Existence itself consists of perpetual permanence. Show me something that does not exist perpetually! Ultimately, all things come to occupy different degrees of existence and undergo a transformation in their forms. Consider even this flower; it shall never be totally effaced from the earth. In the end, its present form shall be altered; it will not simply fade into nothingness. Neither does existence end in obliteration, nor can complete nonexistence ever come into existence in this world. Nonexistence is darkness, while existence is light. When light comes, darkness is driven out. It is not the case that darkness shall ever become light.
- 'Abdu'l-Baha (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, 26 December 1912, London, England, recorded by Mahmud Zarqani, His secretary and chronicler during His travels in the West; ‘Mahmud’s Diary’, vol. 2: ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Europe 1912-1913)