# The Writings of Baha'u'llah

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Steven Phelps, The Writings of Baha'u'llah, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> THE WRITINGS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH
> Steven Phelps
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh comprise a vast and diverse body of documents written in Arabic and
> Persian during a forty-year period both before and after the declaration of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic
> mission in 1863. Almost 20,000 distinct works, from brief items of correspondence to lengthy
> treatises, totalling almost seven million words have so far been catalogued at the Bahá’í World
> Centre in Haifa, Israel, which preserves authenticated copies of the majority. They are regarded by
> Bahá’ís as divinely inspired, and together with the writings of His herald the Báb (q.v.), which are
> likewise regarded, they constitute the Bahá’í sacred writings. The understanding and application of
> these writings is guided, for Bahá’ís, by the commentary and interpretation of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá (q.v.)
> and Shoghi Effendi (q.v.) and by the elucidation of the Universal House of Justice (q.v.).
> In this chapter:
> 
> 1   Aspects of content and style
> 2   Periodization and principal works
> A    The vernal years: ‘Iraq (1853–1863)
> i    Early Baghdad and Kurdistan (April 1853–March 1856)
> ii    Middle and late Baghdad (March 1856–April 1863)
> B    Summer: Rumelia (1863–1868)
> i   Istanbul and early Edirne (April 1863–March 1866)
> ii   Middle Edirne (March 1866–September 1867)
> iii   Late Edirne (September 1867–August 1868)
> C    The harvest season: ‘Akká (1868–1892)
> i    Early ‘Akká (1868–1873)
> ii    Middle and late ‘Akká (1873–1892)
> 
> 1. Aspects of content and style
> Though Bahá’u’lláh’s writings (often referred to as ‘tablets’) embrace a wide range of topics and
> were addressed to many different individuals in diverse settings over a period of decades, their
> 
> 51                  DOI: 10.4324/9780429027772-7
> Steven Phelps
> 
> underlying theme can be said to be the principle of unity in diversity: the unity of God behind
> diverse conceptions of the deity; the unity of the prophets underneath the variations in their
> message; the unity of religion despite its seemingly contradictory expressions in the world;
> and the unity of the human race, whose perennial conflicts between tribes, congregations, and
> nations are constants of its past and which it is the particular mission of Bahá’u’lláh to reconcile.
> In one of His tablets, Bahá’u’lláh identifies the unifying principle as ‘the law of love which, like
> a fountain, always flows and is never overtaken by change’ (Bahá’u’lláh, in Esslemont 1923).
> Approximately two-thirds of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings are in Arabic, and the remainder are in
> Persian or contain passages in both languages. Bahá’u’lláh’s Arabic differs from the standard
> Arabic of His day in ways that reflect its use as the liturgical language of Islamic Iran during
> the nineteenth century. His Persian, also reflecting the usage of the time, often employs words
> of Arabic origin, but He would also occasionally compose works in pure Persian without any
> Arabic influences. His writings contain, and comment upon, hundreds of quoted passages from
> the Qur’an and the Bible, as well as the Hadith literature of Islam, the works of Sufi poets such
> as Rumi, and in a few cases, philosophers, historians, and others in the literary tradition.
> Most of Bahá’u’lláh’s works were dictated to His amanuensis Mírzá Áqá Ján; writings in
> His own hand are comparatively less common, with fewer than a thousand examples extant.
> Eyewitnesses described the overwhelming experience of being present during the revelation of
> verses, with words descending with such rapidity that the amanuensis would at times be unable
> to keep up. A clean copy of the work would be produced, this in turn serving as the basis for
> a copy in formal script intended for the recipient. Many writings addressed to individuals in
> Iran were dispatched to a copyist in the form of lengthy concatenated works, to be re-copied as
> separate tablets for their recipients. This multiplicity of handwritten copies, as well as the care
> taken by early Bahá’ís to preserve the texts they received, helps account for the fact that despite
> the poverty and instability of much of Bahá’u’lláh’s life, most of His writings have survived in
> the original or in reliable transcriptions (see Figure 5.1).
> 
> Figure 5.1 An illuminated specimen of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings.
> Source: Bahá’í World News Service.
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> The great majority of Bahá’u’lláh’s writings comprise relatively brief responses to correspon-
> dence from His followers. During the early years of His ministry, these followers resided almost
> entirely within the Shi‘ite Islamic ambit, but as time passed and word of the Bahá’í movement
> spread, and as Bahá’u’lláh Himself endured successive exiles that carried Him to the capital of
> the Ottoman Empire, to the fringes of Europe and Africa, and then to the Levant, the range of
> recipients widened to include members of the Christian, Jewish, and Zoroastrian faiths; cor-
> respondents in India and Central Asia; members of minority Islamic groups and mystical orders;
> several crowned heads of European nations; the head of the Catholic Church; the temporal
> and religious rulers of the Ottoman and Iranian empires; and the collective rulers of America.
> Each recipient would be addressed in a language and manner sensitive to their own unique
> circumstances. In one of His later works, He stated that ‘at one time We spoke in the language
> of the lawgiver; at another in that of the truth-seeker and the mystic’ (Bahá’u’lláh, Epistle 15).
> Elsewhere He stated that His works were revealed in ‘nine different modes’ (Bahá’u’lláh, Sum-
> mons 27), but these were never enumerated, and in any case, He never allowed the flow of His
> work to be confined by conventional categories or literary forms. Throughout His works voices,
> styles, and topics often intermingle.
> 
> 2. Periodization and principal works
> Bahá’u’lláh’s writings can be divided into three main periods, corresponding to the years associ-
> ated with His successive exiles to Baghdad, Rumelia, and ‘Akká (see the chapter ‘Bahá’u’lláh’)
> and described by Shoghi Effendi as the vernal years, the summertime, and the harvest season of
> His ministry (Shoghi Effendi, God Passes By 205). In one of His tablets, Bahá’u’lláh stated that
> His call was first raised among ‘mystics, then divines, and then kings and rulers’ (Saiedi 2000:
> 241), and there is a corresponding shift in emphasis during these same three periods from mys-
> tical contemplation to arguments regarding His prophetic claim and station to the exposition
> of social principles. Within these periods, there are thousands of surviving works; a high-level
> review of their contents is facilitated by a list of 160 titles of ‘best-known writings’ of Bahá’u’lláh
> published under the auspices of Shoghi Effendi (in The Bahá’í World, vol. 7: 576). This list is
> a natural starting point, although not all titles have been identified with certainty. Works so
> included are not distinguished by their length: over two-thirds are less than two thousand words
> long, and all but two dozen are less than five thousand words long. These works, along with
> several others of significance, are briefly summarized here, arranged by period and sub-period,
> although future research may lead to changes in the periodization of some of them. Most have
> not yet been translated into English or are known only in extracts; works for which a full
> translation has been formally published and authorized at the Bahá’í World Centre are marked
> by asterisks (*). Catalogue numbers prefaced by BH are taken from the partial inventory of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s writings listed in the bibliography.
> 
> A. The vernal years: ‘Iraq (1853–1863)
> Bahá’ís understand Bahá’u’lláh’s declaration of His mission to a small circle of followers in April
> 1863 to be the inaugural moment of His active ministry, but it is also acknowledged that the
> emergence of His Faith as distinct from the Báb’s was gradual, and many works of the highest
> significance date from the preceding decade that began with His exile from Tehran to Baghdad.
> A small number of works survive from the years prior to this exile, but with the notable excep-
> tion of the Rashḥ-i-‘Amá (‘The Clouds of the Realms Above’, BH03230), a short Persian poem
> of mystical exaltation composed in Tehran, they are not widely known.
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> i. Early Baghdad and Kurdistan (April 1853–March 1856)
> In the year following Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment to Baghdad in January 1853 (the significant ‘year
> nine’ of the Bábí calendar), He composed works promoting the Cause of the Báb and contain-
> ing ambiguous references to His own incipient prophetic claim while still acknowledging Mírzá
> Yaḥyá, His half-brother and later opponent, as the nominal head of the Bábí community. These
> earliest known works include:
> 
> Khuṭbiy-i-Ṣalavát (‘Sermon of Salutations’, Arabic, BH00181). Extols the Cause of the
> Báb and encourages His followers to seek out and turn to the ‘countenance of light’.
> Lawḥ-i-Kullu’ṭ-Ṭa‘ám (‘Tablet of All Food’, Arabic, BH00267). A commentary
> offering several allegorical interpretations of the Qur’anic verse ‘All food was allowed
> to the children of Israel’ (Qur’an 3:93).
> 
> Beginning in April of 1854, Bahá’u’lláh departed Baghdad and withdrew to the village of Sulay-
> maniyah in the mountains of Kurdistan, where He lived anonymously for two years as a dervish
> and composed mainly mystical and poetic works, including:
> 
> Qaṣídiy-i-Varqá’íyyih (‘Ode of the Dove’, Arabic, BH00115). A lengthy poem com-
> posed in the style of a poem by Ibn-i-Fáriḍ, glorifying the spirit that had visited Him
> in the form of the Maid of Heaven, expatiating on His sufferings and His loneliness
> and affirming His determination to face any future calamities that might befall Him
> in the path of God.
