What Is the Baha'i Holy Book?

The central Baha'i holy book is the Kitab-i-Aqdas, the "Most Holy Book," which Baha'u'llah wrote in Arabic around 1873 while imprisoned in Akka. Baha'i scripture is broader than one book, though. It includes the writings of the Bab and of Baha'u'llah, regarded as divine revelation, and the writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, regarded as authoritative interpretation.

Does the Baha'i Faith Have One Holy Book?

Not in the sense of a single volume that contains all of its scripture. Baha'u'llah, the founder of the Baha'i Faith, who lived from 1817 to 1892, left an enormous body of writing. In the words of bahai.org, "for four decades thousands of verses, letters and books flowed from His pen." The Universal House of Justice, the governing body of the Baha'i Faith, describes the sacred writings of Baha'u'llah as comprising more than one hundred volumes in its introduction to the Kitab-i-Aqdas, published in the Baha'i Reference Library.

Within that body of work, one book holds a unique position. The same introduction calls the Kitab-i-Aqdas the "Mother Book" of Baha'u'llah's revelation, and of all his writings it is described there as being "of unique importance." So the short answer to the question "what is the Baha'i holy book?" is the Kitab-i-Aqdas, while the full answer is a body of scripture spanning three central figures.

What Is the Kitab-i-Aqdas?

The Kitab-i-Aqdas is Baha'u'llah's book of laws. According to the Baha'i Reference Library, it was written in Arabic around 1873 while he was still imprisoned within the city of Akka, in present day Israel. It was supplemented by later writings and by Baha'u'llah's replies to a series of questions posed by one of his secretaries, and the first authorized English translation was published in 1992.

The book sets out the laws and ordinances of the Baha'i Faith, including the laws of obligatory prayer and of fasting. In one passage, Baha'u'llah links the period of fasting to the Baha'i New Year: "We have enjoined upon you fasting during a brief period, and at its close have designated for you Naw-Ruz as a feast." That feast, Naw-Ruz, still closes the annual Baha'i fast.

Other passages set the obligatory prayer, exempt women during menstruation from obligatory prayer and fasting, provide a substitute for obligatory prayers missed while traveling, and a supplementary section answers questions on how the laws apply. The Universal House of Justice describes the book as setting forth the laws of God for a dispensation "destined to endure for no less than a thousand years."

Yet the book insists that it is more than a legal code. In its fifth paragraph Baha'u'llah writes:

"Think not that We have revealed unto you a mere code of laws. Nay, rather, We have unsealed the choice Wine with the fingers of might and power." (Kitab-i-Aqdas, paragraph 5)

Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Baha'i Faith, described the book as the Mother Book of Baha'u'llah's Dispensation and the Charter of his New World Order. Today the published English edition gathers the text with its supplementary writings, the questions and answers, a synopsis and codification of its laws, and explanatory notes.

What Is the Kitab-i-Iqan?

The Kitab-i-Iqan, the "Book of Certitude," is Baha'u'llah's major doctrinal treatise. According to the Baha'i Reference Library, it is a treatise Baha'u'llah revealed in Baghdad in 1861 or 1862 in response to questions posed by one of the maternal uncles of the Bab. It was translated into English by Shoghi Effendi and first published in English in 1931. Historical accounts summarized in Wikipedia's article on the Kitab-i-Iqan hold that Baha'u'llah completed it within about two days.

Its themes are among the most distinctive in Baha'i thought. It interprets passages from earlier scriptures, including the Quran and Islamic traditions, often in a symbolic rather than literal sense, and it presents the idea of progressive revelation: that God's messengers, whom Baha'is call Manifestations of God, appear across history as successive teachers of humanity. The questioner had not accepted his nephew's claims, and his questions concerned Islamic expectations about the end times and how to interpret scripture. Baha'u'llah's reply runs to more than 200 pages of Persian prose, with long Arabic passages wherever it cites the Quran and Islamic tradition. The book circulated in manuscript for decades before it was printed, and it has since been translated into more than thirty languages. For readers who want to understand how Baha'is see the relationship between their faith and other religions, the Kitab-i-Iqan is the essential text.

What Are the Hidden Words?

