# Book of Certitude: Tablet study outline

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-18 — 1 clipping.*

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> Name of Tablet in Arabic or Persian: The book was originally known as
>  Risaliy-i-Khal, Epistle to the Uncle, and later entitled by Bahá'u'lláh 
> Himself as the Kitáb-i-Íqán.
> 
> 
> Translation into English: The Book of Certitude. Translated by Shoghi Effendi, 
> reprinted in many editions.
> 
> 
> Significance of Name: 
> 
> The original title, Epistle to the Uncle, is simply a literal reference to its 
> recipient. Its later title, Book of Certitude, could be interpreted in many ways, the 
> most obvious probably being that the book was designed to give certitude and 
> assurance to the Báb's uncle for him to be able to recognize the Manifestation of 
> God and the truth of the Bahá'í cause. It was of course successful, as Hájí Mírzá 
> Siyyid Muhammad did become a Bahá'í. The book remains a source of proof and 
> certitude for modern readers, which gives the title contemporary meaning, too.
> 
> 
> Tablet was revealed in: Persian, with quotations from the Qur'an in Arabic
> 
> 
> Name of Recipient:
> 
> The Báb's maternal uncle, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad (Khal-i-Akbar, the Older 
> Uncle, also translatable as The Greater Uncle) who with his brother Hájí Mírzá 
> Hasan-Alí (Khal-i-Asghar, the Younger/Lesser Uncle) was visiting Karbilá.
> 
> 
> Reason for Revelation of the Tablet:
> 
> In _God Passes By_, p. 138, Shoghi Effendi explains that the Íqán "was written in 
> fulfillment of the prophecy of the Báb, Who had specifically stated that the 
> Promised One would complete the text of the unfinished Persian Bayán, and in 
> reply to the questions addressed to Bahá'u'lláh by the as yet unconverted maternal 
> uncle of the Báb, Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad..." Thus, the Íqán was revealed for at 
> least two reasons that we know of: First, it fulfilled the Báb's prophecy about the 
> revelation of the Bayán, thus indirectly proving Bahá'u'lláh's status as the foretold 
> Manifestation. Second, it was intended to foster certitude in the mind of its 
> recipient and, presumably, in the minds of future readers.
> 
> 
> Questions asked that are answered in Tablet:
> 
> The Íqán was revealed in response to four specific questions posed by Hájí Mírzá 
> Siyyid Muhammad, which can be summarized as follows:
> 
>  The Day of Resurrection. Is there to be corporeal resurrection? The world is 
> replete with injustice. How are the just to be requited and the unjust punished?
>  The twelfth Imám was born at a certain time and lives on. There are 
> traditions, all supporting the belief. How can this be explained?
>  Interpretation of the holy texts. This Cause does not seem to conform to the 
> beliefs held throughout the years. One cannot ignore the literal meaning of the holy 
> texts and scripture. How can this be explained?
>   Certain events, according to the traditions that have come down from the 
> Imáms, must occur at the advent of the Qa'im. Some of these are mentioned. But 
> none of these has happened. How can this be explained?" (Balyuzi, _Bahá'u'lláh: King 
> of Glory_, 164-65)
> 
> The questions have been preserved, and a translation of them in their entirety can 
> be found at http://bahai-library.com/histories/Íqán.questions.html
> 
> 
> Date of Revelation:
> 
> In _God Passes By_ page 138, the Guardian writes that the Íqán was "revealed 
> within the space of two days and two nights, in the closing years of that period 
> (1278 A.H. — 1862 A.D." The exact date is not known, but extensive research 
> upholds the dating of the Íqán to this year. See, for example, Buck's _Symbol and 
> Secret_, pages 7-12. There are also several passages in the Íqán itself which 
> indicate the date of its revelation, such as "these holy lights have, for eighteen 
> years, heroically endured the showers of afflictions." Adding eighteen years to the 
> beginning of the Bahá'í era, AD1844/AH1260, gives AD1862/AH1278. 
> 
> 
> Place of Revelation: Baghdad
> 
> 
> Role of Amanuensis or Secretary: The Íqán was most likely dictated to Mírzá Áqá 
> Jan, as was the custom, and later a copy was made by Abdu'l-Bahá. For more detail 
> see Christopher Buck, _Symbol and Secret_, page 16.
> 
> 
> Other Tablets revealed at about the same time:
> 
> According to Taherzadeh, the tablets revealed near the end of Bahá'u'lláh's stay in 
> Baghdad, i.e. roughly contemporaneous with the Íqán, include Subhána-Rabbiya'l-
> A'la ("Praise to the Exalted Lord"), Lawh-i-Ghulamu'l-Khuld ("Tablet of the Youth of 
> Paradise"), Hur-i-Ujab ("The Wondrous Maiden"), Az-Bagh-i-Ilahi ("From The Garden 
> of Holiness"), Halih-Halih-Yá-Bishárát ("Hallelujah, Hallelujah, O Glad-Tidings"), 
> Lawh-i-Ayyub ("The Tablet of Job," also known as Súriy-i-Sabr, "Súrih of 
> Patience"), Lawh-i-Bulbulu'l-Firaq ("Tablet of the Nightingale of Bereavement"), 
> Súratu'lláh ("Súrih of God"), and of course the Tablet of the Holy Mariner.