> Sáqí az Ghayb-i-Baqá (‘The Cup-bearer from the Eternal Unseen’, Persian,
> BH03843). A brief ode alluding to His messianic secret and calling for purification
> of heart and commitment to love and sacrifice as conditions of the spiritual journey.
> Báz Áv-u-Bidih Jámih (‘At Dawn the Friend Came to My Bed’, Persian, BH05338).
> Another brief ode celebrating the divine love, beseeching immortal life, and expressing
> His desire for evanescence in God and His wish to offer up His life in the path of God.
> 
> ii. Middle and late Baghdad (March 1856–April 1863)
> A large number of works date from Bahá’u’lláh’s return to Baghdad in 1856 until His second exile
> in 1863, in which His prophetic claim is likewise not yet explicitly stated. These include, most
> prominently, three central works that helped lay the foundations for Bahá’u’lláh’s later teachings:
> 
> * Kalimát-i-Maknúnih (‘The Hidden Words’, Arabic and Persian, BH00386 and
> BH00113). His foremost ethical work, consisting of 153 aphorisms spoken in the voice
> of the Divine and declaring themselves to be the ‘inner essence’ of what was revealed
> to ‘the Prophets of old’, affirming the essential nobility and divinity of the human
> soul, prescribing its intimate communion with its Creator, proclaiming the oneness
> of the human race, and declaring our consequent responsibility to fellowship, love,
> fair-mindedness, and mutual aid for one another, especially the poor and downtrodden.
> * Haft Vádí (‘The Seven Valleys’, Persian, BH00047). His most important
> mystical composition, patterned in part after Faríd’u’d-Dín ‘Aṭṭár’s Manṭiqu’l-Ṭayr
> (‘The Conference of the Birds’), describing seven stages in the path of the spiritual
> wayfarers—‘search’, ‘love’, ‘knowledge’, ‘unity’, ‘contentment’, ‘wonderment’, and
> ‘true poverty and absolute nothingness’—and revealing that the source of conflict upon
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> earth can be traced to the wayfarers’ lack of awareness of the relative truths to be found
> within each of these stages.
> * Kitáb-i-Íqán (‘The Book of Certitude’, Persian and Arabic, BH00002). His
> preeminent doctrinal work as well as His second longest, answering four questions
> from an uncle of the Báb regarding prophetic expectation and fulfilment, affirming
> the essential unity of the prophets of God while simultaneously acknowledging the
> distinctiveness of their persons and missions, expounding the concept of progressive
> revelations from God that are renewed about every thousand years, summarizing the
> spiritual prerequisites of the seekers on the spiritual path, clarifying the central role in
> that path of the independent investigation of reality, condemning the clergy for their
> role in the rejection of the prophets from age to age, and emphasizing, through a
> commentary on certain verses of the gospels, the need for a symbolic as opposed to a
> literal understanding of sacred scriptures.
> 
> Apart from these, numerous other works developing certain mystical themes and doctrinal
> foundations were written during this period, including:
> 
> * Aṣl-i-Kullu’l-Khayr (‘Words of Wisdom’, Arabic, BH02183). A brief collection of
> moral maxims, summarizing the essence of faith, love, wisdom, religion, wealth, and
> others and centring around belief in God and submission to His will.
> * Chihár Vádí (‘The Four Valleys’, Persian, BH00306). A mystical work elaborat-
> ing four different but complementary paths of approach to the Divine: the way of ‘the
> self ’, ‘the intellect’, ‘love’, and ‘the throne of the inmost heart’.
> Ḥurúfát-i-‘Álín (‘The Exalted Letters’, Arabic, with translation into Persian,
> BH00064). A meditation on mortality, death, suffering, and theodicy, in remembrance
> of a cousin who had recently died.
> * Javáhiru’l-Asrár (‘Gems of Divine Mysteries’, Arabic, BH00012). A lengthy
> commentary in answer to a question on the fulfilment of prophetic expectations in
> unexpected ways, describing the difficulties encountered in understanding sacred
> scriptures, offering keys to their symbolic interpretation with reference to a passage
> in the Gospels, and describing in a manner similar to ‘the Seven Valleys’ the stages
> traversed by the spiritual wayfarers.
> * Lawḥ-i-Maryam (‘Tablet to Maryam’, Persian and Arabic, BH00579). Recounts
> to one of His cousins Bahá’u’lláh’s banishment to Baghdad, His departure for
> Sulaymaniyah, the dispirited character of the Bábí community upon His return,
> and His efforts to instil new life into it; alludes to His still-hidden messianic secret
> and counsels purity of heart as a precondition to its recognition; and announces His
> withdrawal from the community.
> Madínatu’r-Riḍá (‘The City of Contentment’, Arabic, BH00295). Expounds various
> stages and degrees of contentment: contentment with God and His decree; with one’s
> own self, which requires detachment from the world; with one’s fellow believers, which
> implies humility in their presence; and with the vicissitudes of the world.
> Madínatu’t-Tawḥíd (‘The City of Unity’, Arabic, BH00134). A theological discussion
> of the concept of divine unity from various perspectives: the unity of the divine Essence,
> of the divine attributes, of the divine Manifestations, of action, and of worship.
> Ṣaḥífiy-i-Shaṭṭíyyih (‘Book of the River’, Arabic and Persian, BH00394).
> Challenges the validity of miracles as proof and takes the coursing of the Tigris River
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> as a central metaphor in a discussion of the irresistible power of the Cause of God, fate
> and predestination, and the root cause of dissension in the world.
> Súriy-i-Nuṣḥ (‘Surah of Counsel’, Arabic, BH00031). A lengthy work recounting
> the stories of the prophets of God and their rejection by the people and clergy of their
> day, and exhorting the people of this day not to reject ‘Him Whom God shall make
> manifest’ upon His appearance.
> Tafsír-i-Hú (‘Commentary on “He”’, Arabic, BH00073). An intricate commen-
> tary on the names and attributes of God, taking as point of departure a statement by
> the Báb which relates ‘His sacred mirror and eternal light’ to the name of God huwa
> (‘He’), which has an inner and outer aspect signifying both the unity of opposites and
> the alchemical fire and water attained of old by the prophet Moses.
> Tafsír-i-Ḥurúfát-i-Muqaṭṭa‘ih (‘Commentary on the Isolated Letters’, Arabic,
> BH00020). An extensive commentary on the famous ‘verse of light’ in the Qur’an (24:35)
> and on the origin and meaning of the enigmatic letters heading many of its surahs, which
> Bahá’u’lláh relates to different aspects of the person and revelation of the Báb, to the mysti-
> cal science of letters and numbers, and to stages in the alchemical craft.
> 
> During the final years of Bahá’u’lláh’s residence in Baghdad, His writings frequently describe
> ecstatic visions and anticipate the declaration of His prophetic mission, which took place in
> the Garden of Riḍván towards the end of April 1863, while also expressing the awareness of
> the further suffering that such a disclosure would bring upon Himself and those who would
> choose to follow Him into further exile. Such sentiments are clearly reflected in:
> 
> Az Bágh-i-Iláhí (‘From the Divine Garden’, Arabic and Persian, BH01007). Poem
> hailing the revelation of the Báb and the advent of the approaching Day of God, com-
> ing with the trumpet blast of the words ‘I am God!’, and shattering the idols of the past.
> Hálih Hálih yá Bishárát (‘Hallelujah O glad tidings’, Persian, BH02000). Ecstatic
> poem celebrating the descent of the Maid of Heaven, who brings both life and death
> to her lovers.
> * Ḥúr-i-‘Ujáb (‘Tablet of the Wondrous Maiden’, Arabic, BH01966). Ecstatic poem
> announcing the appearance and unveiling of the Maid of Heaven, her announcement
> to the people of the world, their rejection of her summons, and her return in sorrow
> to her abode.
> * Lawḥ-i-‘Áshiq va Ma‘shúq (‘Tablet of the Lover and the Beloved’, Persian,
> BH02198). Addresses the ‘nightingales of God’, announcing the blooming of a ‘new
> flower’ in the ‘rose-garden of changeless splendour’, calling them to detach themselves
> from the world and to taste ‘the abandonment of enraptured love’, and warning them
> of the fleeting nature of their opportunity.
> * Lawḥ-i-Ghulámu’l-Khuld (‘Tablet of the Immortal Youth’, Arabic and Persian,
> BH00729). Narrates in mystical language the appearance of the Immortal Youth
> (Bahá’u’lláh), whose beauty is compared to that of Joseph, who is unveiled by the
> Maid of Heaven and who summons His lovers unto Him.
> Lawḥ-i-Ḥúríyyih (‘Tablet of the Divine Maiden’, Arabic, BH00454). Describes a
> visionary encounter with the Maid of Heaven, who looks deeply within His soul and
> expires in sorrow upon perceiving the extent of His suffering.
> Shikkar-Shikan-Shavand (‘With Greater Sweetness’, Persian, BH00746). Poetically
> anticipates future opposition and lauds the constancy of the loved ones of God in the
> face of threats and persecutions.
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Subḥána Rabbíya’l-A‘lá (‘Praised be Our Lord Most High’, Arabic, BH01447).
