The Leiden List of the Tablets of Baha'u'llah; start page

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The Leiden list of the works of Baha'u'llah

edited by
Sen McGlinn

Workshop Version, March 1999

This list is a work-in-progress by various hands. Your contributions and corrections, and requests for the latest entry for a tablet you may be studying, can be sent to S.Mc_Glinn@thuisnet.Leidenuniv.NL. The list's reliability and scope will only grow if those using a tablet in the course of their studies will make a habit of checking its entry in this list and sending any additions or corrections that are needed. There is also a need for volunteers to go through collections of tablets and make tables of contents for any tablets of Baha'u'llah they contain, and to comb the scholarly literature in English and the original languages and send useful cross-references. The list will then become a combined index to the publication and discussion of the works of Baha'u'llah.

These 'workshop versions' are not tidied up for publication: they represent the state of progress of the project, as it lies on the workbench. The present version includes the first entries for what is intended to be an index of first lines in transliteration, and first steps towards a breakdown of the commentary on the Kitab-i Aqdas and Hidden Words by section numbers. These are still very partial, but indicate what sort of information is sought to complete these extensions. It seems likely that the section on the Kitab-i Aqdas will soon need to be split off to form a separate index under another editor.

This edition of the list also contains biographical information for some of the addressees, for instance for Shaykh Salman. At some stage this should be separated out to form an independent index of references to early believers in the Baha'i writings, in early histories and the scholarly literature. A volunteer fluent in Persian is required to edit this. The job carries no remuneration but does offer the privilege of naming the index after your alma mater, or a parent or grandparent etc.

Partial indexes of references to the sections of Gleanings and Prayers and Meditations are also provided for the first time in this edition.

The potential value of a biographical tool such as this should be clear. The present version is woefully incomplete, particularly as regards the sources in Persian and Arabic and the Persian langauge scholarship. It no doubt contains many inaccuracies also. It could very quickly grow to real usefulness if the friends will be so good as to draw up contents tables of their Persian and Arabic books - a useful thing to have anyway - and send these to me to compile.

The entries for some of the better known tablets are long, and many of the discussions referred to probably repeat the same information. Thus far I have chosen to follow an inclusive policy, collecting every reference which might be significant. The time is approaching when individual entries should be checked, edited, and the information contained in the various discussions collated, so that the entry becomes something like an encylopaedia article on the tablet in question rather than just a universal index. If anyone studying a particular work would like to attempt this, the assistance would be much appreciated.

Now I would like to exploit editorial privilege to say a word about the vision behind the title, 'the Leiden list'. This list and other bits of scholarly apparatus are intended to be a prime activity of a 'Leiden Institute for Babi and Baha'i Studies'. The list as you see exists, the institute to house it is still a plan.

The primary reason for choosing Leiden as the site for such an institute is its high reputation and excellent facilities in the field of Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies. Leiden has had a chair in Islamic studies since 1599, and has been collecting manuscripts and books for even longer. Its library contains manuscripts of Babi and Baha'i texts and early Baha'i books. Leiden is also the home of the Encyclopedia of Islam and of Brill publishers, in addition to hosting research institutes in fields such as Islam in the Modern World, Indonesian-Netherlands Cooperation in Islamic Studies, and the Documentation Centre on Modern Iran. It has a faculty of theology (including world religions) and departments of Persian, Turkish and Arabic studies. In short, in the landscape of Islamic and Middle East studies, Leiden represents strategic high ground.

The Leiden Institute of Babi and Baha'i Studies would serve as:

a student house, for Baha'i students from various countries in all fields (incl. medicine, engineering, etc). This should cover its costs. With evening classes in languages and seminars in Baha'i studies topics, this would be like one of the 'colleges' of Oxford or Cambridge -- student accommodation plus an academic community. Ideally it should have scholarships for Baha'i students from countries where Baha'is are not permitted to attend university. The Netherlands has a big cost advantage in tertiary education: PhDs are free, undergraduate degrees much cheaper than the UK or the US.
accommodation for visiting Baha'i scholars using the library or giving lectures or seminars on Baha'i topics to the university or one of the research schools.
home base for a Baha'i Studies Association for the Dutch-speaking world (which includes Vlanders, some Caribbean countries and to some extent South Africa).
home base for the consistent inclusion of the Baha'i Faith in the various courses run by the theology faculty. These include a Master's in Islamic Studies which draws students from Islamic countries around the world, most of whom return to work in responsible positions in the Ministries of Education or Religion of their home countries. This Master's course is taught in English and provides an excellent basis (with supplementary Persian studies) for research in Babi and Baha'i Studies.
an institutional base for the Leiden list of Baha'u'llah's writings, which is getting out of hand already and needs to be extended to cover 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings and much more of the Persian-language scholarship.
flag-bearer for the Baha'i Faith in relation to Islamic scholarship, at least until, as `Abdu'l-Baha promises, the flag of Baha waves over Al-Azhar (GPB 320).

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The Leiden list of the works of Baha'u'llah

edited by
Sen McGlinn

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