# Baha'i Sacred Texts

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Moojan Momen, Baha'i Sacred Texts, bahai-library.com.
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> BRITISH
> 
> Discovering Sacred Texts
> LIBRARY
> 
> Baha’i sacred texts
> Article       Moojan Momen
> written by:
> 
> Themes:       Sacred texts, The Baha’i Faith
> 
> Published:    23 Sep 2019
> 
> The Baha’i Faith is a scriptural religion. Dr Moojan Momen explains the Baha’i beliefs about sacred texts and
> prophets, the transmission and distribution of their scripture and its role in the community.
> 
> The latest revelation
> Baha’is regard each of the prophet founders of the major religions of the world as being the Manifestations of the Names
> and Attributes of God (Manifestations of God for short). They have a dual station: in their higher reality, they are
> essentially one; but in their earthly station, they each come with a unique name and a special mission that is related to
> the time and circumstances of their coming. This can be likened to the series of teachers that a child has at school. Each
> teacher builds on what the teacher before has taught and the scriptures of each religion can be likened to the textbook
> that each teacher brings to the child. So each teacher is equally important to the child and they all have the same station.
> However, the series of Divine teachers, the Manifestations of God, has no end. Baha’u’llah teaches that he is not the last
> one. Whenever humanity needs further guidance, a Manifestation of God will be sent but Baha’u’llah says that this will not
> be for at least another one thousand years.
> 
> Baha’is refer to the works of Baha’u’llah as being the ‘Revelation’ of the Word of God and to Baha’u’llah’s writings (which
> comprise of letters to individuals and some books) as ‘Tablets’. Over 20,000 unique works by Baha’u’llah have been
> identified at the Baha’i World Centre, comprising just under seven million words. The Baha’i Faith is a scriptural religion;
> the current written texts are considered fully authoritative. Oral reports, although they exist, are considered too unreliable
> to be fully authoritative and are to be discounted completely if they contradict the written text. Most of Baha’u’llah’s
> writings are in a mixture of Arabic and Persian, although there are some that are just in Arabic, some in Persian and
> some in pure Persian (farsi-e sareh, Persian with little or no use of Arabic and other loan words).
> 
> How did Baha’u’llah write the Tablets?
> As Baha’u’llah spent most of his adult life in exile, remote from the majority of his followers in Iran, his communication
> with them was mostly through the written word in the form of Tablets, which were often written in response to questions
> sent by the Baha’is. These would be taken to Iran by a few dedicated couriers and a steady flow of pilgrims who made
> the arduous journey.
> 
> As each Tablet arrived in Iran, it would be studied by its recipient and copies made to distribute to other Baha’is. These
> Tablets formed the main source of inspiration and guidance for the community, comprising Baha’u’llah’s theological,
> mystical and ethical teachings and laws for the individual; his social teachings; and teachings intended to bring peace and
> harmony at the global level.
> 
> Some of these works were written in Baha’u’llah’s own hand. However, while in Edirne, his brother Mirza Yahya
> attempted to take his life by poisoning him as part of a leadership struggle. He was unsuccessful, Baha’u’llah recovered
> but was left with a tremor which affected his handwriting. Specimens of Baha’u’llah’s altered hand-writing can be seen
> here:
> 
> Album of Baha’i calligraphy
> 
> Short letters (Tablets) in the handwriting of Baha’u’llah. The effect of his poisoning can be seen if this handwriting is
> compared with the steady bold strokes of his childhood calligraphic exercises.
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> Most of Baha’u’llah’s revelations were dictated to his secretary. These were recorded initially in a form of short-hand
> which became known as ‘revelation writing’.
> 
> Baha’i ‘Revelation’ Writing
> 
> Revelation Writing: Baha’u’llah dictated his works so rapidly that his secretary develop his own form of shorthand. It
> can be read with practice.
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> Most of Baha’u’llah’s output in the Akka period was transmitted in this way. The Tablets were usually letters to individuals
> but often containing general statements and guidance.
> 
> These initial texts were transcribed by another secretary to create copies that were then sent to Iran or elsewhere. One of
> those who prepared many such copies, and whose copies are regarded as being so accurate that they are relied on as
> authoritative texts, was Zayn al-Muqarrabin.