> Celebrates, through a vision of the appearance and unveiling of the Maid of Heaven,
> the renewal of the mystic realm and portends future tests and difficulties.
> Lawḥ-i-Malláḥu’l-Quds (‘Tablet of the Holy Mariner’, Arabic and Persian,
> BH01026 and BH01355). Relates two different versions of a mystical narrative of the
> launching of the ‘Crimson Ark’ of Bahá’u’lláh’s Covenant upon the ocean of glory and
> foreshadows that some within that Ark will stray and be cast out for desiring ‘to ascend
> unto that state which the Lord hath ordained to be above their stations’.
> Lawḥ-i-Bulbulu’l-Firáq (‘Tablet of the Nightingale of Separation’, Arabic and Per-
> sian, BH01644). Announces in sorrowful language His departure from Baghdad and
> reproaches those who had thus far failed to recognize Him.
> Súriy-i-Ṣabr (‘Surah of Patience’, Arabic, BH00034). Major work, written on the first
> day of Riḍván as He was departing Baghdad, praising the Bábís of the Nayriz upheaval
> of 1850 and in particular their leader, Siyyid Yaḥyáy-i-Dárábí (Vaḥíd), recounting their
> sufferings and condemning their persecutors; describes the sufferings of the biblical Job,
> comparing them to those of the recipient of the tablet, who played a key role in supporting
> the defenders at Nayríz; commends fortitude and patience in the face of suffering; foretells
> the coming of ‘the birds of darkness’; and proclaims the continuity of divine revelation.
> 
> B. Summer: Rumelia (1863–1868)
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh during His five years’ exile in Rumelia, first in Istanbul and then in
> Edirne, were dominated by two interrelated themes: gradually unveiling His prophetic claim to
> His expanding circle of followers and to the wider world, and countering the increasingly overt
> opposition of His half-brother. This period also saw a substantial increase in the volume and
> scope of His writings on various other topics.
> 
> i. Istanbul and early Edirne (April 1863–March 1866)
> Bahá’u’lláh’s travel to and brief four-month residence in the Ottoman capital in the wake of His
> declaration in the Garden of Riḍván were marked by several works of a celebratory tone which
> yet foreshadowed darker days ahead:
> 
> Mathnaví-yi-Mubárak (‘The Blessed Couplets’, Persian, BH00108). Ecstatic poem in
> rhyming couplets, written during the journey to Istanbul and announcing the Day
> of God and the divine springtime but warning that it can only be perceived by those
> possessing a spiritual eye.
> Lawḥ-i-Hawdaj (‘Tablet of the Howdah’, Arabic, BH01069). Written upon
> Bahá’u’lláh’s arrival on the shores of the Black Sea en route to Istanbul, announcing
> the fulfilment of what was foretold in the ‘Tablet of the Holy Mariner’ a short time
> before, and warning of an impending ‘grievous and tormenting mischief ’ that would
> serve as the ‘divine touchstone’ separating truth from error.
> * Lawḥ-i-Náqús (‘Tablet of the Bell’, Arabic, BH00759). Proclamatory tablet, with
> repeated refrain celebrating the name ‘He’, commemorating the twentieth anniversary
> of the declaration of the Báb.
> 
> During the early Edirne period, from the end of the difficult midwinter journey from Istanbul
> in December of 1863 until March of 1866, the conflict with Mírzá Yaḥyá was coming to a head
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> but had, for the most part, not yet broken into the open. Bahá’u’lláh’s writings of this time
> emphasize the continuity of His revelation with that of the Báb and the prophets of old, with
> frequent intimations of a splendour as yet only partially revealed:
> 
> * Lawḥ-i-Aḥmad-i-ʻArabí (‘Arabic Tablet of Aḥmad’, BH02022). Brief words of
> consolation and encouragement to its recipient, affirming the prophetic station of the
> Báb, exhorting steadfastness, and assuring the resolution of difficulties and the removal
> of afflictions to the one who chants it.
> Lawḥ-i-Aḥmad-i-Fársí (‘Persian Tablet of Aḥmad’, BH00249). Sets forth the
> conditions of spiritual search, with purity of heart being foremost; compares His
> revelation to that of an ocean which yields up its pearls in proportion to the eagerness of
> the search; and proclaims that ‘this fathomless and surging ocean is near, astonishingly
> near, unto you’.
> * Lawḥ-i-Anta’l-Káfí (‘The Long Healing Prayer’, Arabic, BH00870). Prayer for
> healing, rhyming and with repeated refrain, invoking various names of God for the
> curing of disease and the alleviation of distress.
> Lawḥ-i-Fitnih (‘Tablet of the Test’, Arabic and Persian, BH00637). Foretells a
> coming period of tests and trials, which will encompass all created things and every
> atom of existence and lay violent hold on the peoples of the world.
> Lawḥ-i-Ḥaqq (‘Tablet of the True One’, Arabic, BH01547). Announces to ‘the fol-
> lowers of the True One’ the appearance of the Spirit of Truth, round which circle all the
> Prophets of God, while sharply remonstrating the Bábís for their rejection of Bahá’u’lláh.
> Lawḥ-i-Nuqtih (‘Tablet of the Point’, Arabic, BH02170). Proclaims itself as occu-
> pying the station of the point, differentiating all that has been revealed from all eternity
> to all eternity, in the same way that the point differentiates letters and words.
> Lawḥ-i-Qiná’ (‘Tablet of the Veil’, Arabic and Persian, BH00151). Sharply rebuts
> accusations, made by the leader of the Shaykhí school, of grammatical discrepancies in
> the writings of the Báb, asserting that divine revelation is not constrained by man-made
> rules, citing in support several examples from the Qur’an and challenging him with
> Bahá’u’lláh’s own prophetic claim.
> Lawḥ-i-Sayyáḥ (‘Tablet of the Traveller’, Arabic, BH00395). Declares Bahá’u’lláh’s
> messianic claim; urges the Bábís to embrace it; relates a mystical journey to different
> groups of people who, though outwardly pious, were veiled in various ways from
> recognizing the truth; and foretells His further exile to the ‘vale of Nabíl’, later inter-
> preted as a reference to the city of ‘Akká.
> Lawḥ-i-Tawḥíd (‘Tablet of the Divine Unity’, Persian, BH00512). Discourses on
> the transcendence of God, Whose signs have pervaded the entire creation and Who
> is known only through His Manifestations, who appear from age to age and call the
> people to recognize His cause as one would recognize a friend: that is, by his own self
> and not by the garments he may be wearing on any given day.
> Súriy-i-Aṣḥáb (‘Surah of the Companions’, Arabic, BH00076). Proclamatory work
> playing a major role in the conversion of the followers of the Báb to the cause of
> Bahá’u’lláh, declaring His prophetic station to a number of receptive individuals while
> attesting that if it were revealed to humanity to an extent smaller than a needle’s eye, it
> would cause every mountain to crumble into dust.
> Súriy-i-‘Ibád (‘Surah of the Servants’, Arabic, BH00248). Declares the continuity
> of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic claim with the ‘chain of successive Revelations that hath
> linked the Manifestation of Adam with that of the Báb’, relates the events of His
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> journey from Baghdad to Edirne, and delivers specific guidance to a number of fol-
> lowers named in the tablet.
> Súriy-i-Dam (‘Surah of Blood’, Arabic, BH00358). Proclamatory work declaring
> the oneness of the Prophets through a vision of the words of the dying Imám Ḥusayn,
> who identifies his sufferings with those of Abraham, Moses, Joseph, John the Baptist,
> Jesus, the Báb, and Bahá’u’lláh.
> 
> ii. Middle Edirne (March 1866–September 1867)
> The middle Edirne period commences with the Súriy-i-Amr, which marks the beginning of the
> ‘most great separation’ of Bahá’u’lláh from Mírzá Yaḥyá, and ends with the Lawḥ-i-Mubáhilih,
> which sealed it. During this time Bahá’u’lláh resided in several different houses in the city and
> spent much time secluded from both friend and foe. Many of His writings from this period
> mention this period of withdrawal and frequently include lengthy and emphatic refutations of
> His half-brother’s claims while exposing the latter’s attempted murder of Bahá’u’lláh. At the
> same time, Bahá’u’lláh continued to expand His message beyond the Bábí community. Well-
> known works of this period include:
> 
> Súriy-i-Amr (‘Surah of Command’, Arabic, BH00084). Major proclamatory work
> formalizing Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to divine messengership, read aloud at His instruc-
> tion to Mírzá Yaḥyá and written partly in the voice of God and partly in the voice of
> Bahá’u’lláh, describing the rivers of paradise and apostrophizing earth and heaven, the
> trees and clouds, the lands of ‘Iraq and Rumelia, and the followers of the Báb.
> Súratu’lláh (‘Surah of God’, Arabic, BH00845). Declares the divinity of His station,
> rebukes the followers of the Báb for plotting against Him, and announces His tempo-
> rary retirement from the community.
> * Lawḥ-i-Rasúl (‘Tablet to Rasúl’, Persian, BH01865). Identifies Himself, through
> His sufferings, with the prophets of the past and announces His intention to take leave
> of both friend and foe.
