Baha'i texts online?

[I, Brian]

If I'm going to build a Baha'i section on the main site, something I will really need to look to do is host the writings of Baha'u'llah on site (that is my aim for all the religions I cover).

May I therefore please ask how much material Baha'u'llah actually wrote, and how much of it is freely available online?

[Ocean_Drop]

Good news! Most of it is available freely online at www.bahai-library.org .

Baha'u'llah spent some 40 years of His life in exile, much of which was in the vile and remote prison of Akka, reserved for murderers and highwaymen. Despite this, He Revealed over 100 Books and Tablets on diverse subjects from spiritual development to worldwide issues such as establishing the "Most Great Peace".

Just to let you know, we believe that only the Writings of Baha'u'llah and The Bab are divinely inspired. Baha'u'llah's eldest son, Abdu'l'Baha (translation: servant of Baha) is regarded as the perfect exemplar of the Faith and His writings are considered Sacred, much of them interpreting His Father's teachings. Finally, Abdu'l'Baha's great grandson - Shoghi Effendi - was 'The Guardian' of the Faith and overseen the formation of the 'Universal House of Justice' which is the central administration of the Faith that is on Mount Carmel, Holy Land (e.g. www.bahaipictures.com ). Whew!

Basically: -

Divine Revelations: Baha'u'llah and The Bab
Sacred Scripture/Authoratitive Interpretations: Abdu'l'Baha
Guardian/Also Authoratitive: Shoghi Effendi

It'd be great to see a Bahai section! I think the official website at www.bahai.org will help you out if you haven't seen it already

Warmest,
Ocean Drop

[I, Brian]

Ah - there is quite a lot.

Would it be possible to indicate which are the most precious gems of that collection?

[Ocean_Drop]

Spoilt for choice really

For starters: -

For spiritual guidance and brief but powerful passages: The Hidden Words, Baha'u'llah
The journey of the soul (mystical work): The Seven Valleys, Baha'u'llah
Bahai Apologetics (proofs of His Revelation and more, quite heavy but powerful): Kitab-I-Iqan, Baha'u'llah
The letters He addressed to all the worlds leaders (including Napolean III, President of USA, Queen Victoria, Czar of Russia, the Pope, and so on): The Summons of the Lord of the Hosts, Baha'u'llah

Miscellaneous topics explained by Baha'u'llah's Son, Abdu'l'Baha - Some Answered Questions, Abdu'l'Baha

That's plenty to start with! If you have the bandwith/time, I'd strongly recommend downloading the Ocean library which is full of hundreds of books and scriptures on most major religions.. it's about 20mb http://www.bahai-education.org/ocean/

Good luck!

Warmest,
Ocean Drop

[I, Brian]

Thanks for the help - and a reminder of the link! (A lot easier to work with now I'm on ADSL ). However, someone should tell someone else that it's nearer 25 megs, though.

[brucegdc]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Thanks for the help - and a reminder of the link! (A lot easier to work with now I'm on ADSL ). However, someone should tell someone else that it's nearer 25 megs, though.

Yea, not to mention the updates once its installed. Thank goodness for broadband !!!

Wonderful collection, though. (Some very odd pieces in there)
... Bruce

[BruceDLimber]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

If I'm going to build a Baha'i section on the main site, something I will really need to look to do is host the writings of Baha'u'llah on site (that is my aim for all the religions I cover).

May I therefore please ask how much material Baha'u'llah actually wrote, and how much of it is freely available online?

Greetings, Brian; I'm very happy to hear this! :-)

As has been said, Baha'u'llah Himself wrote about 100 volumes, and the Baha'i scriptures i toto amount to about 200 volumes! (Not all of these are translated into English yet, though.)

Anyway, you can find helpful selections at these sites:

www.bahai-library (click "Baha'i Writings" for our scriptures; there are many other documents, too)
and
www.bahaistudy.org (this site also has videos and talking books).

The Baha'i scriptures cover a wide range of topics and styles, including theology, law, mysticism, poetry, Q-and-A discussion, and more! I'll also endeavor to mention several titles below, with brief descriptions:

- "The Hidden Words" This ranks almost as poetry. It's Baha'u'llah's first book; He describes it as a capsule summary of past religious teachings.

