious in its
perplexed by its mystery. God, alone, can fathom its
consummation. The Tathagata reveals the higher life in its
import. The learned men, that have fixed at several
purity and perfection.
thousand years the life of this earth, have failed,
throughout the long period of their observation, to
– Digha-niyaka, 1:235 (Tevijja Sutta),
consider either the number or the age of the other Fozdar, Buddha p. 44
planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold divergencies
that have resulted from the theories propounded by these
men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets,
and every planet its own creatures, whose number no
man can compute.

– Bahá'u'lláh
Gleanings
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Christianity 1 AD Islam c. 613 AD

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God it is Who created the heavens and the earth, and
God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning that which is between them, in six days.
with God. All things came into being through Him, and
– Qur'an 32.4-9
apart from Him nothing came into being that has come
into being. In Him was life, and the life was the Light of
men.
It is God who hath given you the earth as a sure
– John 1:1-4
foundation, and over it built up the Heaven, and formed
you, and made your forms beautiful, and feedeth you
with good things. This is God your Lord. Blessed then be
God the Lord of the Worlds!
“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and
the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who – Qur'an 14:66
always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty
One.”

– Revelation 1:8