> Súriy-i-Hijr (‘Surah of Separation’, Arabic, BH01774). Announces His withdrawal
> from the community and His sorrow at the state of affairs that made this action necessary.
> * Súriy-i-Mulúk (‘Surah of the Kings’, Arabic, BH00021). His most momentous
> proclamatory work, though not yet divulging the totality of His messianic claim, in
> which He counsels and chastises, in turn, the entire company of the kings of the earth,
> the kings of Christendom, the French Ambassador in Constantinople, the ministers
> of the Ottoman Sultan, the inhabitants of Istanbul, the Sultan himself, the Persian
> Ambassador to the Sultan, the people of Persia, the divines and wise men of Constan-
> tinople, and the philosophers of the world.
> Lawḥ-i-Bahá (‘Tablet of Bahá’, Arabic, with translation into Persian, BH00287).
> Identifies Himself and His sufferings with those of prophets past; compares Mírzá
> Yaḥyá to the biblical Balaam, who rejected Moses after having occupied an exalted
> station; and bids His own followers, the newly named ‘people of Bahá’, to enter the
> ‘ark of eternity’ upon the ‘crimson sea’.
> Lawḥ-i-Laylatu’l-Quds (‘Tablet of the Sacred Night’, Arabic and Persian, BH00970).
> Calls on His followers to be closely united and to associate with their neighbours ‘with
> faces joyous and beaming with light’.
> Lawḥ-i-Rúḥ (‘Tablet of the Spirit’, Arabic, BH00032). Refutes certain claims of
> Mírzá Yaḥyá; asserts the magnitude of Bahá’u’lláh’s own station, whose full transformative
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> power remains, out of wisdom, as yet undivulged; and foretells the ultimate triumph of
> His cause.
> Lawḥ-i-Sarráj (‘Tablet to Sarráj’, Persian and Arabic, BH00006). One of the longest
> works of Bahá’u’lláh, written in answer to questions regarding the enigma of the out-
> wardly exalted station of Mírzá Yaḥyá and arguing, citing various statements of the Báb,
> that virtues become transmuted into vices when one turns away from the light of truth.
> Súriy-i-Bayán (‘Surah of Utterance’, Arabic, BH00144). Charges the recipient to
> teach the Cause of God in a state of detachment from the world and enkindlement
> with the love of God, summons the Maid of Heaven to come to the aid of whoever
> does so, and instructs him to carry the message to specific people and regions in Iran.
> Súriy-i-Ḥajj I and II (‘Surahs of Pilgrimage’, Arabic, BH00058 and BH00071).
> Prescribes the rites of pilgrimage to the House of the Báb in Shiraz and the House of
> Bahá’u’lláh in Baghdad, codified later in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as a sacred duty.
> Súriy-i-Qadír (‘Surah of the Omnipotent’, Arabic, BH01132). A meditation on
> the name of God ‘the Omnipotent’ and its pervasive influence in the world according
> to the capacities of things and, referring to the opposition of Mírzá Yaḥyá, calling the
> Bábís and the manifestations of worldly power to recognize Bahá’u’lláh.
> Súriy-i-Zubúr (‘Surah of the Writings’, Arabic, BH00604). Explains the circumstances
> of His withdrawal from the community, states that He has as a result hidden His reality
> behind the veils, and calls the recipient to proclaim and defend Bahá’u’lláh’s cause both in
> person and in his writings, assuring him that divine confirmations will attend his efforts.
> Lawḥ-i-Mubáhilih (‘Tablet of the Confrontation’, Arabic, BH00457). Praises the
> station of Quddús, one of the Báb’s first disciples and an early martyr, and relates the
> circumstances of the public challenge issued by Bahá’u’lláh to Mírzá Yaḥyá to take
> place in the mosque of Sultan Salim, at which the latter failed to present himself,
> which sealed the irreparable breach that had arisen between them.
> 
> iii. Late Edirne (September 1867–August 1868)
> Bahá’u’lláh’s final break with Mírzá Yaḥyá launched the most prolific single year of His forty-
> year ministry. In several dozen significant works, Bahá’u’lláh still addressed foremost the rift with
> His half-brother but also increasingly treated a broader range of subjects, such as the afterlife,
> justice, cosmology, history, alchemy, and medicine. At the same time, His specific proclamations
> and summons expanded to address the Emperor of France, the Shah of Iran, and the Prime
> Minister of the Ottoman Empire. Well-known works of this period include:
> 
> Kitáb-i-Badí‘ (‘The Wondrous Book’, Persian, BH00004). Bahá’u’lláh’s trenchant apo-
> logia of His claims, by far His longest single work, written in the voice of one of His
> supporters, emphasizing the importance of recognizing the truth through the eye of the
> heart and refuting seven specific accusations levelled by a certain follower of Mírzá Yaḥyá.
> The answers emphasize the importance of ‘He Whom God shall make manifest’ in the
> writings of the Báb, declare Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to be the fulfilment of that promise, assert
> that the relationship between the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh is the same as that between John
> the Baptist and Jesus Christ, and warn the questioner of the wrath of God.
> Lawḥ-i-‘Abdu’r-Razzáq (‘Tablet to ‘Abdu’r-Razzáq’, Arabic and Persian, BH00060).
> Addresses some misconceptions of the Bábís and answers questions concerning the origin
> of creation, the soul after death, and the absence of historical records prior to Adam.
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> Lawḥ-i-Ashraf (‘Tablet to Ashraf ’, Arabic, BH00597). A summons to the recognition
> of Bahá’u’lláh, naming the proofs of His cause as His own self, His revelation, and His
> words and admonishing the Bábís who had not yet embraced it.
> * Lawḥ-i-Mawlúd (‘Tablet of the Birth’, Arabic, BH01010). Tablet in honour of
> the birthday of Bahá’u’lláh, celebrating ‘the harvesting of the ages and the gathering up
> of past cycles’ and announcing the dawning of the morn of divine revelation.
> Lawḥ-i-Naṣír (‘Tablet to Naṣír’, Persian and Arabic, BH00049). Affirms the
> ceaselessness of divine grace and guidance, which brings forth fruit provided the
> seed is cast upon fertile soil; asserts the continuity of His mission with those of Jesus,
> Muhammad, and the Báb; clarifies the position of Mírzá Yaḥyá as nominal figurehead;
> exposes the latter’s attempt to take Bahá’u’lláh’s life; and affirms that ‘every man hath
> been, and will continue to be, able of himself to appreciate the Beauty of God’.
> Lawḥ-i-Quds (‘Tablet of Holiness’, Arabic and Persian, BH00203). A call to the
> recognition of Bahá’u’lláh, affirming the continuity of His mission with the Báb’s, investigat-
> ing the cause of the rejection of prophets past, and refuting the counter-claim of Mírzá Yaḥyá.
> Lawḥ-i-Salmán I (‘First Tablet to Salmán’, Persian and Arabic, BH00066). Laments
> the opposition of Mírzá Yaḥyá; contrasts the stations of belief and disbelief; considers
> and rejects various theories of the mystics concerning the relationship between God
> and creation; asserts that, the Godhead itself being unknowable, the means of access to
> the knowledge of God is through the channel of His prophets; and interprets a line of
> Rumi’s Mathnaví to the effect that the light of truth is one but that, cast through the
> glass of different souls, it takes on different tints and colours, which is both the cause of
> the denial of the religion of God and the source of conflict upon earth.
> Lawḥ-i-Máríyyih (‘Tablet of Mary’, Persian and Arabic, BH00088). A detailed expla-
> nation in symbolic language of an enigmatic statement on alchemy attributed to the
> legendary figure of Mary the Prophetess, describing the various stages in the creation of
> the elixir, and warning that the rediscovery of its knowledge by the scientists of the day
> will herald both the maturity of the world and the threat of a desolating affliction.
> Lawḥ-i-Ṭibb (‘Tablet of Medicine’, Arabic and Persian, BH01313). Relates various
> items of medical and dietary advice—paraphrasing in part a chapter from Náṣíf al-
> Yázijí’s Majma‘u’l-Baḥrayn, a popular literary work of the time—and concludes with a
> prayer for healing.
> Lawḥ-i-Tuqá (‘Tablet of Divine Virtue’, Arabic, BH00934). Bids the people enter
> the ‘crimson Ark’, adorned with divine virtue; addresses the objections of those who
> reject the divine verses; and warns those who, like Mírzá Yaḥyá, denied the ‘Most
> Great Announcement’.
> Lawḥ-i-Yúsuf (‘Tablet to Yúsuf ’, Persian, BH00258). Emphasizes the importance
> of detachment as prerequisite to the recognition of spiritual truth and explains the
> meaning of ‘paradise’, ‘hellfire’, ‘resurrection’, and similar terms.
> Riḍvánu’l-‘Adl (‘The Paradise of Justice’, Arabic, BH00195). Extols the virtue of
> justice, assigning it a sacred origin and purpose in the world; calls upon the kings and
> rulers, the people of the world, and the Bábís to be its exponents; asserts that its essence
> is embodied in the laws of God; and prophesies the day when the ‘standard of oppression’
> will be rolled up and the ‘banner of justice’ will be unfurled throughout the earth.