- "The Book of Certitude" (aka "Kitab-i-Iqan") This is our primary theological work.

- "The Seven Valleys" A mystical work describing the journey and progress of the soul.

- "Gleanings" A compilation of many of Baha'u'llah's foremost Writings.

- "Epistle to the Son of the Wolf" Baha'u'llah's last book, it contains a retrospective of His life and of the Baha'i Faith to that time.

- "Some Answered Questions" by 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah's son and authorized interpreter An informal Q-and-A book in modern English; it covers many topics!

Good hunting! :-)

Bruce

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Ah - there is quite a lot.

Would it be possible to indicate which are the most precious gems of that collection?

I've seen a variety of responses to this thread but here's some more for thought.

Among Baha'is priority is given to Baha'u'llah's and the Bab's works, then Abdu'l-Baha, then Shoghi Effendi (more properly refered to as the Guardian) and the Universal House of Justice. I would note that officially the holy scriptures of other faiths are respected - words of Jesus and Muhammad on par with Baha'u'llah and the Bab etc. The same for the Buddha and Krishna. However there is the question of authenticity to cloud the issue. Specifically the words of the Prophet-Founder are called the "Creative Word" while Abdu'l-Baha's words are "sacred" and the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice are "inspired".

There is also something of a nontraditional but inspired readings which don't officially fit in yet. Mulla Husayn, Tahireh, and Quddus are each very prominant followers of the Bab a few of who's writings still exist and a few of which are in translation. Tahireh holds a special favor as she was a woman - the foremost woman of the Babi period, and her status carries great weight among Baha'is still. Note for example The Tahirih Justice Center

A figure less obvious, but considered the foremost woman of the Baha'i period however long it shall last, is "The Greatest Holy Leaf" - called Bahiyyih, sister of Abdu'l-Baha. Several of her letters have been collected in a volume. Both the Bab and Baha'u'llah married and I know the Bab's wife left a diary which is published and given special weight.

There are also important works which aren't considered scripture. Great historical works are - _The DawnBreakers_, _God Passes By, _The Revelation of Baha'u'llah_ (4 volume set), _King of Glory_, _Robe of Light_, and _Century of Light_. Each has content that can be found no where else, though all cover some of the same material as well.

And just to make it interesting note that *most* of Baha'u'llah's works have not been translated! There are some 100 or 200 individual works. Many pieces of most of them may well be in translation but whole books remain. The general scheme being used for translation is to have two teams of scholars. One translates the original into English and the other takes the resulting translation back into the original language (usually Arabic but also Persian and alittle in Turkish I think.) When the translation can make the circle without alteration it's considered ready to publish. The most recent work released under this scheme is _Gems of Divine Mysteries_

[barefootgal9]

Steven, I'll try to find the link for you, but I believe the number of distinct tablets, poems, books etc., by Baha'u'llah alone is about 15,000. Close to that many also for 'Abdu-Baha.

Here's a link estimating total numbers, current to '86 - actually I think there are a lot more than indicated in this cite. There's more up-to-date info somewhere, I'll try to find it):

http://bahai-library.com/?file=numbe...bahaullah.html

A chronology of major works is here:

http://bahai-library.com/resources/tablets-notes/

Baha'is aren't going to run out of "new material" for quite some time yet. I'm very excited about the mystical poetry that is in provisional translation now. Beautiful, beautiful imagery!

bfg

[I, Brian]

Which would be rated as the most important few texts?

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by I, Brian

Which would be rated as the most important few texts?

I think Bruce's outline above is good for that list.

Using my own words I would say the the Kitab-i-Iqan (aka The Book of Certitude) is the primary work covering a variety of themes and doctrines. Personally I have a strong attachment to _The Seven Valleys_ and I know many others have an equally strong attachment to _The Hidden Words_. Certainly the Kitab-i-Aqdas must rank of high importance - it is the central work of Baha'u'llah's laws and forms the axis about which so many other Tablets and Letters revolve - though they may be more readable as they are more about principles and standards elaborated from the Book of Laws. These are collected in two works - one is Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah and the other is Tablets Revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas. _Gems of Divine Mysteries_ forms a good bridge between the themes covered in the Book of Certitude and The Seven Valleys. There are also a few specific Tablets that speak specifically to the issue of succession.

