Bahai Library Online

See also Poetry and Dramatic scripts.

Fiction

  1. Yang Juan. 1/2 (2006). An existential yet emotionally-charged dialogue between two young women.
  2. Stanwood Cobb. Ayesha of the Bosphorus: A Romance of Constantinople (1915). A novella combining fiction with scenes from the lives of Abdu'l-Bahá and the Bahá'ís in Haifa in the early 1900s. Includes introduction by Bei Dawud.
  3. David Merrick. Birth and Call of Jesus Christ: A Bahá'í-inspired retelling (2010-12). The story of the birth of Jesus and his call to the world of humanity.
  4. Stephen D. Dighton. Breathe Not the Sins of Others: A Tale of Suspense (2000). Features Bahá'ís and their Faith in situations many will recognize as mirroring their own spiritual battles.
  5. Ian Kluge. Coming Out (2001). Short, humorous play depicting the confusions that can result from trying to be too delicate in announcing one's commitment to the Bahá'í Faith.
  6. Romuald Boubou Moyo. Contes interactifs pour pré-jeunes (2018). Il s’agit d’une deuxième version du livret pour pré-jeunes "Marcher dans le droit chemin." Ils vont pouvoir apprécier, en tant qu’acteurs principaux, les implications morales qui découlent des choix qu'ils feront en lisant les vingt contes interactifs.
  7. Barbara Jarvik. Crucial Heart, The (1988). Short story about religious tolerance in Israel.
  8. James J. Keene. Dawn-Breakers Novel, The (2021). Sample chapters from a book of historical fiction: preface and chapters 1-3: Anticipation of the mission of the Báb, the Shaykhi movement in Karbala, and proclamation of the mission of the Báb.
  9. Justice Hagan. Desert Enlightenment: Prophets and Prophecy in American Science Fiction (2013). On the pivotal role in the development of the central characters the narratives of the novel Dune, the comics The Rise of Apocalypse, and the film Star Wars. Contains a few passing mentions related to the Bahá'í Faith.
  10. Horace Holley. Divinations and Creation (1916). A collection of poetry. Does not mention the Bahá'í Faith.
  11. Abdu'l-Bahá, Mary Basil Hall. Drama of the Kingdom (1933). A play written in 1912 by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá while he was in London and adopted with permission by Mary Basil Hall (named Parvine by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá).
  12. Marlene Macke. Dramatic Readings (2017-2020). Nineteen screenplays prepared as part of a Writers' collective at Desert Rose Bahá'í Institute, either fictionalized dramatic presentations of pivotal events in Bahá'í history or adapted from historical books.
  13. Mark Perry. Dress for Mona, A: Abridged one-act version (2002). The story of Mona Mahmudnizhad.
  14. Duane L. Herrmann. Escape from Earth: The Journal of a Planetary Pioneer (2018). Chapter 1 of a 300-page novel.
  15. Duane L. Herrmann. Flash Fiction: Spiritual Conversations (2014-2020). Nine short stories; brief conversations that may aid enlightenment.
  16. Laura Clifford Barney. God's Heroes: A Drama in Five Acts (1910). A play based on events in the lives of the early Babis, with a focus on Tahirih.
  17. Dana Paxson. Half Million Years, A (2021). Exploring the 500,000-year Bahá’í cycle asserted by Shoghi Effendi, in two versions: academic-style essay form, and story-narrative form.
  18. Duane L. Herrmann. I Found You! (2014-11). Allegory of a little boy's new adventures in a new country with his mother, who had been lost.
  19. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. I Loved Thy Creation: A collection of short fiction (2008). Sci-fi, fantasy, and magic-realism stories inspired by Bahá'í themes.
  20. Juliet Thompson. I, Mary Magdalene (1940). Semi-autobiographical account of Juliet Thompson's contact with 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
  21. Romuald Boubou Moyo. Interactive Stories (2020). A choose-your-own-adventure book, based on the junior youth book Walking the Straight Path. The book is intended to be studied by youth in small groups with the assistance of moderator, who can facilitate discussion and reflection.
  22. Abdu'l-Bahá. Ios, the Shepherd Boy: Some Parables Concerning the Laws of the Spiritual Life (1922-10). Five short stories by Abdu'l-Bahá told to Lua Getzinger, as recalled by May Maxwell, illustrating the spiritual life.
  23. Mark Perry. Layli, Majnun, and the Infernal Tree (2001). Short play dealing with the story of Layli and Majnun and partly inspired by the Seven Valleys.
  24. Duane L. Herrmann. Letters from the Past (2018-01). A young couple move into a new home in grief over their lost child and discover hidden letters which reveal a painful past as well as a message of hope.
  25. Ian Kluge. Light, The (2001). True life war story of an unexpected encounter with the miraculous in a large asylum for the incurably insane.
  26. Ehsan Bayat. Little Gems (2024). This is a story for young adults (10+) of a Baha’i family and his family’s impact on a neighborhood through active participation in the Institute process.
  27. Stephen D. Dighton. Locked In: A Medical Mystery (1996/2000). A presentation of the principles of the Bahá'í Faith as lived by an ordinary person in an extraordinary situation.