> Riḍvánu’l-Iqrár (‘The Paradise of Recognition’, Arabic, BH00227). Dwells on the
> state of those who have rejected the truth and contrasts it with the state of those who
> have recognized and believed.
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> Súriy-i-A‘ráb (‘Surah of the Arabs’, Arabic, BH00610). Addresses words of praise
> and encouragement to the Arabs among His followers, inviting them to remember
> with gladness the years He spent amongst them in ‘Iraq.
> Súriy-i-Asmá’ (‘Surah of Names’, Arabic and Persian, BH00112). Responds to objec-
> tions to His claims raised by some Bábís, implores them not to be shut out from the truth
> by the veil of names, acknowledges the outward differences between sacred scriptures while
> asserting that this derives from the varying capacity of humanity, extols at length the revela-
> tion and the crucifixion of Jesus as having infused ‘a fresh capacity into all created things’,
> compares the Báb to John the Baptist and announces Himself to be the return of Christ,
> and declares that the purpose of His revelation, like Christ’s, is to bestow eternal life.
> Súriy-i-Aḥzán (‘Surah of Sorrows’, Arabic, BH00155). Expatiates on the sorrows
> experienced by Bahá’u’lláh and the Báb, taking in part the form of a mystical
> conversation between the two.
> Súriy-i-Dhibḥ (‘Surah of the Sacrifice’, Arabic, BH00434). Exhorts the recipient to look
> into the truth of the Cause of God with his own eyes and declares that Bahá’u’lláh has been
> offered up as a sacrifice at the hands of the wicked at every moment for the past twenty years.
> Súriy-i-Dhikr (‘Surah of Remembrance’, Arabic, BH00297). Speaking in the voice
> of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh declares His mystical identity with the Báb (one of whose titles
> was ‘the Remembrance of God’) and the fulfilment of the Báb’s revelation in Him and
> laments the state of the Bábís in the extremity of their rejection of Bahá’u’lláh.
> Súriy-i-Faḍl (‘Surah of Grace’, Arabic, BH00343). Exhorts the recipient to be bold
> in conveying Bahá’u’lláh’s claim to the followers of the Báb and to sharply challenge
> those who have repudiated the former’s claim, asking them to consider the infinite
> grace of God in revealing again the divine verses.
> Súriy-i-Fatḥ (‘Tablet to Fatḥ-i-A‘ẓam’, Arabic, BH00376). Addresses an intimate
> early follower, expressing His weariness at the inane questions and vain objections of
> the uninformed, the defection of former believers, and the opposition of Mírzá Yaḥyá
> and declaring that He would rather die a thousand deaths than endure the calumny
> that the latter was spreading.
> * Súriy-i-Ghuṣn (‘Tablet of the Branch’, Arabic, BH00939). Announces the high
> station of Bahá’u’lláh’s son ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, titled Ghuṣn-i-A‘ẓam (‘the Greatest Branch’),
> foreshadowing His later appointment in the Kitáb-i-‘Ahd as successor to Bahá’u’lláh.
> Súriy-i-Ism (‘Surah of the Name’, Arabic, BH00994). Calls the recipient to cast
> all names and designations behind him and announce the joyful tidings; states that
> between God and the creatures, there is a ladder with three steps: this world, the here-
> after, and ‘the Kingdom of Names’; calls the people to deliver their souls from ‘the
> bondage of self ’; invites the recipient to ‘intone the verses of God’, promising that the
> sweetness of their melody will cause ‘the heart of every righteous man to throb’; and
> counsels the people to truthfulness, generosity, and purity of heart.
> Súriy-i-Ismuna’l-Mursil (‘Surah of Our Name, the Sender’, Arabic, BH00532). A
> meditation on the name of God, ‘the Sender’, and its various present and future mani-
> festations in the world, from the Messengers of God, to individuals such as couriers
> who may be unaware of their role in propagating the divine message, to the Bábí and
> Bahá’í kings of the future, to the newly designated ‘people of Bahá’—His own follow-
> ers, upon whom lies the responsibility of delivering the message to others.
> Súriy-i-Javád (‘Tablet to Javád’, Arabic, BH01725). Recalls the idol worshippers of
> ages past and condemns their blind imitation, equates their words and deeds with those
> of the Bábís, and affirms that most of the people today are similarly worshipping false
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> idols and that when they are gone it will be as if they had never existed, but that none
> of this will hinder the divine Sun from shining.
> Súriy-i-Khiṭáb (‘Surah of Utterance’, Arabic, BH00503). Praises the recipient
> for recognizing Bahá’u’lláh after failing to do so in an earlier meeting prior to His
> declaration, calls the Bábís to recognize Bahá’u’lláh as the return of the Báb and their
> verses as the same in essence, and summons the recipient to teach the Cause of God
> through his utterance and through his pen, promising that through the power of this
> tablet, his words will have a penetrating influence.
> Súriy-i-Ma‘ání (‘Surah of Divine Mysteries’, Arabic, BH00922). Praises God and
> His Messengers, who receive divine inspiration in various ways; declares as a matter of
> principle that the transcendent Godhead is not the immediate cause of this inspiration;
> and extols the transformative power of the word of God at the time of its revelation.
> Súriy-i-Qahír (‘Tablet to Qahír’, Arabic, BH00127). Affirms Bahá’u’lláh’s mystical
> identity with the Báb; answers a number of specific objections to His claims advanced
> by followers of the Báb; and laments His persecution at their hands, while reserving
> His real fears for ‘Him who will come after Me’, a statement that was reiterated in the
> Súriy-i-Haykal.
> * Súriy-i-Qalam (‘Surah of the Pen’, Arabic, BH00334). A celebration of the
> festival of Riḍván, taking the form of a series of apostrophes to His Pen, the denizens
> of earth and heaven, the concourse of monks, and the Maid of Heaven.
> Súriy-i-Qamíṣ (‘Surah of the Shirt’, Arabic, BH00052). Proclamatory tablet taking
> in part the form of a conversation between the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh; announcing the
> return of the Báb in the person of Bahá’u’lláh; reproaching the Bábís for their denial;
> and directing one of the many named recipients to place the tablet, like the shirt of the
> biblical Joseph, upon his face.
> Súriy-i-Sulṭán (‘Tablet to Sulṭán-Ábád’, Arabic, BH00061). Addresses individually
> words of praise and encouragement to a number of followers in the town of
> Sulṭán-Ábád and addresses parenthetically Mírzá Yaḥyá, upbraiding him for his
> opposition and urging him to repent, while assuring him that Bahá’u’lláh holds no
> hatred in His heart for him.
> * Súriy-i-Vafá (‘Surah of Faithfulness’, Arabic, BH00354). Exhorts the recipient
> to be the essence of faithfulness; asserts Bahá’u’lláh’s mystical identity with the Báb;
> answers questions about ‘the return’, the worlds of God, the ordinances of God, and
> paradise; and confirms that, as predicted during the time of His departure from ‘Iraq,
> the ‘birds of darkness’ have begun to stir.
> Súriy-i-Zíyárih (‘Surah of Visitation’, Arabic, BH00280). Visitation tablet for Mullá
> Ḥusayn, who was the first to embrace the cause of the Báb and was one of its early
> martyrs and who is implicitly related in the tablet to Bahá’u’lláh (whose given name
> was also Ḥusayn) and through Him to the persecution and suffering of Abel, Abraham,
> Moses, Jesus, Muhammad, Imam Ḥusayn, and the Báb.
> Súriy-i-Ẓuhúr (‘Surah of Revelation’, Arabic, BH01761). Declares, at a time when He is
> beset on all sides, that His revelation is the testimony of God that separates truth from error;
> asserts that what the people recognize of His cause is but the robe and cloak wherewith He
> attires Himself; and admonishes the people for failing to recognize Him upon His return,
> after changing His garb and departing for but a little while from their midst.
> Lawḥ-i-Nápulyún I (‘First Tablet to Napoleon III’, Arabic and Persian, BH01120).
> Recounts the sufferings endured by Bahá’u’lláh and His followers; avows their
> innocence; reminds the Emperor of two pronouncements he had made on behalf of
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> the oppressed and the helpless; and calls upon him to inquire into the condition of
> those who have been wronged, including Bahá’u’lláh and His fellow exiles.
> * Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán (‘Tablet to Náṣiru’d-Dín Sháh’, Persian and Arabic, BH00038).
> Bahá’u’lláh’s lengthiest tablet to any monarch, delivered in person to the Shah at the cost of
> the messenger’s life, urging the Shah to judge His cause fairly; disavowing any designs on
> worldly power; detailing the injustices He and His followers had suffered over the course
> of successive banishments; calling the clergy to account for their role in His rejection; and,
> citing the rejection of Jesus and Muhammad by the people of their day, urging the Shah to
> consider the possibility of the appearance of a new Manifestation of God in this day.