> 
> Kitab al-aqdas and other Tablets by Baha’u’llah
> 
> Manuscript copy of Baha’u’llah’s most important book, the Kitāb al-aqdas (The Most Holy Book). The copyist is Mulla
> Zayn al-‘Abidin Najafabadi who was given the title Zayn al-Muqarrabin. He made copies of Baha’u’llah’s writings for
> onward transmission to Iran and elsewhere. His copies are highly regarded for their accuracy.
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> In Iran, when a Tablet arrived in a town or village, the local Baha’is would gather to hear it read out to them and they
> would consult about it. Copies of it would be made and many of the Baha’is would have bound compilations of these
> Tablets either written out by themselves or by a local Baha’i with good handwriting.
> 
> Individual Baha’is would often ask a good calligrapher to write out one particular passage that they liked and this would
> then be illuminated – decoration usually with gold and coloured designs – and often hung on a wall.
> 
> Album of Baha’i calligraphy
> Tablet of Baha’u’llah in the calligraphy of the celebrated Baha’i calligrapher Mishkin Qalam. His signature is on the
> two sides of the bottom line together with the date Sha'ban 1308 (March/April 1891).
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> Baha’i books were printed in India from about 1882 onwards at Baha’u’llah’s direction. The first book to be printed was
> Baha’u’llah’s Kitāb-i Īqān. After 1892, the publication of Baha’i books shifted to Egypt, which was a major hub for
> publishing in the Middle East at the time.
> 
> The earliest Baha’i publication
> 
> This is the opening page of the first ever publication of a Baha’i book. It the Kitāb-i Īqān (Book of Certitude), by
> Baha’u’llah and was printed in India around 1882.
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> Beauty, Perfection and Refinement
> Both the Bab and Baha’u’llah emphasise that whatever their followers produce should be with the greatest degree of
> beauty, perfection and refinement of which they are capable. The Bab explains that the ‘paradise’ of anything and anyone
> is attained when they are raised to the highest degree of beauty and perfection possible to them. He uses calligraphy and
> illumination as an example of this:
> [W]hoever possesseth power over anything must elevate it to its uttermost perfection that it not be deprived of its
> own paradise. For example, the paradise of a sheet of paper on which a few excellent lines are inscribed is that it
> be refined with patterns of gold illumination, adornment, and excellence that are customary for the most exalted
> parchment scrolls. Then the possessor of that paper hath elevated it to its utmost degree of glory (Persian Bayān,
> Vahid 4, Chapter 11).[1]
> 
> Album of Baha’i calligraphy
> 
> Some of the writings of Baha’u’llah in the penmanship of the renown calligrapher Mishkin Qalam and illuminated with
> gold.
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> The Bab attached great importance to the form and beauty of his writings. He instructed that some of his writings,
> especially prayers for men, be written in the form of a five-pointed star, which was called ‘The Temple’ (haykal – in that it
> created the form of the human body) for men, or in a circular pattern (da’irih) for women.
> 
> The Bab’s Star Tablet
> 
> The haykal (temple) representing the form of the human body. The Bab gave the text for many of these but this one is
> in his own handwriting.
> 
> Usage terms
> Public Domain. Please consider cultural, religious & ethical sensitivities when re-using this material.
> 
> The Bab however also emphasises that he does not lay a burden on the artist and artisan that is beyond their capacity.
> However, the theory of beauty and refinement should be manifested in all human productions. Ornate calligraphy is used
> as an example of a wider point – that whatever one produces should be done with the greatest degree of attention and
> finesse that one is capable of. Indeed, the importance of calligraphy has lessened in the Baha’i Faith as the community
> expanded from being predominantly a Persian one (among whom calligraphy was much appreciated) to being a global
> one. However, the ethos of striving for beauty and refinement continues. Perhaps the epitome of this human endeavour
> for refinement are the various Baha’i Houses of Worship around the world and, in particular, the buildings at the Baha’i
> World Centre, which have been designated by UNESCO as a world heritage site.
> 
> The role of scripture in the Baha’i community
> The Baha’i scriptures encourage individuals to transform themselves from self-centredness and a desire for wealth and
> power into individuals with spiritual attributes such as love, justice, patience, trustworthiness and truthfulness. This
> transformation best occurs when the individual lives a life of service to others; a cohesive interaction of an individual’s
> ‘being’ and ‘doing’. The framework for this endeavour are the laws regarding prayer, fasting and meditation given by
> Baha’u’llah. The aim is to be of service to the wider society, not just the Baha’i community.
