Though in outward form you are of the earth,
In essence you are bound to the thread of a certain jewel.
The station of humanity is not defined by physical form, social rank, or intellectual achievement, but by the human capacity to know, love, and reflect the Divine. In mystical thought—especially in the teachings of Jalal ad-Din Rumi—the human being is a bridge between the visible and the invisible, standing at the threshold where earth meets heaven. Humanity’s true dignity lies in consciousness: the ability to awaken from mere existence (being) into purposeful realization (becoming).
Rumi teaches that ascension (miʿrāj) is not a physical rising into the skies, but an inward liberation from the prison of ego. Nearness to God is not found in height or distance, but in release from selfhood—a movement from “I am” to “He is.” When the self dissolves in love and awareness, the heart becomes a mirror capable of reflecting divine attributes such as mercy, justice, and wisdom. In this sense, the station of humanity is achieved not by accumulation, but by emptying—not by power, but by surrender.
From this perspective, every human being carries immense potential. The heart is a workshop of transformation, a place where suffering can turn into insight and limitation into illumination. Humanity reaches its highest station when it lives as a conscious participant in creation—loving without possession, knowing without pride, and serving without seeking reward. To be human, then, is not merely to exist, but to awaken.
In one of His many statements concerning the true nature of the human being, Baháʼuʼlláh states:
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.(The Hidden Words)www.bahai.org/r/511421653
When Adam’s eye beheld the pure Light,
the soul and the secret of all names were unveiled to him.
When the angel perceived the lights of Truth within him,
he fell into prostration and hastened to serve.
Such an Adam of whom I speak—
were I to praise him until the Day of Resurrection, I would still fall short.
Lofty is the station of man! Not long ago this exalted Word streamed forth from the treasury of Our Pen of Glory: Great and blessed is this Day—the Day in which all that lay latent in man hath been and will be made manifest. Lofty is the station of man, were he to hold fast to righteousness and truth and to remain firm and steadfast in the Cause.(Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh)www.bahai.org/r/975681273
O you who are the copy of the Divine mysteries,
and you who are the mirror of the King’s beauty—
Nothing that exists in the world is outside of you;
Whatever you seek, seek it within yourself, for you are that.
Ferdowsi, at the beginning of the Shahnameh, opens with these words:
In the name of God of soul and wisdom,
Beyond whom no higher thought may pass.
Regarding the creation of Adam, he says:
When this stage was passed, humankind appeared,
And became the key to all these bonds.
The human being is the key to all the bonds of the world.
His head was raised upright like the tall cypress;
He was bound to noble speech and wisdom.Endowed with intellect, judgment, and reason,
Before him beasts and animals were placed in command.
This upright posture of the human being, walking on two feet, and the faculty of speech are signs of humanity’s distinction from other creatures—endowed with intellect and authority over creation.
If you look upon the path of reason for a moment,
You will see that all humans are one in essence.Unless you call humanity foolishly blind,
And recognize no sign beyond this.
If you look through the lens of reason, you will see all human beings as one—unless you are heedless and fail to recognize the worth of your own station.
You have been raised beyond the two worlds,
And nurtured through many intermediaries.The first in nature, the last in form—
Do not treat yourself as a mere plaything.
By “the first in nature,” he refers to the angels, whom God commanded to prostrate themselves before the human being. The station of humanity is higher than that of the angels. Hafez says:
Last night I saw the angels knocking at the tavern door;
They kneaded Adam’s clay and struck it with the wine cup.The dwellers of the sacred realm of chastity and concealment,
Drank the wine of ecstasy with me, the wayfarer.
The angels fashioned the cup from the clay of humanity and drank from it the wine of the primordial covenant (alast).
All creatures belong to this single world—except the human being, who, in Ferdowsi’s words, “has been raised beyond the two worlds,” or, as expressed by Baháʼuʼlláh in the Hidden Words (Persian):
O Son of Bounty!
Out of the wastes of nothingness, with the clay of My command I made thee to appear, and have ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things. Thus, ere thou didst issue from thy mother’s womb, I destined for thee two founts of gleaming milk, eyes to watch over thee, and hearts to love thee. Out of My loving-kindness, ’neath the shade of My mercy I nurtured thee, and guarded thee by the essence of My grace and favor. And My purpose in all this was that thou mightest attain My everlasting dominion and become worthy of My invisible bestowals. And yet heedless thou didst remain, and when fully grown, thou didst neglect all My bounties and occupied thyself with thine idle imaginings, in such wise that thou didst become wholly forgetful, and, turning away from the portals of the Friend didst abide within the courts of My enemy.(The Hidden Words)www.bahai.org/r/567841905
Here it is fitting to make a brief reference to the station of the believer in this Most Great Dispensation. This theme is addressed extensively throughout the Blessed Writings; here, however, we shall suffice with one example. Baháʼuʼlláh states at the beginning of the Tablet of Ahmad:
Lo, the Nightingale of Paradise singeth upon the twigs of the Tree of Eternity, with holy and sweet melodies, proclaiming to the sincere ones the glad tidings of the nearness of God, calling the believers in the Divine Unity to the court of the Presence of the Generous One, informing the severed ones of the message which hath been revealed by God, the King, the Glorious, the Peerless, guiding the lovers to the seat of sanctity and to this resplendent Beauty.
The summary of the meaning of this blessed passage, rendered, is that this bird of the garden of Paradise (Gabriel) has alighted upon the branch of the Tree of Eternity and sings with a sweet, melodious voice, calling the believers proceed beyond that tree to the presence of God.
In Islamic tradition, it is related that in the Garden of Paradise there is a tree known as Sidrat al-Muntahā (the Lote Tree of the Utmost Boundary), also called the Lote Tree of Eternity. Beyond this tree lies the Divine Court, and believers are not permitted to pass beyond it. During the ascension (miʿrāj) of Muhammad, Gabriel, who accompanied him, did not proceed beyond that tree, while the Prophet alone completed the remainder of the journey.
Here, Jalal ad-Din Rumi says:
Gabriel withdrew his foot from Ahmad,
for beyond the Lote Tree the journey lay in the realm beyond.
He said, “If I go further, I would burn,
for beyond that point all is pure love and trial.”
In the Tablet of Ahmad, it is stated that Gabriel is seated upon a branch of this Tree and calls the believers to the presence of God.
This signifies the station of the believer in this blessed Revelation—a station even higher than that of Gabriel. God, in the Qur’an, repeatedly promises the believers that they shall attain His presence on the Day of Resurrection.
I have passed beyond the Sidrat al-Muntahā;
I have journeyed hundreds of thousands of years beyond that realm.
You struck the whip, and my steed surged forward,
vaulted like a dome, and passed beyond the heavens.
May the inner circle of the earthly realm become worthy of the divine;
blessed be your hand, and blessed be your arm.