Hell
Hell is one's own self
[edit]“Where is Paradise, and where is Hell? Say: The one is reunion with Me, the other thine own self”
- (Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 118)
(A “Hell” is found in this world and the next just as the Bible indicates)
[edit]"In the heavenly Books, mention is made of the immortality of the spirit, which is the very foundation of the divine religions. For rewards and punishments are said to be of two kinds—one being existential rewards and punishments and the other, ultimate rewards and punishments. Existential paradise and hell are to be found in all the worlds of God, whether in this world or in the heavenly realms of the spirit, and to gain these rewards is to attain life eternal. That is why Christ said: Act in such a manner that you may find eternal life, be born of water and of the spirit, and thus enter into the Kingdom.[Cf. John 3:5]"
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chapter 60, par. 2)
The punishment or the hell of this world
[edit]"For such souls, there is no greater torment than to be veiled from God, and no worse punishment than selfish qualities, evil attributes, baseness of character, and engrossment in carnal desires. When these souls are delivered from the darkness of these vices through the light of faith, when they are illumined by the rays of the Sun of Truth and endowed with every human virtue, they reckon this as the greatest reward and regard it as the true paradise. In like manner, they consider spiritual punishment—that is, existential torment and chastisement—to consist in subjection to the world of nature; in being veiled from God; in ignorance and unawareness; in engrossment with covetous desires; in absorption in animal vices; in being marked by evil attributes, such as falsehood, tyranny, and iniquity; in attachment to worldly things; and in immersion in satanic fancies—all of which they reckon to be the greatest of torments and punishments."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chapter 60, par. 3)
The “Punishment” or the “Hell” of the next world
[edit]"Similarly, ultimate retributions and punishments consist in being deprived of the special bounties and unfailing bestowals of God and sinking to the lowest degrees of existence. And whoso is deprived of these favours, though he continue to exist after death, is accounted as dead in the eyes of the people of truth."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, Chapter 60, par. 4)