 | |
| Author | Bahá’u’lláh |
|---|---|
| Original title | Kitáb-i-Íqán |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Scripture |
| Publisher | Bahá’í World Centre |
Publication date | 1862 |
First English edition | 1931 |
| Pages | 283 pp (2003 ed.) |
| ISBN | 1931847088 9781931847087 |
| OCLC | 53255802 |
| BWC-LOC | BP362.K8-895 |
The Kitáb-i-Íqán (
Listen ) is one of Bahá’u’lláh's most important works. It was revealed over the span of two days and two nights in 1862 during the final years of Bahá’u’lláh's exile in Baghdad in answer to a series of question posed by Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad, a maternal uncle of the Báb.[1] Shoghi Effendi describes it as "setting forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God" and that it "occupies a position unequalled by any work in the entire range of Bahá’í literature, except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas".[2]
Background[edit]
The Báb had three maternal uncles. The eldest named Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad was aware of the claims and noble qualities of his Nephew but had difficulty accepting that He was the promised Qá’im of Islám. It was he that posed a series of questions concerning this topic to Bahá’u’lláh and who upon receiving the reply was confirmed in his Faith. The youngest uncle, Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Ḥasan-‘Alí had likewise not immediately accepted the Faith of the Báb during His lifetime, but did eventually come to accept it. The other maternal uncle was named Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí, known as Khál-i-A‘ẓam (the Greatest Uncle). Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid ‘Alí recognized and accepted the Faith of the Báb, and was one of seven believers publicly martyred in Ṭihrán in 1850.[3]
During a discussion between Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad and a follower of the Báb, Áqá Mírzá Núru’d-Dín, the latter suggested a pilgrimage to ‘Iráq and a visit to Baghdád where Bahá’u’lláh was residing at the time, that Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad might put forward any questions that were troubling him. Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad travelled to Baghdád with his younger brother Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Ḥasan-‘Alí, but the latter left Baghdád before meeting with Bahá’u’lláh. Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, wrote his questions down, and receive the Kitáb-i-Íqán in reply. The Kitáb-i-Íqán was initially known and circulated as Risáliy-i-Khál (Epistle to the Uncle).[3]
Questions posed to Bahá’u’lláh[edit]
In Bahá’u’lláh The King of Glory, Ḥasan Balyúzí has listed the questions posed to Bahá’u’lláh, from a manuscript in the handwriting of Ḥájí Mírzá Siyyid Muḥammad himself.[4] They are:
- The Day of Resurrection. Is there to be a corporeal resurrection? The world is replete with injustice. How are the just to be requited and the unjust punished?
- The twelfth Imám was born at a certain time and lives on. There are traditions, all supporting the belief. How can this be explained?
- Interpretation of holy texts. This Cause does not seem to conform with beliefs held throughout the years. One cannot ignore the literal meaning of holy texts and scripture. How can this be explained?
- Certain events, according to the traditions that have come down from the Imáms, must occur at the advent of the Qá’im. Some of these are mentioned. But none of these has happened. How can this be explained?[5]
In response to these questions Bahá’u’lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán over a period of two days and two nights. Composed partly in Persian and partly in Arabic, the revelation of this work also fulfilled a prophecy of the Báb that the Promised One would complete the text of the unfinished Persian Bayán.[6] The original manuscript in the handwriting of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá with marginal additions by Bahá’u’lláh is part of the collection of documents held at the International Bahá’í Archives.[7]
Significance[edit]
The Kitáb-i-Íqán was one of the earliest writings of Bahá’u’lláh's to appear in print with a lithographed copy, likely printed in Bombay, in circulation during the 1880's. It was first translated into English by Ali Kuli Khan in 1904 and titled The Book of Assurance. Shoghi Effendi retranslated what represented Bahá’u’lláh's primary theological work in 1931 and said of it:
| “ | Within a compass of two hundred pages it proclaims unequivocally the existence and oneness of a personal God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, omniscient, omnipresent and almighty; asserts the relativity of religious truth and the continuity of Divine Revelation; affirms the unity of the Prophets, the universality of their Message, the identity of their fundamental teachings, the sanctity of their scriptures, and the twofold character of their stations; denounces the blindness and perversity of the divines and doctors of every age; cites and elucidates the allegorical passages of the New Testament, the abstruse verses of the Qur’án, and the cryptic Muḥammadan traditions which have bred those age-long misunderstandings, doubts and animosities that have sundered and kept apart the followers of the world’s leading religious systems; enumerates the essential prerequisites for the attainment by every true seeker of the object of his quest; demonstrates the validity, the sublimity and significance of the Báb’s Revelation; acclaims the heroism and detachment of His disciples; foreshadows, and prophesies the world-wide triumph of the Revelation promised to the people of the Bayán; upholds the purity and innocence of the Virgin Mary; glorifies the Imáms of the Faith of Muḥammad; celebrates the martyrdom, and lauds the spiritual sovereignty, of the Imám Ḥusayn; unfolds the meaning of such symbolic terms as “Return,” “Resurrection,” “Seal of the Prophets” and “Day of Judgment”; adumbrates and distinguishes between the three stages of Divine Revelation; and expatiates, in glowing terms, upon the glories and wonders of the “City of God,” renewed, at fixed intervals, by the dispensation of Providence, for the guidance, the benefit and salvation of all mankind. Well may it be claimed that of all the books revealed by the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation, this Book alone, by sweeping away the age-long barriers that have so insurmountably separated the great religions of the world, has laid down a broad and unassailable foundation for the complete and permanent reconciliation of their followers. | ” |
| — Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By | ||
References[edit]
- ↑ Balyuzi, H. M. (1980). Bahá’u’lláh The King of Glory (Third ed.). George Ronald. pp. 163–164. ISBN 0 85398 090 X.
- ↑ God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi.[1]
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Taherzadeh, Adib (1976). The Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh, Volume 1: Baghdad 1853-63. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-270-8.
- ↑ See Ahang Rabbani, The Conversion of the Great-Uncle of the Báb, pp.32-33
- ↑ Balyuzi, H. M. (1980). Bahá’u’lláh The King of Glory (Third ed.). George Ronald. pp. 164–165. ISBN 0 85398 090 X.
- ↑ God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi.[1]
- ↑ Balyuzi, H. M. (1980). Bahá’u’lláh The King of Glory (Third ed.). George Ronald. p. 165. ISBN 0 85398 090 X.
Bibliography[edit]
- Bahá’u’lláh (1862). Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 1931847088.
- Buck, Christopher (1995). Symbol & Secret: Qur'án Commentary in Bahá’u’lláh's Kitáb-i-Iqán. Los Angeles, USA: Kalimát Press. ISBN 0933770804.
- Dunbar, Hooper C. (1998). A Companion to the Study of the Kitáb-i-Íqán. Oxford, United Kingdom: George Ronald. ISBN 0853984301.
- Hatcher, J.S. (1997). The Ocean of His Words: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Bahá’u’lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá’í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0877432597.
- Ahang Rabbani (Spring, 1999). "The Conversion of the Great-Uncle of the Báb". World Order. Vol. 30, no. 3. National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United States. pp. 19–38.
