Filled with such gems as " The principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples is ignorance," this short and sweet Baha'i book explores education, selflessness and the importance of honor. Though written in 1875, many of the lessons and quotes can be applied to modern civilization and the conditions of the world currently. A recommendation for Baha'is or anyone interested in the Baha'i Faith.
How such a profound piece of sociological, technological, political, historical and deeply spiritual treatise was written by a 29 year old Persian exile in 1875 is a mystery to me. I am confounded yet again by the potency and timeless applicability of Abdu’l-Baha’s writings.
I could not recommend this book enough. It quite frankly tied together so many disparate threads of my understanding of True Religion into one cohesive whole. This work is the truest elucidation of what real material and spiritual prosperity looks like, what the role of religion in society really is (driving force of human happiness), and how we should behave as HUMAN beings.
Amazing; i took a course on this and other Writings of Abdu'l-Baha' this book Charter for world civilization, offered to the Iranian society, originally published without name of author.
To quote from the introduction, "'The Secret of Divine Civilization' is...submitted to the student of society as a treatise which fills the wide gap separating technical politics and technical economics from the very purpose of man's creation, the establishment of righteousness on earth." It is the most extraordinary work on the spiritual character of true civilization that I have ever read.
Monotheistic propaganda with very loose historical arguments, but a few noteworthy good passages against eurocentrism and the achievements in the medieval era of the Islamic world especially in southern Spain. What was also interesting was the constant theme of societal decline and an inferiority complex towards Europe by Arab intellectuals such as the author
A book about common sense. While the audience of the book are pre-1979 revolution Iranian people, the underlying arguments hold true to this date and apply to any nation in the world. This book is a guiding lamp of any thinker seeking to ask the right questions.