Writings

The Bahá’í Writings, also referred to as "Bahá'í Scripture(s)", are the entire body of written works regarded by Bahá’ís as the revealed Word of God for the present Dispensation. The term Bahá’í Writings usually refers to any extant written works of the Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá. Manuscripts in the personal handwriting of any of these three Central Figures are regarded as part of the Bahá’í Writings, as are their words spoken and then written down, if certified as accurate by one of the Central Figures.

Writings of the Báb[edit]

According to the Báb Himself, He wrote no less than half a million verses. His main work was the Bayán, ("Exposition") which was written partly in Arabic and partly in Persian, and can therefore in reality be considered as two books. Much of this work was written while He was incarcerated in the fortress of Máh-Kú.

Writings of Bahá'u'lláh[edit]

Bahá'u'lláh is said to have written about one hundred volumes, and lists have been compiled of many of them. Usually considered foremost among them are:

Shoghi Effendi made a compilation of extracts from Bahá'u'lláh's Writings, and called it Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh.
Another such compilation is "Prayers and Meditations by Bahá'u'lláh"
Under the Universal House of Justice, another volume was compiled, entitled Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh revealed after the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
In 2019, a new compilation appeared, "The Call of the Divine Beloved", which includes a new translation of "The Seven Valleys", a new translation of "The Four Valleys" and four other works of Bahá'u'lláh, none of which had previous authorised translations.

Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá[edit]

In the case of The Master, there are more "pilgrim's notes" extant in English than there are for the Báb or for Bahá’u’lláh. These are notes taken by pilgrims, and which may, or may not, be the actual words of Abdu'l-Bahá, and which have also usually been filtered through a translation process. These are by definition excluded from the category of Bahá'í Writings.

The majority of books which show Abdu'l-Bahá as the author are compilations, or are the collected talks while He was in a particular country - and authorised by Himself, but there are some works which were penned by the Master Himself actually as books:

The Secret of Divine Civilisation - This did not have the name of Abdu'l-Bahá on the cover, as it was a treatise written to encourage the authorities in Persia to be more forward-looking, and would have been denounced instantly had it carried the Master's name.
A Traveller's Narrative - Likewise, this did not have the name of Abdu'l-Bahá on the cover. It was written as an explanation of the early history of the Bábí Faith, written for use by Edward Granville Browne and future historians. Browne was searching for early narratives, and had been given some of questionable provenance, by active Azalis. Beyond setting forth some commonly agreed upon facts^[1], 'Abdu'l-Bahá speaks and offers citations extensively supporting the moral and non-violent nature of the Faith
Memorials of the Faithful - This did appear under the name of Abdu'l-Bahá, and consists of brief life histories of early Bahá'ís.

Other categories of writing[edit]

In a general sense, the works of Shoghi Effendi can be considered "Bahá'í Writings", but not Bahá'í Scripture. Apart from his historical overview of the birth of the Bábí and Bahá'í Faiths, God Passes By, the other volumes all consist of collections of letters:

Advent of Divine Justice
Bahá'í Administration
Citadel of Faith
The Promised Day Is Come
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh

A number of other works compile messages directed to a particular country or continent.

Books written by Bahá'í scholars and historians, other than the Guardian of the Faith Himself, are not usually termed "Bahá'í Writings". They can be termed "Bahá'í Literature", which is a much broader classification.

References[edit]

↑ ’Abdu‘l-Bahá, A Traveler's Narrative, p. 3

[1] ’Abdu‘l-Bahá, A Traveler's Narrative, p. 3

[1]