And among the teachings of Baha'u'llah is one relative to the fact that God has created man to yield some fruit from his being, or existence, an eternal fruit an everlasting result. If the world of humanity be confined to the short space of material life here, if man should devote his energies to temporary results -- for the life of this world is short, the blessings of this world are temporary, the verdures of the world of nature are temporary the happiness of the world of nature is temporary -- this cannot be called fruitage, because it is temporary and hence useless. Nay, rather, man, must be a blessed tree bearing eternal fruits. Thus everlasting spirituality may be his.
The real fruit of the human tree is everlasting, and that is the love for God, that is the knowledge of God, that is service to the world of humanity, that is kindness to all mankind, and that is endeavoring and striving for the material and spiritual -- or ideal -- development of the world of man. This is the everlasting fruit. This is the divine effulgence. This is the divine bestowal. This is the everlasting life. (Excerpt from a talk by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Oakland, California, at the home of Helen Goodall, October 3, 1912; Star of the West, vol. 4, no. 11, September 27, 1913) (To read the entire talk please visit Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha)