> * Súriy-i-Ra’ís (‘Surah to the Chief ’, Arabic, BH00260). Addresses ‘Álí Páshá, the
> Ottoman Prime Minister, as Bahá’u’lláh and His companions were being transferred
> from Adrianople to Gallipoli en route to ‘Akká; takes the minister to task for his abuse
> of power; predicts the downfall of Sulṭán ‘Abdu’l-‘Azíz; announces that He has come
> to ‘quicken the world and unite all its peoples’; relates the circumstances of His expul-
> sion from Edirne; and parenthetically answers a question from a follower about the
> origin and nature of the soul.
> 
> C. The harvest season: ‘Akká (1868–1892)
> The ‘Akká period, the longest of Bahá’u’lláh’s ministry, saw the ripening of a slowly maturing
> process and a further expansion in the range of His writings. Having rallied the majority of the
> Bábí community around His cause, Bahá’u’lláh was now able to increasingly turn His attention
> to the more universal and cosmopolitan implications of His teachings, first by concluding His
> proclamation to the kings and rulers of the earth, then by delineating the laws and ordinances of
> His new Faith, and finally by further elucidating its universal and world-shaping social principles.
> 
> i. Early ‘Akká (1868–1873)
> The early years of the ‘Akká period, including the first two which were endured under harsh
> conditions in the citadel of ‘Akká, were dominated by Bahá’u’lláh’s further summons to kings
> and rulers, continuing the work that had begun with the Súriy-i-Mulúk in Edirne:
> 
> * Lawḥ-i-Páp (‘Tablet to Pope Pius IX’, Arabic, BH00347). Announces the return of
> Christ, ‘come down from Heaven even as He came down from it the first time’; warns
> of the ‘veils of human learning’ that threaten to obscure this truth; calls on the monks
> to come forth from their seclusion; summons the people of all religions to hasten unto
> the most great Ocean; asserts the power of His revelation to overcome all opposition;
> bids the Pope to abandon his worldly riches and adornments; and proclaims to the
> Christians that John the Baptist has reappeared in the person of the Báb while the
> promised Father foretold by Isaiah and the Comforter promised by Christ has appeared
> in the person of Bahá’u’lláh.
> * Lawḥ-i-Nápulyún II (‘Second Tablet to Napoleon III’, Arabic, BH00259).
> Summons the Emperor to ‘tell the priests to ring the bells no longer’, announcing that
> He is the one promised by Christ; bids the monks to come forth from their seclusion;
> prophesies that his ‘kingdom shall be thrown into confusion’ and his empire ‘shall
> pass from [his] hands’ for ‘casting behind [his] back’ the first epistle from Bahá’u’lláh;
> recounts the sufferings of Bahá’u’lláh in His successive exiles; counsels the Emperor to
> watch over his subjects with justice; and instructs him, and the people of the world in
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> general, to teach the Cause of God through the power of utterance, to be trustworthy,
> and to conceal the sins of others.
> * Lawḥ-i-Malik-i-Rús (‘Tablet to Czar Alexander II’, Arabic, BH01042). States
> cryptically that Bahá’u’lláh has answered a secret wish of the Czar; praises him for
> offering, through one of his ministers, aid to Bahá’u’lláh while in the dungeon of
> Tehran; calls on him to arise to become a champion of the Cause of God; declares that
> Bahá’u’lláh is the one ‘Whom the tongue of Isaiah hath extolled, the One with Whose
> name both the Torah and the Evangel were adorned’; and warns of the ephemerality
> of earthly possessions.
> * Lawḥ-i-Malikih (‘Tablet to Queen Victoria’, Arabic, BH00662). Announces the
> fulfilment of ‘all that hath been mentioned in the Gospel’; praises the Queen for forbid-
> ding the trading in slaves and for entrusting ‘the reins of counsel into the hands of the
> representatives of the people’; calls the elected representatives of the people in every land
> to take counsel together for the sake of mankind; ordains that ‘the mightiest instrument
> for the healing of all the world is the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one
> common Faith’; and instructs the kings of the earth to cease burdening their subjects
> with their own wanton expenditures, to be reconciled among themselves, and to enforce
> a common peace by joining forces against any who would take up arms against another.
> * Súriy-i-Haykal (‘Surah of the Temple’, Arabic, BH00007). The centrepiece of
> His proclamatory works, originally written in Edirne and recast in ‘Akká, in which
> Bahá’u’lláh as the embodiment of the promised new Temple is called forth by the
> Holy Spirit and symbolically raised up limb by limb, with the mission of each part
> being assigned and sent forth into the world in fulfilment of the prophecy of the Old
> Testament (Zechariah 6:12). In its final form, it includes His epistles to Pope Pius IX,
> Emperor Napoleon III, Czar Alexander II, Queen Victoria, and Náṣiru’d-Dín Sháh.
> 
> The culmination of Bahá’u’lláh’s summons to kings and rulers, as well as the primary exposi-
> tion of the laws and ordinances of His Faith, are contained in a text whose central significance
> is belied by its relative brevity:
> 
> * Kitáb-i-Aqdas (‘The Most Holy Book’, Arabic, BH00001). The ‘mother book’ of
> the Bahá’í Dispensation, announcing to the kings of the earth the promulgation of the
> ‘Most Great Law’; formally ordaining the institution of the House of Justice; prescribing
> the obligatory prayers; designating the time and period of fasting; formulating laws sur-
> rounding marriage and inheritance; ordaining the institution of the Mashriqu’l-Adhkár
> (houses of worship); establishing the Nineteen Day Feasts; abolishing the institution of
> priesthood; and specifying punishments for murder, arson, adultery, and theft. Apart
> from these laws, He reminds his followers of the twin duties of recognition and obedi-
> ence; exhorts them to fellowship with the adherents of all religions; warns them to guard
> against fanaticism, sedition, pride, dispute, and contention; enjoins on them cleanliness,
> truthfulness, chastity, hospitality, fidelity, courtesy, forbearance, justice, and fairness; and
> counsels them to be ‘even as the fingers of one hand and the limbs of one body’.
> 
> Other works of the early ‘Akká period include:
> 
> * Lawḥ-i-Ra’ís (‘Tablet to the Chief ’, Persian, BH00269). Bahá’u’lláh’s second tablet
> to the Ottoman Prime Minister ‘Álí Páshá, denouncing him for his further act of
> cruelty in imprisoning Bahá’u’lláh and His followers in the citadel of ‘Akká, warning
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> him of the ephemerality of his worldly power, relating the episode of a puppet show
> from Bahá’u’lláh’s own childhood which convinced Him of the fleeting nature of the
> trappings of the world, asking ‘Álí Páshá to comport himself with reason and justice,
> and reiterating a request for a brief audience with the Sultan.
> Lawḥ-i-Aḥbáb (‘Tablet of the Friends’, Arabic, BH00130). Addresses various fol-
> lowers with words of advice and encouragement, calling them to be united, to be
> detached from the things of the world, and to promote the cause of God and lamenting
> the Bábís and others who have rejected His message.
> * Lawḥ-i-Aqdas (‘Tablet to the Christians’, Arabic, BH00505). Announces to an
> unnamed Christian Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation as the fulfilment of Christian prophetic
> expectations, reproaches the Christians in general and the clergy in particular for fail-
> ing to recognize it, asks them to consider how Christ was similarly rejected by the
> people of His day, and concludes with a series of beatitudes reminiscent of the Sermon
> on the Mount.
> Lawḥ-i-Baqá (‘Tablet of Immortality’, Arabic, BH02169). Brief tablet assuring the
> recipient of a lofty station in the world to come and counselling him to detachment
> and service to the Cause of God.
> Lawḥ-i-Basíṭatu’l-Ḥaqíqah (‘Tablet on the Uncompounded Reality’, Arabic and
> Persian, BH00409). Elucidates a statement by the philosopher Mullá Ṣadrá that ‘the
> uncompounded reality is all things’, offers a middle position between the doctrines of
> ‘the oneness of being’ and ‘the oneness of appearances’, observes that both positions
> can be upheld with reference to different sacred scriptures, and suggests that nothing is
> to be gained from disputation in such matters.
> * Lawḥ-i-Fu’ád (‘Tablet to Fu’ád Páshá, Arabic, BH01494). Details the divine jus-
> tice that was meted out to the recently deceased Ottoman Prime Minister in conse-
> quence of his abuses of power and foretells the imminent downfall of his colleague, ‘Álí
> Páshá, as well as the overthrow of the Sultan himself.
> Lawḥ-i-Hirtík (‘Tablet to Georg David Hardegg’, Arabic, BH01217). Briefly
> addresses the head of the German Templers of Haifa, calling him to consider with
> insight the ascendancy and sweetness of the word of God, the mysterious processes
> by which the abased become exalted and the exalted abased, and the lessons of the
> past; employs the science of letters and their numerical equivalents in explaining the
> significance of certain names; and affirms that He and the recipient are moved by
> the same divine spirit.
> Lawḥ-i-Ḥusayn (‘Tablet to Ḥusayn’, Persian, BH01068). Calls the recipient to com-
> mune intimately with God; warns that whatever is concealed in people’s inmost hearts
> will be revealed in this day; compares all creation to mirrors which reflect the light of
> the Sun of Truth, to the extent that they turn to it; proclaims the purifying and healing
> agency of the love of God; and observes that the prophets of God would never have
> subjected themselves to such persecutions if human life ended with this physical one.