> 
> 
> Style, subject, and genre of the Tablet: [?]
> I. Tone of Tablet
>         The Íqán seems to contain passages of both the tone of command and 
>         authority and of the tone of servitude, meekness and supplication.
> II. Subject Covered by Tablet
>         1. Writings dealing with interpretation of the old Scriptures, 
>                 religious beliefs and doctrines of the past.
>         3. Mystical Writings.
>         5. Tablets dealing with subjects of learning and knowledge, divine 
>                 philosophy, mysteries of creation, medicine, alchemy, etc.
>         6. Tablets exhorting men to education, goodly character and 
>                 divine virtues.
> III. Literary Genre of Tablet:
>         2. Essay or book revealed as a letter to an individual. 
> 
> 
> Voice of Tablet: [?] Bahá'u'lláh (the Íqán was revealed before Bahá'u'lláh explicitly 
> announced His station, so the tablet was at least at first glance revealed in the 
> voice of Bahá'u'lláh).
> 
> 
> Outline Contents of Tablet: The Íqán is too lengthy to outline here; see instead the 
> list of themes, below.
> 
> 
> Principal themes of the Tablet:
> 
> The Guardian summarizes the themes of the Íqán as follows, in _God Passes By_ 
> 139, in writing that the Íqán, "setting forth in outline the Grand Redemptive 
> Scheme of God,...proffered to mankind the 'Choice Sealed Wine,' whose seal is of 
> 'musk,' and broke the 'seals' of the 'Book' referred to by Daniel, and disclosed the 
> meaning of the 'words' destined to remain 'closed up' till the 'time of the end'."  
> 
> The rest of the Guardian's summary of the Íqán has been ably outlined by a student as follows:
> 
>  "proclaims unequivocally the existence and oneness of a personal 
>  God, unknowable, inaccessible, the source of all Revelation, eternal, 
>  omniscient, omnipotent and almighty"
>  "asserts the relativity of religious truth and the continuity of 
>  Divine Revelation"
>  "affirms the unity of the Prophets, the universality of their Message, 
>  the identity off their fundamental teachings, the sanctity of their 
>  scriptures, and the twofold character of their stations"
>  "denounces the blindness and perversity of the divines and 
>  doctors of every age"
>  "cites and elucidates the allegorical passages of the New Testament, 
>  the abstruse verses of the Quran, and the cryptic Muhammadan 
>  traditions which have bred those age-long misunderstandings, 
>  doubts and animosities that have sundered and kept apart the 
>  followers of the world's leading religious systems"
>  "enumerates the essential prerequisites for the attainment by 
>  every true seeker of the object of his quest"
>  "demonstrates the validity, the sublimity and significance of the 
>  Báb's Revelation"
>  "acclaims the heroism and detachment of His disciples"
>  "foreshadows, and prophesies the world-wide triumph of 
>  the Revelation promised to the people of the Bayán"
>   "upholds the purity and innocence of the Virgin Mary"
>   "glorifies the Imáms of the Faith of Muhammad"
>   "celebrates the martyrdom, and lauds the spiritual sovereignty 
>  of Imám Husayn"
>   "unfolds the meaning of such symbolic terms as 'Return,' 
>  'Resurrection,' 'Seal of the Prophets' and 'Day of Judgement'"
>   "adumbrates and distinguishes between the three stages of 
>  Divine Revelation"
>   "expatiates, in glowing terms, upon the glories and wonders of 
>  the 'City of God,' renewed, at fixed intervals, by the dispensation 
>  of Providence, for the guidance, the benefit and salvation of 
>  all mankind" 
>   "...by sweeping away the age-long barriers that have so 
>  insurmountably separated the great religions of the world, has 
>  laid down a broad and unassailable foundation for the complete 
>  and permanent reconciliation of their followers." 
> 
> 
> Tablet's relationship to other tablets:
> 
> The Íqán has been described by Bahá'u'lláh in one of His Tablets  as the Siyyid-i-
> Kutub, "the Lord of Books." In _God Passes By_ Shoghi Effendi characterizes the 
> Íqán in itself and in relation to other works of Bahá'u'lláh as "Foremost among the 
> priceless treasures cast forth from the billowing ocean of Bahá'u'lláh's 
> Revelation..." (138)  He goes on to say " this Book, setting forth in outline the Grand 
> Redemptive Scheme of God, occupies a position unequalled by any work in the 
> entire range of the Bahá'í literature, except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas..."  (139)
> 
> 
> Biography or bio note of the recipient of the Tablet:
> 
> The Íqán contains references to many Manifestations of God, their apostles and 
> disciples,  the Imáms, and some historical Islamic figures. The primary recipient, 
> of course was Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad. Mentions of and biographies of him can 
> be found in  Balyuzi's _Bahá'u'lláh: King of Glory_ 344, 388, 405; _Eminent Bahá'ís 
> in the Time of Bahá'u'lláh_ 35 (footnote), 121, 217-18, 220-21, 226-27, 229;  
> _The Báb_ 86-87, 107; and in Taherzadeh's _Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh_ vol.1 153-
> 59 and elsewhere, passim.
>
> — *Book of Certitude: Tablet study outline (Used by permission of the curator)*