The Hidden Words is a short book of brief, aphoristic passages that Baha'u'llah revealed in Persian and Arabic in 1857 or 1858, during his exile in Baghdad, according to the Baha'i Reference Library. It falls into two parts, one from the Arabic and one from the Persian, and was translated into English by Shoghi Effendi. Because each passage is short and stands on its own, the Hidden Words is an approachable first book for readers new to the Baha'i writings.

What Did the Bab Write?

The Baha'i Faith traces its beginning to the Bab, Siyyid Ali-Muhammad, whose title means "the Gate." Born in Shiraz on October 20, 1819, he declared his mission there on May 22, 1844, and he was executed by firing squad in Tabriz on July 9, 1850, according to Wikipedia's biography of the Bab. In 1863 Baha'u'llah announced that he was the one whose coming the Bab had foretold, an event Baha'is commemorate during the festival of Ridvan. The Baha'i Faith regards him as an independent messenger of God whose mission, in the words of bahai.org, "was to last only six years" and "was to prepare the way" for Baha'u'llah.

Baha'is regard the Bab's writings as divine revelation alongside those of Baha'u'llah. His major works include the Qayyumu'l-Asma, a commentary on the Surah of Joseph from the Quran and his first revealed work, and the Persian Bayan, which he began while imprisoned in the fortress of Maku and left unfinished. He also wrote an Arabic Bayan. The English compilation Selections from the Writings of the Bab, first published in an authorized translation in 1976, gathers excerpts from these works along with the Dala'il-i-Sab'ih, or Seven Proofs, and the Kitab-i-Asma, or Book of Names.

What Role Do the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha Play?

'Abdu'l-Baha, who lived from 1844 to 1921, was Baha'u'llah's eldest son. In the early twentieth century he was the faith's leading exponent, described by bahai.org as a champion of social justice and an ambassador for international peace. In his writings Baha'u'llah instructed his followers to turn to 'Abdu'l-Baha "not only as the authorized interpreter of the Baha'i Writings but also as the perfect exemplar of the Faith's spirit and teachings," as bahai.org puts it.

As a result, 'Abdu'l-Baha's writings hold a distinctive place. They are treated as authoritative interpretation and are also counted as part of Baha'i scripture. Among the best known is Some Answered Questions, a collection of table talks he gave in Akka between 1904 and 1906 in answer to questions from Laura Dreyfus-Barney, an American Baha'i. It was first published in 1908, and a substantially retranslated edition appeared in 2014.

Are Shoghi Effendi's Letters Part of Baha'i Scripture?

No, though they carry authority. 'Abdu'l-Baha appointed his eldest grandson Shoghi Effendi, who had studied at the American University of Beirut and at Oxford, as Guardian of the Baha'i Faith and the sole authoritative interpreter of its writings. In some 26,000 letters and thousands of cables, according to bahai.org, he offered guidance to individuals and institutions. He also translated major works of Baha'u'llah into English, including the Hidden Words in 1929, the Kitab-i-Iqan in 1931, and the Epistle to the Son of the Wolf in 1941, and he compiled the anthology Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah. Some of his own letters ran to the length of a book: seven written between 1929 and 1936 were collected as The World Order of Baha'u'llah.

Shoghi Effendi's interpretations are considered authoritative, but they are not considered scripture or an expansion of the revealed text, as summarized in Wikipedia's article on Baha'i literature. The same is true of the messages of the Universal House of Justice, which are authoritative while in force. Informal accounts such as pilgrims' notes of conversations are not considered authoritative at all.

How Large Is the Body of Baha'i Scripture?

Very large, and still being published. Beyond the Universal House of Justice's description of more than one hundred volumes of Baha'u'llah's writings, Wikipedia's summary of the scholarship reports that over 7,000 of his tablets and other works have been collected out of an estimated 15,000.

Where Can You Read the Baha'i Writings?

The most reliable source is the Baha'i Reference Library, which describes itself as the authoritative online source of Baha'i writings. It offers selected works of Baha'u'llah, the Bab, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice, in English, Persian, and Arabic, with free downloads in several formats.

One approachable order is the Hidden Words first, then the Kitab-i-Iqan, then the Kitab-i-Aqdas with its notes, which explain the context of each law. For shorter readings, the Baha'i library on U-God presents selections from the Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah. To see how the Baha'i Faith fits among the traditions of the world, explore the world religions map.