> Lawḥ-i-Pisar-‘Amm (‘Tablet to the Cousin’, Persian and Arabic, BH00647). Praises
> the recipient, a paternal cousin, for his faithfulness; remonstrates with another relative
> for remaining distant, asking him whether it is better to die in his bed or in the path
> of God; and calls the people of a certain village not to grieve over their suffering and
> not to engage in rebellion and revolt but to eschew dissension and strife and to be
> characterized with divine attributes.
> Lawḥ-i-Ru’yá (‘Tablet of the Vision’, Arabic, BH01325). Recounts, in celebration
> of the anniversary of the birth of the Báb, a joyful vision of the Maid of Heaven as
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> personification of the Holy Spirit, who embraces Him and addresses Him ecstatically
> and who bids Him leave ‘Akká and hasten to His ‘other dominions’.
> Lawḥ-i-Saḥáb (‘Tablet of the Cloud’, Arabic, BH00739). Proclamatory tablet men-
> tioning Bahá’u’lláh’s recent summons to Náṣiru’d-Dín Sháh and Napoleon III, extolling
> the prophetic significance of the Holy Land and His banishment there, and exhort-
> ing His followers to proclaim His message with wisdom, deeds, and upright conduct,
> describing them as those who would pass through a valley of pure gold ‘aloof as a cloud’.
> Lawḥ-i-Salmán II (‘Second Tablet to Salmán’, Persian and Arabic, BH01403).
> Emphasizes the fleeting nature of this world, that those who remain occupied with it
> are heedless of this truth, and that one of the signs of the maturity of the world is that
> none will be found to bear the burden of kingship and its earthly cares.
> Lawḥ-i-Shaykh Fání (‘Tablet to Shaykh Fání’, Persian, BH01850). Stresses the impor-
> tance of distinguishing the transcendent reality of God from the signs of God in the
> world, taking as an example the subject of mystical self-surrender (faná’) and eternal
> union (baqá’) with God, which should be understood as the act of complete renunciation
> of worldly desire and not the elevation of the individual will to that of God’s.
> * Qad Iḥtaraqa’l-Mukhliṣún (‘The Fire Tablet’, Arabic, BH00687). Written in rhyth-
> mic prose and taking the form of a conversation between Bahá’u’lláh and God in verses
> reminiscent of the biblical Book of Job, Bahá’u’lláh calls to God in His suffering and in
> God’s apparent absence and receives God’s answer as to the wisdom of this suffering.
> * Ṣalát-i-Mayyit (‘Prayer for the Dead’, Arabic, BH09085). Prayer with six verses to
> be repeated nineteen times each, recited at graveside, and stated in the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
> to constitute the only exception to the general prohibition on congregational prayer.
> * Su’ál va Javáb (‘Questions and Answers’, Persian, BH00069). Compilation of
> answers and clarifications by Bahá’u’lláh to over one hundred questions regarding the
> laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
> Súriy-i-Amín (‘Tablet to Amín’, Arabic, BH01343). Praises the recipient for his
> steadfastness; calls the followers of the Qur’an to hear ‘the voice of the Crier, Who cried
> out between heaven and earth’; relates the fallen state of Fu’ád Páshá upon his death;
> and extols the ultimate sacrifice of the youthful Badí‘, who delivered Bahá’u’lláh’s
> epistle to Náṣiru’d-Dín Sháh.
> Súriy-i-Ḥifẓ (‘Surah of Protection’, Arabic, BH00682). Discusses Bahá’u’lláh’s
> opposition from Mírzá Yaḥyá and the latter’s intention to have Bahá’u’lláh killed,
> which was averted through divine protection, and Bahá’u’lláh’s open offer of forgive-
> ness should His half-brother turn to Him in repentance.
> 
> ii. Middle and late ‘Akká (1873–1892)
> As the conditions of His third and final banishment were gradually relaxed, the last years of
> Bahá’u’lláh’s life were lived in relative comfort and freedom, particularly from 1878, when He
> was permitted to reside in different houses beyond the walls of ‘Akká. The significant works of
> this period are chiefly concerned with enumerating universal principles. One body of tablets
> in particular expresses what may be called the heart of the social teachings of the Bahá’í Faith:
> 
> * Ishráqát (‘Splendours’, Arabic and Persian, BH00053). Explains the meaning of the
> ‘most great infallibility’ and the nature of the authority of the Manifestations of God,
> proclaims the fulfilment of prophetic expectations derived from various passages in the
> Qur’an, recalls a vision of the personified virtue of trustworthiness, and proclaims nine
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> ‘splendours’: religion as source of order in the world; the promotion of the ‘Lesser
> Peace’ by the rulers of the world; the commandments of God as source of life to the
> world; the importance of praiseworthy deeds and upright character; the conferral of
> government positions based on merit; union and concord among all people, which can
> be achieved by establishing a universal language; the importance of parenthood and the
> education of children; entrusting administrative affairs to the trustees of the House of
> Justice; and religion as the most potent instrument for establishing unity in the world.
> * Kalimát-i-Firdawsíyyih (‘Words of Paradise’, Persian and Arabic, BH00111). Pro-
> claims eleven ‘leaves of paradise’: the fear of God, the importance of religion, the
> golden rule, that rulers should possess good character and act in justice (in contrast to
> Muḥammad Sháh, whose deeds in particular are denounced), reward and punishment
> as the basis of order in the world, justice, the unity of mankind, the education of chil-
> dren, moderation, renouncing asceticism and monasticism, and forbidding religious
> strife and dissension.
> * Lawḥ-i-Maqṣúd (‘Tablet to Maqṣúd’, Persian and Arabic, BH00140). Relates
> various teachings as prerequisites to world peace: universal education; regarding one
> another as ‘the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch’; reward and punish-
> ment as pillars of world stability; rulers acting with justice and wisdom; the gathering
> of the nations to lay the foundations of the ‘Lesser Peace’; the adoption of a universal
> language and script; affirming that ‘the earth is but one country, and mankind its citi-
> zens’; not allowing religion to become the source of disunity; taking counsel together
> in all matters; promoting useful branches of knowledge; exercising moderation in all
> things; inculcating tolerance and righteousness; and having due regard for the power
> of human utterance, in particular the Word of God, which is the ‘master key for the
> whole world’.
> * Lawḥ-i-Dunyá (‘Tablet of the World’, Persian and Arabic, BH00238). Reiterates
> many of Bahá’u’lláh’s central social teachings, such as renunciation of self and promot-
> ing the good of the entire human race; achieving the betterment of the world ‘through
> pure and goodly deeds, through commendable and seemly conduct’; consorting with
> all religions in friendliness and fellowship; avoiding contention and conflict; observing
> courtesy; promoting the ‘Lesser Peace’; adopting a universal language; championing
> the universal education of children; and recognizing the importance of agriculture.
> * Tajallíyát (‘Effulgences’, Arabic and Persian, BH00668). Emphasizes the impor-
> tance of belief in the Divine Manifestation and proclaims four ‘effulgences’: the
> knowledge of God and recognition of His Prophet, steadfastness in the Cause of God,
> acquiring useful knowledge, and refuting accusations that Bahá’u’lláh had claimed the
> station of the Godhead.
> * Ṭarázát (‘Ornaments’, Persian and Arabic, BH00308). Proclaims six ‘ornaments’:
> knowledge of self and acquiring a useful profession, fellowship with all religions, pos-
> sessing a good character, truthfulness and trustworthiness, preserving the station of
> craftsmanship, and the importance of acquiring knowledge and of fairness in newspa-
> per reporting.
> * Bishárát (‘Glad-Tidings’, Persian and Arabic, BH00568). Proclaims fifteen ‘glad-
> tidings’: the abolition of holy war, consorting in fellowship with the followers of all
> religions, the adoption of a universal auxiliary language, the obligation to faithfully
> serve just monarchs, obedience to government, the establishment of the ‘Lesser Peace’,
> freedom in choice of clothing and cut of beard, abandonment of monasticism, for-
> bidding the confession of sins, abrogating a law of the Báb regarding the destruction
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> of books, exalting useful work to the status of worship and forbidding mendicancy,
> entrusting the affairs of the people to the House of Justice, abrogating the requirement
> of making special journeys to visit the graves of the dead, and commending a combina-
> tion of republicanism and monarchy in the governance of human affairs.
> * Lawḥ-i-Mánikchí Ṣáḥib (‘Tablet to Mánikchí Ṣáḥib’, Persian, BH00698).
> Addresses a number of theological questions by implying that the answers lie in the
> realm of action, in the process elucidating several central Bahá’í teachings: that the
> Manifestations should be regarded as ‘divine physicians’ prescribing the remedy from
> age to age in accordance with the disease, that the unity of mankind is the remedy for
> the ills of today, that one should be ‘anxiously concerned with the needs of the age’
> in which one lives and centre one’s deliberations ‘on its exigencies and requirements’,
> and that words should be matched with deeds and that both should be motivated by
> purity of intentions.
> 
> Other middle and late ‘Akká period works tend to address specific theological and philosophical
> questions:
> 
> Lawḥ-i-‘Abdu’l-Vahháb (‘Tablet to ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb’, Persian and Arabic, BH00433).