Of the Bab's works I believe only a summary _Selections from the Writings of the Bab_ is available.

Of Abdu'l-Baha's works _Some Answered Questions_ must be by far the most circulated. Other major works often noted at The Tablets of the Divine Plan and The Secret of Divine Civilization, and there are several collections of his talks and speaches. His Tablet to August Forel is certainly of unique importance.

The Guardian wrote mostly letters which are collected in various volumes. His one book as such was _God Passes By_ and he edited and translated _The DawnBreakers_ - the two most central histories of the Baha'i Faith.

The Universal House of Justice is probably best known for it's letters to the world on various themes - The Promise of World Peace and a book recently published _Century of Light_.

[smkolins]

Originally Posted by barefootgal9

Steven, I'll try to find the link for you, but I believe the number of distinct tablets, poems, books etc., by Baha'u'llah alone is about 15,000. Close to that many also for 'Abdu-Baha.

Here's a link estimating total numbers, current to '86 - actually I think there are a lot more than indicated in this cite. There's more up-to-date info somewhere, I'll try to find it):

http://bahai-library.com/?file=numbe...bahaullah.html

A chronology of major works is here:

http://bahai-library.com/resources/tablets-notes/

I stand corrected! A link off the second link above shows: " The estimated figures for the total number of individual tablets are as follows: Bahá'u'lláh, 7,160 tablets archived, 15,000 total estimated to have been written; 'Abdu'l-Bahá, 15,549 tablets archived, 30,800 total estimated to have been written; Shoghi Effendi, 16,370 letters archived, 30,100 total estimated to have been written ("Bahá'í Archives: Preserving and Safeguarding the Sacred Texts," in 'Andalíb magazine, 12.48 (Fall 1993): insert)"

Sometimes I wonder if there is a tablet "Open in 2005" and such but I'm pretty sure not.

[barefootgal9]

Brian --

I myself would most recommend "Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah" for a first-read -- these selections were chosen by the Guardian as the most important to translate and get into the hands of the (woefully ignorant!) early Western believers. The selections span the breadth of Baha'u'llah's teachings and most essential principles with clarity and depth, and provide a very good representative sampling of His writings.

Other texts usually focus on specific themes: The Kitab-i-Iqan (The Book of Certitude) is His extensive exposition of the unity of religion and the concept of progressive revelation, which is critical to understanding the place of Baha'u'llah and this Faith in the "Divine Scheme of Things." I would recommend it to you, personally, as you are so well-read in religion and I think you would find it especially interesting - tho the Gleanings also covers the concepts clearly, but in less depth.

The Hidden Words - Baha'u'llah's first book. These are short, poetic "meditations" which explore the relationship of the soul to God and presage virtually all of His later teachings. (I've heard it said that if every text of the Faith had been lost but this one, the Faith would have continued virtually intact!)

The Seven Valleys and The Four Valleys -- The journey of the seeking soul in Sufi imagery (I think you would love this!)

The Kitab-i-Aqdas, His book of laws applying to personal conduct and the organization of the community.

I would add to Steven's list of works by 'Abdu'l-Baha: Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha. The translations are more accurate than those in Some Answered Questions - tho the latter is very good and covers questions directed to him on Christian concepts, and some philosophical ones (such as free will vs predestination, etc), which, as far as I know, aren't covered directly anywhere else.

[barefootgal9]

Steven,

(Brian, too, if you like!)

Are you familiar with the discussion boards at Planet Baha'i? I haven't seen you there, and think you would enjoy them - and I'd enjoy seeing you there!

http://forums.delphiforums.com/plane...Reading+%3E%3E

[I, Brian]

I have actually visited, but always found the delphi forum format to be a little unfriednly for myself. I'll see if I can post there sometime, but at the moment I am quite overwhelmed with work. Thanks for the offer, though - and also the book recommendations - something I can look into properly when establishing that section.