  28. Robert Stockman. Mars Frontier (2010). A novel about the first landing on Mars, exploration of the planet, and its eventual settlement. Contains some content of indirect relevance to the Bahá'í Faith.
  29. E. S. Stevens. Mountain of God, The (1911/1970). Book excerpts, sympathetic portrayal by a non-Bahá'í of Abdu'l-Bahá and the small band of Bahá’ís who lived in Haifa and 'Akká early in 20th Century.
  30. Brendan Cook. Obedience: Conscience and Dissent in the Bahá'í Faith (2006). An outsider's perspective on the possible conflict between an individual's conscience and obedience to a higher authority, cast in the form of a dialogue.
  31. Duane L. Herrmann. On the Leavenworth Trail (2018-08). Historical fiction; a glimpse of life on the American frontier, in Kansas, just after the American Civil War, and international news that traveled remarkably fast.
  32. Dana Paxson. Out of Plato's Cave: A Dream Journey of Science, Philosophy, and Spirit, Featuring Crashes of Memoir, Dashes of Song and Rhyme, Florid Stagings of Drama, Wise Birds, Hungry Beasts, and a Garnish of Rebellious Footnotery (2017). Book-length essay on the consistency of science and religion, treated as a work of fiction about the journey of the main character Will, who is accompanied by the mysterious Jeddin and other strange beings; includes many selections from the Writings.
  33. Duane L. Herrmann. Place in the Woods, A (2014). A young man has just achieved his life's goal, yet now he has an opportunity for professional advancement and must choose between the two. He gets confirmation of his choice from an unexpected place which confirms another decision.
  34. Wellesley Tudor Pole. Private Dowding: The personal story of a soldier killed in battle (1966). A record of a soldier in WWI allegedly "channeled" to Pole from the afterlife.
  35. Duane L. Herrmann. Proclaim the New Name (2014/2016). "When you take an actual historical time and twist it, the results can be rather interesting. What part is true, what part is not? That, the reader will have to decide." From the Twisting Topeka anthology of historical fiction.
  36. Horace Holley. Read-Aloud Plays (1916). Nine short plays. Contains no mention of the Bahá'í Faith.
  37. Ben Roskams. Sailor's Problem, The (1995-12). A short play about unity featuring Sherlock Holmes.
  38. Duane L. Herrmann. Second Chance (2018). A story of redemption and transformation.
  39. Duane L. Herrmann. Short Stories (2017). Stories from a different point of view - one influenced by the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh.
  40. Wellesley Tudor Pole. Silent Road: In the light of personal experience (1960). PDF of the entire book, followed by a short HTML-formatted excerpt about the "healing miracles" of Abdu'l-Bahá.
  41. Rúhíyyih Khánum. Spiritual Assembly's Growing Pains, A (1976). A play, in 28 pages, showing "some of the workings of a Bahá'í Spiritual Assembly: some of the blunders, some of the problems; how certain types of people fit better into one office and others into another."
  42. Duane L. Herrmann. Stepping Out (1998-04). A young man asserts his independence and sets off to begin his own life.
  43. Duane L. Herrmann. Strangers Passing Through Town (2021-08-02). Brief historical fiction short story, based on the finding that 'Abdu'l-Bahá passed through Kansas on his way to and from Denver when he visited North America in 1912.
  44. Olivia Kelsey. Two Shall Appear (1943). A play which attempts to depict in a brief form the background and some of the heroic events of Bahá'í history.
  45. Pierre Spierckel. Vojdani: Ou, La quête: drame en huit tableaux (2007). Drame relatant la recherche spirituelle de Vojdani telle que contée dans "Fire on the Mountain Top", joué par de jeunes gens bahá'ís et chercheurs.
  46. Matt Briggs. Well Dressed Woman of Recent Times, A (2000). Historical fiction which contains part of The Wardrobe of Gertrude Heim Remey, a book Mason Remey wrote about his wife's wardrobe (which the Des Moines Register wrote was "quite likely the best book ever written about his wife's clothes").
  47. Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff. White Dog (1999-04). Beauty truly is in the eye, or perhaps the heart, of the beholder.
  48. Jay Tyson. Wise Men of the West, The: A Search for the Promised One in the Latter Days (2019). Sample chapters from a 2-volume novel of historical fiction on Miller and the Adventists through the quest of a Quaker and a researcher as they search beyond the Holy Land, following clues from Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, and Buddhist prophecies.
  49. Abu'l-Qásim Faizí. Wonder Lamp, The (1972). A children's story, and performance / storytelling piece, published as a 45-page booklet and also in audio recording.
  50. Steven Leacock. Ralph D. Wagner, comp. Yahi-Bahi Society of Mrs. Resselyer-Brown, The (1914). Canadian humorist's 1914 parody of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
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