Self Study Notes for the Kitáb-I-Íqán


Book Description

According to Shoghi Effendi, the Kitab-i-Iqan, the Book of Certitude, should be mastered by every Baha'i and those who are interested in Baha'i Faith. The Book of Certitude was written by Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith. As one of the main spiritual texts given to humanity, it is complex, intricate, and more beautiful each time it is read. With the help of this new self-study guide by Dr. Sohrab Kourosh, engage with the Book of Certitude on a deeper level than ever before. New meanings, connections, and allusions will become clear and lead you down new paths of spiritual study. Kourosh has compiled a wide range of useful contextual information that identifies more obscure theological, philosophical, and religious terms. He shows the connections to other religious texts and sacred scriptures, and he provides more information about references to historical events. Kourosh also deciphers the references to other Writings of Baha'u'llah, as well as Writings of the Bab, 'Abdu'l-Baha, and Shoghi Effendi, which will help illuminate complex passages. According to the teachings of Baha'u'llah, spiritual texts are of no benefit if they can't be understood. Shoghi Effendi stated that this book should be thoroughly studied. Use this guide to honor His advice.




A Companion to the Study of the Kitáb-i-Íqán


Book Description

The materials gathered together in this Study Companion are intended to stimulate study of Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude, the Kitáb-i-Íqán. Shoghi Effendi called the Kitáb-i-Íqán 'Bahá'u'lláh's masterly exposition of the one unifying truth underlying all the Revelations of the past'. Bahá'u'lláh Himself stated that 'all the Scriptures and the mysteries thereof are condensed into this brief account'. The study of this important work of Bahá'u'lláh is vital to an understanding of the basic truths of our Faith. The materials gathered together in this Study Companion are intended to stimulate study of Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude, the Kitáb-i-Íqán. With repeated use in classes, they have evolved over a number of years into their present form, which may be used for both individual and group study. It is intended that these notes will assist the student of the Íqán to acquire a broader vision of its fundamental themes and truths and prove a convenient point of reference for explanations not always at hand. The Study Companion includes: annotations to the Íqán major themes of the Íqán identified by Shoghi Effendi a new index to the Íqán a suggested course of study for the Íqán




A Tutorial on the Kitáb-i-Íqán


Book Description

A journey through the Book of CertitudeThe Kitáb-i-Íqán is one of the most important Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh revealed this book within the space of two days and two nights, in the last years of His stay in Baghdád (AH 1278-AD 1862). According to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, The Kitáb-i-Íqán sets "forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God" and it "occupies a position unparalleled by any work in the entire range of the Bahá'í literature, except The Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book."This current book is a record of the journey that the author has taken through The Kitáb-i-Íqán over a period of 12 years. It is not an interpretation or a critical analysis of the content of the book. Neither does it provide any personal opinion. It primarily guides reader through a systematic study of the Íqán while providing some background information on topics raised by Bahá'u'lláh in each paragraph. It is called a tutorial as it attempts to simulate, as much as possible, the tutor-tutored relationship in a self-paced personal study. All the references in the tutorial are sourced either from authoritative Bahá'í materials or obtained from other reliable sources.The 290 paragraphs of The Kitáb-i-Íqán are apportioned for study to 58 chapters. The size and complexity of each chapter reflects the content and intricacy of the issues addressed in the paragraphs included therein. Each chapter starts with an introduction that highlights the key ideas. Then in a coherent manner, background information on the terminologies, references and mystical concepts inherent in each paragraph is provided. The tutorial covers the 266 topics embedded in The Kitáb-i-Íqán. This second edition of the book, which was originally released in 2012, contains many editing improvements, and some changes and additions to the content.




The Ocean of God


Book Description

‘The Ocean of God’conveys the proposition that the future of religions, if they will not want to contribute to the destruction of humanity, will become transreligious. Based on the assumption that the spiritual impulse of humanity cannot simply be eradicated, religiosity will persist in transreligious forms, as secularizations, naturalizations and transhumanist dreams only envision such transformations, but fall short in their ability to replace the force of spirituality to further civilized peace of human existence on Earth and its future in evolutionary, ecological and cosmological dimensions. In relating the contributions of religious pluralism to the concept of the unity of religions, which have arisen in this “new axial age” for overcoming the checkered history of religions in furthering peace, the program of a polyphilic pluralism with its transreligious discourse, based on the insight of the fundamental relativity of (religious) truth and the special contributions of process philosophy and theology as well as the Bahá'í universe of thought, analyses and projects a new religiosity or spirit enabling religions to overcome their deepest motives of strife and warfare.




Epistle to the Son of the Wolf


Book Description

An epistle addressed to the Muslim cleric, Shaykh Muhammad Taqi Najafi, known as Āqā Najafi. Contains Bahaullah's own summary of the history and teachings of his religion.







Stories of Baha'u'llah


Book Description

Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), the Inaugurator of the most recent of the independent world religions, the Baha'i Faith, has been described by the Guardian of that Faith as 'One Whom posterity will acclaim, and Whom innumerable followers already recognize, . . . as the Establisher of the Most Great Peace . . . and the Inspirer and Founder of a world civilization'. Few there are in the West who have known even one person who saw Him or experienced the majesty and power, the compassion, humility and humour which characterized His earthly life. Baha'is of the East are more fortunate, many having known those, often their relatives, who were in His presence as companions or pilgrims. Yet, as the editor of this book remarks, 'only a few recorded their observations for posterity'. It was in 1975 that 'the thought of collecting personal accounts' occurred to the Hand of the Cause 'Ali-Akbar Furutan. Through correspondence and the examination of numerous memoirs, published and in manuscript, he selected the stories in this enthralling collection. 'The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will call to remembrance Our days, ' wrote Baha'u'llah. The 144 stories in these pages make such remembrance both effortless and delightful. They come to mind whether one is far away or visiting the scenes in which they occurred. They describe Baha'u'llah in Iran, Baghdad, Constantinople, Adrianople, 'Akka and Bahji, and linger in memory to uplift and gladden both heart and mind.




Logos and Civilization


Book Description

As the Bahá'í community becomes an ever more familiar figure on the international landscape, attention has been increasingly attracted to the teachings of its founder, Bahá'u'lláh. In this groundbreaking study, Nader Saiedi addresses key controversies and problems in the current academic literature about Bahá'u'lláh's writings. Saiedi approaches the subject from sociological, historical, philosophical, spiritual, and theological perspectives and draws on the vast body of previously untranslated original Persian and Arabic texts. Analyzing selected works that represent the three stages of Bahá'u'lláh's revelation, he argues for the conceptual continuity of Bahá'u'lláh's teaching throughout His life, from the inception of His mission in Tehran's Siyah-Chal dungeon to the last books He wrote in exile in Ottoman Palestine. Logos and Civilization is an original and probing investigation of the writings of Bahá'u'lláh, whose visionary insights into the spiritual, social, economic, and political dimensions of humanity in the context of globalization have only begun to attract the attention they merit.




The Revelation of Baha'u'llah, Vol. II


Book Description

Following on from the first, this is the second volume of the revelation of Baha'u'llah. It contains writings revealed by him in Constantinople and Adrianople, touching briefly on the history of his life and his companions during his 5 years in these two cities. He proclaims the advent of the day of God to mankind, and touches on the treachery of the breaker of the covenant of Bab.