Read: Symbol and Secret


Posted with permission of author and publisher Kalimat Press;
Scanned by Duane Troxel;
Proofread by Jonah Winters and Lynn Jaluvka;
formatted for the web by Jonah Winters.

Please support this online re-printing by
ordering a copy of the book.

See also the following reviews of this book:
Review by Frank Lewis, in Bahá'í Studies Review, vol. 6 (1996)
Review by Jonah Winters, in Iranian Studies 32:1 (1999)
Review by Jonah Winters, in Journal of Bahá'í Studies 9:3 (1999).

See also "An Introduction to Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude"
and "Dating Bahá'u'lláh's Book of Certitude" (offsite).

[page iv]

click for larger photo


MANUSCRIPT ORIGINAL
The opening page of the original manuscript of the Kitáb-i Íqán in the handwriting of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, produced in 1278 A.H. (1861-62 C.E.). Minor marginal additions were made by Bahá'u'lláh himself. The manuscript was given to Hájí Mírzá Sayyid Muhammad in Baghdad, in reply to his questions, and remained in his family until 1948, when it was donated to the Bahá'í World Centre.
(Courtesy of the Bahá'í World Centre.)

[page v]

STUDIES IN THE BÁBÍ AND BAHÁ'Í RELIGIONS

VOLUME SEVEN

General Editor
ANTHONY A. LEE

SYMBOL AND SECRET:
QUR'AN COMMENTARY IN BAHÁ'U'LLÁH'S KITÁB-I ÍQÁN


By
CHRISTOPHER BUCK

Visiting Assistant Professor, Michigan State University, buckc@msu.edu

KALIMÁT PRESS
LOS ANGELES


[page vi]

Copyright © 1995 by Kalimát Press.
All rights reserved.

First Edition.

Manufactured in the United States of America.

Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
(Revised for vol. 5)

Studies in Bábí and Bahá'í history.
Vols. 5-has title: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'í religions. Includes bibliographies.
Contents: v. 1 [no title]-v. 2 From Iran east and west / edited by Juan R. Cole and Moojan Momen-[etc.]-v. 7. Symbol and Secret: Qur'an commentary in Bahá'u'lláh's Kitáb-i Íqan / by Christopher Buck. 1. Bahá'í Faith-History. 2. Babism-History. I. Momen, Moojan. II. Cole, Juan Ricardo. III. Smith, Peter, 1947, Nov. 27- . IV. R. Jacksong Armstrong-Ingram. V. Title: Studies in the Bábí and Bahá'i religions.
BP330.S78 1982 297.89 83-227

ISBN 0-933770-16-2 (v. 1)
ISBN 0-933770-78-2 (v. 7, casebound)
ISBN 0-933770-80-4 (v. 7, paperbound)



[page vii]
      Shouldst thou reflect upon these words [Rev. 1:16-17], thou wouldst find them to exemplify the utmost perspicuity and highest eloquence—nay, to have attained the furthest limit of refinement of expression and the last degree of elegant lucidity, as if the very suns of eloquence had been generated from them, and the stars of perspicuity had risen and shone resplendently above their horizon.

            ... Know then that He [Jesus], Who in the realms of glory gave utterance to these words, wished to describe the signs of the One Who would appear by means of symbol and allusion lest the worldly should perceive His meaning.

                        Bahá'u'lláh
                        The Essence of Mysteries

[page viii]

[this page intentionally blank]


[page ix]

CONTENTS      


Foreword by Juan R. I. Cole............................................xi

Acknowledgements.......................................................xv

Introduction..........................................................xix

Chapter One
Bahá'u'lláh and the Book of Certitude...................................1

Chapter Two
Exegesis and Ideology: The Doctrinal Content of the Book of Certitude..51

Chapter Three
Beyond Islam: Hermeneutical Terminology in the Book of Certitude.......81

Chapter Four
Exegetical Techniques in the Book of Certitude........................109

Chapter Five
Conclusion: The Other Side of the Bridge..............................233

Bibliography..........................................................305

Appendix: Quran verses cited in the Íqán..............................325



    Introduction

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