Description

The Kitāb-i Īqān (‘Book of Certitude’), a major work by Baha’u’llah.

Who was Baha’u’llah?

Mirza Husayn ‘Ali Nuri (1817–1892), known as Baha’u’llah, was the founder of the Baha’i Faith. Born in Tehran into a prominent family of court officials, he rejected the life of a courtier and instead joined the Babi movement from which he developed his own religion.

The Book of Certitude

The Kitāb-i Īqān (‘Book of Certitude’) is one of Baha’u’llah’s major works written in defence of the religious claims of Sayyid ‘Ali Muhammad Shirazi, the Bab. It dates from the early 1860s while Baha’u’llah was exiled in Baghdad, but before he openly announced his claim to be the promised one of all religions. It was probably the most copied, widely circulated and influential of all Baha’i works, and was also the first Baha’i text to have been authorised for publication.

This manuscript

This copy is undated but was copied before 1886 when it was purchased from the Austrian orientalist and politician Alfred von Kremer. In addition to the Kitāb-i Īqān, the opening of which is shown here, the volume contains another short work and letters by Baha’u’llah to some of his followers.