The mantle of life

 The last post referred to dust around a new planetary system and the development of life. This post relates to the wider issue of life throughout the universe.

Bahá’u’lláh said the following:

“All-praise and glory be to God Who, through the power of His might, hath delivered His creation from the nakedness of nonexistence, and clothed it with the mantle of life.”
Gleanings p77-78

And in the longer morning prayer:

“Keep us safe, then, through Thine unfailing protection, O Thou the Beloved of the entire creation and the Desire of the whole universe…”

So an article in “Universe Today” caught my interest when it reported the discovery of a complex ring-shaped sulfur-bearing molecule (thiepine) apparently being formed in interstellar space far from any star.

This molecule is another which is believed to be important in the origin of life. It is a surprise to find that it can form in the cold of interstellar space!

The detailed article concludes with the comment:

“These and other findings indicate that the origins of life reside in space, and are far more plentiful than previously thought!”

Food for thought.

Dust

 In many religious texts it is stated that man was created from dust. In the Hidden Words Baha'u'llah wrote, for example:

"Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust?" HW Arabic 68

Recent research has now illuminated the role of dust in space in the formation of prebiotic organic compounds. This gives us another perspective on 'dust'. 

Prebiotic compounds are complex organic compounds  believed to be formed during an early stage of the development of life.

These compounds have been seen for the first time in space, in a protoplanetary disk. Such disks of dust surround young stars while planets are forming. See this article on "Universe Today". The article comments:

"This was the first time this sort of chemistry has been examined under these conditions, and it’s clear that without cosmic dust, the chemical reactions required for life would be too inefficient to form in great quantities."

E-books - free ebooks for now til Jan 2026

 Downloads will again be available free from Kindle over the next week or so. Please see the previous post for details. 

There is one more book in the pipeline on the life of 'Abdu'l-Baha.

Ebooks - free downloads for March 2025

 These downloads will be available from Kindle over the next week or so. The fifteen ebooks can be found on my author page here.

Most of these books will be free for a few days. The most recent book is the short history on the Life of Baha'u'llah.

List of books:

1. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction 

2. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction for Christians

3. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction for Muslims

4. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction for Hindus 

5. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction for the Seeker 

6. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short Introduction for Women

7. Bahá'í Books - A Short Introduction

8. The Bahá'í Faith and the Cosmos – A Short Introduction

9. The Bahá'í Faith and Life After Death

10. A Bahá'í Faith FAQ

11. Bahá’u’lláh: Manifestation of God?

12. Memoirs of Ivan Fraser: The early development of the Bahá’í Faith in British Guiana.

13. Jesus - in the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh 

14. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short History I - The Life of the Bab

15. The Bahá'í Faith - A Short History II - The Life of the Baha'u'llah

Another ebook published

As promised the second volume on the history of the Baha'i Faith (The life of Baha'u'llah) has now been published. The ebook is $0.99 as usual. The paperback is $6.99. The printing costs are higher as this is the largest book so far - some 21,000 words.

The book describes the main events in the life of Baha'u'llah. There are many dramatic stories of individuals which had to be omitted but can be found in the more comprehensive histories listed in "Further Reading".

The maps for these books need further editing and will be updated later.

Link to book.