> 
> These scriptures also give instructions and guidance for the institutional structure of the Baha’i community. They seek to
> create communities in which power has been removed from individual members of political and religious hierarchies and
> given instead to elected councils which operate by a consultative decision making process that Baha’u’llah and his
> successors have developed. The result is the formation of elected councils (the Spiritual Assemblies at the local and
> national levels) and the establishment in 1963 of the supreme global elected council of the Baha’i community, the
> Universal House of Justice.
> 
> Although as yet the Baha’i scriptures have only had limited impact at the international level, the Baha’i community is
> active at the United Nations and other international institutions, introducing Baha’i concepts and teachings such as the
> advancement of the social role of women, the importance of education, and the need to educate people away from
> prejudices and all forms of hatred and conflict. The overall aim is to achieve peace in a framework of justice. The principal
> teaching of Baha’u’llah is the oneness of humankind and his purpose is to achieve this unity by encompassing human
> diversity rather than imposing uniformity.
> 
> In reality all are members of one human family – children of one Heavenly Father. Humanity may be likened unto the
> vari-coloured flowers of one garden. There is unity in diversity. Each sets off and enhances the other’s beauty.[2]
> 
> Footnotes
> 
> [1] Translated in Nader Saiedi, Gate of the Heart ([Waterloo, ONT]: Wilfred Laurier University Press, 2008), p. 255.
> 
> [2] ‘Abdu’l-Baha, Abdul Baha on Divine Philosophy (Boston: The Tudor Press, 1918), p. 25
> 
> Written by Moojan Momen
> 
> Dr. Moojan Momen was born in Iran, but was raised and educated in England, attending the University of Cambridge. He has a
> special interest in the study of Shi`i Islam, the Baha'i Faith, and more recently the study of the phenomenon of religion. His
> principal publications in these fields include: Introduction to Shi`i Islam; The Phenomenon of Religion (republished as
> Understanding Religion); Understanding the Baha’i Faith; and The Baha'i Communities of Iran (1851–1921). He has contributed
> articles to encyclopaedias such as Encyclopedia Iranica and Encyclopedia of the Modern Islamic World as well as papers to
> many academic journals.
> The text in this article is available under the Creative Commons License.
> 
> See Also
> More articles on Sacred texts
> 
> The Torah
> 
> Judaism: sacred texts
> 
> The Qur’an
> 
> Islam: sacred texts
> 
> The Christian Bible
> 
> Manuscripts of the Christian Bible
> 
> Christianity: sacred texts
> 
> The Buddha and Buddhist sacred texts
> 
> The development of the Buddhist 'canon'
> 
> Buddhism: sacred texts
> 
> Jain scripture
> 
> Sacred texts in Hinduism
> 
> Hinduism: sacred texts
> 
> Contemporary Paganism in the UK
> 
> Zoroastrianism in late antiquity
> 
> Zoroastrianism from the early modern period
> 
> More articles on The Baha’i Faith
> 
> An introduction to the Baha’i Faith
> 
> Central figures of the Baha’i Faith
> 
> Related Collection Items
> 
> Collection of Baha’i Tablets
> 
> The earliest Baha’i publication
> 
> Baha’u’llah’s letter to Queen Victoria
> 
> Baha’i ‘Revelation’ Writing
> 
> Kitab al-aqdas and other Tablets by Baha’u’llah
> 
> The ‘Hidden Words’, Baha’u’llah’s mystical sayings
> 
> ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s treatise on the establishment of a just, progressive and divinely-based government
> 
> Kitab-i Iqan (‘Book of Certitude’), a major Baha’i work by Baha’u’llah
> The Persian Bayan (‘Explanation’)
> 
> The Qayyum al-asma' (‘Maintainer of the names’), the first major work of the Bab
> 
> Album of Baha’i calligraphy
> 
> The Bab’s Star Tablet
> 
> Related Works
> 
> Sacred texts: The Baha’i Faith
> 
> Supported since inception by
> 
> All text is © British Library Board and is available under a CC-BY Licence except where otherwise stated
>
> — *Baha'i Sacred Texts (Used by permission of the curator)*