Bahaism and Its Claims: A Study of the Religion Promulgated by Baha Ullah and Abdul BahaWilson, Samuel Graham
Religion
Bahaism and Its Claims: A Study of the Religion Promulgated by Baha Ullah and Abdul Baha
Wilson, Samuel Graham
Bahai Faith -- Controversial literature
(2) The Revelation of Baha is contained in his Books and Tablets
(Epistles). Some of these are the "Ikan," the "Surat ul-Haykal," the
"Hidden Words," the "Seven Valleys," and the "Kitab-ul-Akdas." Remey[34]
pronounces them "The latest and greatest of God's revelations to the
world." "They contain knowledge which was sealed and closed up by the
prophets of bygone cycles, so that the minds of the wisest of men were
unable to comprehend it." Thornton Chase, exceeding the others in his
extravagant language, declares that "were all the books of former days
lost and forgotten, the whole of true religious teaching could be found
in the 'Bahai Revelation.'"
The "Kitab-ul-Akdas," "The Most Holy Book," is called by M. Abul Fazl
the "greatest" and "most important." It consists of 146 pages of
manuscript, about 10,000 words. It was written at Acca in Persian and
Arabic. It has been translated into Russian, and a synopsis of it is
given by Professor Browne,[35] of Cambridge University, in the _Journal
of the Royal Asiatic Society_, 1892, of which I make use. The
"Kitab-ul-Akdas" warns the learned against criticizing it, and in
imitation of Mohammed challenges them to produce the like of it. It is
similar in its teachings to the "Bayan" of the Bab, though less
fantastic and mystical. Its contents are confused and unsystematic. It
has laws--ceremonial, moral, civil, criminal--mingled with rhapsodies,
exhortations, addresses, and various digressions. After an introduction
and some laws, follow addresses to the Emperor of Germany and to the
Sultan of Turkey, to the cities of Teheran and Kirman, and to the
province of Khorasan. After more laws there is a digression about
revelation; then more laws and a digression about the Bab; again sundry
laws, followed by a denunciation of Subh-i-Azal, and this by various
civil laws, ending with a command to select a universal language.
The book is a medley, and bears internal evidence of the truth of the
tradition that it was written piecemeal in answer to various questions
from believers. The fragments were jumbled together without order. The
learned are reminded by Baha that he never studied the sciences, and
there is too abundant evidence in the book itself to confirm the
statement. It ranks far below Deuteronomy as a system of laws or a
literary composition.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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