Kitabu'l-Asmáʼ

The Kitabu'l-Asmáʼ or Book of Divine Names (also known as the Chahar Shaʻn (The [Book of the] Four Grades))[1] is a book written by the Báb, the founder of Bábi religion, in Arabic[2] during his imprisonment in Máh-Kú and Chihriq in Iran (1847-1850). With a total volume of more than 3,000 pages, it is the largest revealed scripture in religious history.[3] Stephen Lambden describes the Kitabu'l-Asmáʼ as "one of the most theologically weighty or important writings of the Bab".[4]

Bábi
Texts and scriptures
From the Báb
  • Category

At least twenty-six manuscripts exist,[1][5] and much of the text has not yet been located.[3] Some extracts are available in English in the volume Selections from the Writings of the Báb.[2]

Contents

The text is divided in nineteen unities (Vahid) and 361 gates (Báb; chapters).[3] and consists largely of "lengthy variations of invocations of the names of God'.[2] Each name is discussed in four different parts, each part written in a different 'mode of revelation':[6] divine verses, prayers, commentaries, and rational arguments.[7] The 361 chapters symbolize "all things" (Kull-i-Shayʼ) and the days of the year of the Badi' calendar.[8] Where the materials about the calendar are located in the Kitabu'l-Asmáʼ needs further research.[1]

The Báb gives explanations about many divine names and attributes[6] and describes how humanity can be spiritualized by recognizing the Manifestation of God.[3]

Notes
  1. Lambden, Stephen (2018). Kitab al-asma' - The Book of Names.
  2. Smith, Peter (2000). "Names, Book of". A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith. Oxford: Oneworld Publications. p. 258. ISBN 1-85168-184-1.
  3. Saiedi 2008, pp. 36
  4. Lambden, Stephen. The Kitab al-asma'
  5. Denis MacEoin (1992). The Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History. Leiden: Brill. pp. 91–92. ISBN 90-04-09462-8.
  6. Saiedi 2008, pp. 45
  7. Saiedi 2008, pp. 337
  8. Saiedi 2008, pp. 336
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References
  • Saiedi, Nader (2008). Gate of the Heart. Waterloo, ON: Wilfrid Laurier University Press. ISBN 978-1-55458-035-4.

Further reading

Online manuscripts (only a fraction of the size of the complete work):

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