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lower station, thou verily art created by this verse, and thus thou wouldst not comprehend above it. As to thee who art in the highest station, thou art fashioned by that verse and thou canst understand the station beneath thine existence. . . . Thus, wert thou to acquire wisdom, thou wouldst not reject anyone because of his limitation, but must foster the growth of all in the palm of thy mercy. Shouldst thou succeed in elevating him to the realm of glory, great would be his blessings from thee; and should he fail to ascend to thy height, thou shouldst train him within his own rank of existence. For verily he too is a creation of thy Lord; God loveth him and he loveth God. . . .”23 This epistemological precept has far-reaching implications, especially for discourse and communication. Because the diverse perceptions of truth entertained by different minds are due to the varying reflections of the divine creative Word in their hearts, an approach of humility and tolerance is called for, as well as avoidance of conflict and contention. Although no one can comprehend the Truth in its absolute reality, there clearly is a hierarchy of spiritual stations and corresponding perspectives on truth. The attitude of those who occupy higher stations must be one of compassion and understanding toward those of lower stations. They must try to educate them and assist them to understand, but they must never forget the limits of their own understanding. This epistemological doctrine should not be mistaken as a form of relativism , however, although it has some similarities to perspectivism, which holds truth to be related to the perspective or standpoint of the subject . Here, the constitution of the subject’s standpoint is not due to some arbitrary material or social factor that is accidental to the noumenal reality . Instead, the perspective is constituted by a specific aspect of the selfdisclosing act of the same creative noumenal reality. As we will see in the next chapter, the two extreme perspectives discussed by the Báb in the example above represent the twin aspects of the station of the Point, which reveal the ultimate structure of reality. Each of these perspectives thus unveils one aspect of the reality of being, while at the same time they differ hierarchically in the degree of disclosure they represent, within and between diverse, historically specific revelations of the Primal Will. The Báb’s epistemology is based on a metaphysics that defines the creative Word of God as the supreme noumenal reality of the world. It implies that recognition of the Word of God as revealed in each age is the 176 gate of the heart ultimate state of truth-knowledge that is possible for human beings to attain. One can most directly approach noumenal reality through the sanctuary of the heart, which affords the only perspective from which an all-encompassing gaze of unity is possible.Within the sanctuary of the heart, from the perspective of unity, it becomes evident that there is no contradiction in the divine words, and that if there seems to be any contradiction , that perception is accountable to the limitations of the readers and their varying stations. In one of His tablets the Báb writes:“Beseech thou God to open, through His grace, the gate of the heart unto thee, inasmuch as, without the light of that sanctuary, man is unable to conceive of contrary attributes within one and the same thing.”24 And elsewhere He writes: Such conclusive truth hath been revealed through the gaze of the heart, and not that of intellect. For intellect conceives not save limited things. Verily, bound by the realm of limitations, men are unable to gaze upon things simultaneously in their manifold aspects. Thus it is perplexing for them to comprehend that lofty station. No one can recognize the truth of the Middle Way between the two extreme poles except after attaining unto the gate of the heart and beholding the realities of the worlds, visible and unseen.25 The Báb provides another example of a typical dispute over doctrine, in which different individuals with opposing, although equally absolutist , orientations adduce different passages to support their positions, unable to see that things have multiple aspects which are true simultaneously : For instance, in the Dispensation of the Furqán,‘Alí affirmed,“I am the Ever-Living, the Imperishable.” He whose inner reality is created through the influence of that gemstone would...

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