> Addresses a question on the soul and its continuance after death, alludes to the state of
> the souls in the next world while declaring that it cannot be adequately described, and
> declares that the whole truth of the matter has remained concealed for the sake of the
> protection of the human race.
> Lawḥ-i-Amváj (‘Tablet of the Waves’, Persian and Arabic, BH03062). Brief tablet
> declaring that the ocean of utterance has surged with four ‘waves’: shining the light of
> unity over the whole earth, being clothed in the garment of trustworthiness, establish-
> ing the transcendence of God, and casting away the causes of abasement and embracing
> that which leads to exaltation.
> Lawḥ-i-Bismillih (‘Tablet of “In the Name of God”’, Persian, BH00528). Empha-
> sizes the importance of the independent investigation of spiritual reality upon attain-
> ment of maturity, which entails the understanding of why some choose the path of
> faith and others that of denial, why each religious sect believes it is in sole possession of
> the truth, and why the Prophets of the past were all rejected in their day.
> * Lawḥ-i-Burhán (‘Tablet of the Proof ’, Arabic, BH00336). Condemns in fiery
> language two members of the Shiite clergy for their roles in the martyrdom of two
> prominent Bahá’ís, sets forth the spiritual prerequisites of the truly learned, and sum-
> mons them to investigate the truth of Bahá’u’lláh’s cause by perusing His writings.
> * Lawḥ-i-Haft Pursish (‘Tablet of the Seven Questions’, Persian, BH00827). Briefly
> addresses a believer of Zoroastrian background, answering seven questions regarding
> the problem of conflicting religious claims, declaring that His religion is ‘the religion
> of forbearance’ and that it ‘embraceth all faiths and all religions’, and affirming ‘the
> reality of Paradise and Hell, for reward and punishment require their existence’.
> Lawḥ-i-Ḥaqqu’n-Nás (‘Tablet of the Right of the People’, Arabic, BH00423).
> Answers a question about the execution of justice in the next world as a result of
> actions in this world, explaining that everything in this physical world has a metaphori-
> cal counterpart in each of the divine worlds, which guarantees the settling of accounts,
> and giving three illustrative examples.
> * Lawḥ-i-Ḥikmat (‘Tablet of Wisdom’, Arabic, BH00223). Calls on the people
> to observe a number of spiritual maxims; answers a question regarding the origin of
> 
> Steven Phelps
> 
> creation; describes the Word of God as ‘the Cause which hath preceded the contingent
> world’; identifies nature with the operation of the Divine Will; mentions in positive
> terms some ancient philosophers, including Empedocles, Pythagoras, Hippocrates,
> Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Balinus, and Hermes; states that the essence and fundamen-
> tals of philosophy have emanated from the Prophets; and asserts that a true philosopher
> would never deny God and His evidences.
> Lawḥ-i-Ittiḥád (‘Tablet of Unity’, Persian and Arabic, BH00472). Elucidates the
> subject of unity in different aspects: unity of religion, unity in speech, unity of deeds,
> unity in rank and station, unity of souls, and unity in material possessions.
> Lawḥ-i-Jamál (‘Tablet to Jamál Burújirdí’, Persian, BH01034). Advises the recipient
> to practice love, humility, and detachment when engaging people with different views
> since souls are created in different states of understanding; gives an example of two
> valid yet opposing positions regarding the relationship of the Manifestations to God;
> and states that ‘the whole duty of man in this Day is to attain that share of the flood
> of grace which God poureth forth for him’, advising that the ‘largeness or smallness of
> the receptacle’ should not be considered.
> Lawḥ-i-Karím (‘Tablet to Karím’, Persian and Arabic, BH00501). States that, while
> some are able to recognize the truth the moment they encounter it, most stand in need
> of a teacher; explains that some can be taught with words, others by deeds and actions,
> and still others by the example of a saintly character; emphasizes the importance of the
> latter; asserts that the purpose of His revelation is not to enforce outward ordinances
> but to enable people to manifest divine perfections and to achieve that which their
> minds can readily embrace; and condemns some of the fanciful theories about the
> Promised One held by certain Muslims.
> Lawḥ-i-Raqshá (‘Tablet of the She-Serpent’, Persian and Arabic, BH00921). Details
> the divine justice and wrath that was visited upon the two individuals mentioned in the
> Lawḥ-i-Burhán and offers remembrance and praise for several of His followers.
> * Lawḥ-i-Siyyid Mihdíy-i-Dahájí (‘Tablet to Siyyid Mihdíy-i-Dahájí’, Arabic
> and Persian, BH00587). Praises a prominent teacher of the Bahá’í Faith, declares
> that the complete victory of the Cause of God will be achieved through speech
> and utterance, and stipulates the prerequisites of effective speech: that it possess
> moderation and refinement, be delivered with tact and wisdom, and have penetrat-
> ing influence, all of which require detachment and purity of heart on the part of
> the speaker.
> Súriy-i-Dhabíḥ (‘Tablet to Dhabíḥ’, Persian and Arabic, BH00513). Summons the
> Bahá’ís to upright conduct, obedience to worldly authority, and high moral character
> and warns that the greatest harm that can be inflicted upon Bahá’u’lláh’s Cause is not
> His imprisonment and persecution but the misdeeds of those who claim to be His
> followers.
> Tafsír-i-Va’sh-Shams (‘Commentary on the Súrah of the Sun’, Arabic, BH00271).
> Gives a detailed interpretation of a short surah of the Qur’an, relates several symbolic
> meanings of the word ‘sun’, and tells of the inexhaustible meanings of the Word of
> God, which are disclosed according to the capacity of the hearers and which must be
> understood according to both their outward and inward meanings.
> * Zíyárat-Námih (Tablet of Visitation, Arabic, BH02307). Name of a category of
> prayers usually in honour of deceased individuals and designated to be read at their
> gravesites, the most well-known of which was compiled by Nabíl Zarandí after the
> passing of Bahá’u’lláh and is often recited in His Shrine.
> 
> The writings of Bahá’u’lláh
> 
> In the final years of Bahá’u’lláh’s life, three works of great significance were penned which
> brought His ministry to a close and put in place the necessary arrangements for the continuance
> of His Faith in the world:
> 
> * Lawḥ-i-Karmil (‘Tablet of Carmel’, Arabic, BH02324). Brief proclamatory tablet,
> revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, taking the form of a joyful dialogue between
> Bahá’u’lláh and the sacred mountain and promising that ‘Ere long will God sail His
> Ark upon thee, and will manifest the people of Bahá who have been mentioned in the
> Book of Names’, words that have been taken as the charter for the establishment of the
> Bahá’í World Centre in Haifa.
> * Lawḥ-i-Ibn-i-Dhi’b (‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf ’, Arabic and Persian,
> BH00005). His last major work and His third longest, calling on its recipient, a leading
> mujtahid, to repent of his role in the oppression and massacre of the Bahá’ís, quoting
> some of the most celebrated passages from His own writings, and adducing proofs
> establishing the validity of His cause.
> * Kitáb-i-‘Ahd (‘Book of the Covenant’, Persian, BH00003). Bahá’u’lláh’s last will
> and testament, appointing ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor by summoning ‘the Aghṣán,
> the Afnán and My Kindred to turn, one and all, their faces towards the Most Mighty
> Branch’; categorically forbidding contention and conflict; and cautioning lest the
> means of order and unity that He brought into the world should become the cause of
> confusion and discord.
> 
> References and further reading
> The Bahá’í Reference Library, www.bahai.org/library, contains a selection of works of Bahá’u’lláh and
> other Bahá’í Writings in English translations as well as in the original languages.
> The Bahá’í World, vol. VII, 1936–38 (1939), Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, https://file.bahai.
> media/d/dd/BW_Volume7.pdf .
> Bahá’u’lláh. (1941) Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, trans. Shoghi Effendi, www.bahai.org/library/
> authoritative-texts/bahaullah/epistle-son-wolf.
> ———. (2002) The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, www.bahai.org/library/
> authoritative-texts/bahaullah/summons-lord-hosts.
> ———. (2006) The Tabernacle of Unity, Haifa: Bahá’í World Centre, www.bahai.org/library/
> authoritative-texts/bahaullah/tabernacle-unity.
> ———. (1923) quoted in J. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, London: G. Allen & Unwin, www.
> bahai.org/library/other-literature/publications-individual-authors/bahaullah-new-era.
> Phelps, S. (2020) A Partial Inventory of the Works of the Central Figures of the Bahá’í Faith, Includes an index to
> over 11,000 works of Bahá’u’lláh accessible in the public domain, in the original languages and in trans-
> lation, including all the titles mentioned in this chapter: www.afnanlibrary.org/docs/other-materials/
> partial-inventory-of-the-works-of-the-central-figures-of-the-bahai-faith.
> Saiedi, N. (2000) Logos and Civilization, Bethesda: University Press of Maryland.
> Shoghi Effendi. (1944) God Passes By, Wilmette, IL: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, www.bahai.org/library/
> authoritative-texts/shoghi-effendi/god-passes-by.
>
> — *The Writings of Baha'u'llah (Used by permission of the curator)*