| 1861 -1862 |
Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Kitáb-i-Íqán (The Book of Certitude), 'a comprehensive exposition of the nature and purpose of religion'. In the early days this Tablet was referred to as the Risáliy-i-Khál (Epistle of the Uncle). [BBD134, 162; BKG159; BBD134; BBRSM64–5; GPB138–9; RB1:158]
Online at bahai.org: Kitáb-i-Íqán: The Book of Certitude.
The Tablet was revealed in answer to four questions put to Bahá'u'lláh by Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad, a maternal uncle and caregiver of the Báb (the Greater Uncle, the eldest of the three brothers). He had been persuaded by a devout Bábí, Aqá Mírzá Núru'd-Dín, to make a pilgrimage to the holy Shrines of the Imáms in Iraq and where he could put these questions to Bahá'u'lláh as well as visit his sister, the mother of the Báb, who was not yet herself a Bábí. [BBD134, 162; BKG163–5; RB1:158]
It was revealed in the course of two days and two nights in early January. [BBS107; BBD 134; BKG165; GPB238; RB1:158]
The original manuscript, in the handwriting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, is in the Bahá'í International Archives. See Reflections p149 for the story of the receipt of the original tablet, written in the hand of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, by Shoghi Effendi in the Holy Land. [BKG165; RB1:159]
It was probably the first of Bahá'u'lláh's writings to appear in print. [BKG165; EB121]
For a discussion of the circumstances of its revelation, its content and major themes see RB1:153–97.
BEL1.77 gives the year of Revelation as 1862. |
* Bahá'u'lláh, Writings of; Bahá'u'lláh, Life of (chronology); Kitáb-i-Íqán (Book of Certitude); Hájí Mírzá Siyyid Muhammad; Báb, Family of; Báb, Uncles of; - Uncles; - Basic timeline, Condensed; - Basic timeline, Expanded; Bahá'u'lláh, Basic timeline; - Interfaith dialogue; - Islam; Quran; - Christianity; Bible; Prophecies; Baghdad, Iraq; Iraq; Tehran, Iran; Iran |
First (probably) of Bahá'u'lláh's writings to appear in print |
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