76th Chapter
When a man is alive, his body is soft and flexible; when he dies, his body becomes hard and stiff.
When trees and grass are alive, they are soft and pliable; when they die, they become stiff and unalterable.
Therefore, being stiff and unalterable are the signs of death, and being soft, flexible, and changeable, are the signs a living being.
From the condition of the heart, rigid or soft, we can see if it is dead or alive.
Therefore, if military power is used rigidly, it will lead to death;
A tree that becomes big and rigid will break.
In a spiritual sense, (the Kingdom of God), the rigid one is in a lower station and the soft one is in the higher station.
(This is opposite to the hierarchy in the human world.)
Implications from the Holy Books
O servants! Ye are even as saplings in a garden, which are near to perishing for want of water. Wherefore, revive your souls with the heavenly water that is raining down from the clouds of divine bounty. Words must be followed by deeds. Whoso accepteth the words of the Friend is in truth a man of deeds; otherwise a dead carcass is verily of greater worth. ─ Bahá’u’lláh, The Tabernacle of Unity
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