The Kitab-i-Iqan: Book of Certitude

by Bahá'u'lláh

A "unique repository of inestimable treasures" — Shoghi Effendi

The Book of Certitude, by Bahá'u'lláh, author of the Bahá'í Revelation, is arguably one of the most important scriptural works in all of religious history. In it Baha'u'llah explains the underlying unity of the world's religions, describes the universality of the revelations humankind has received from the Prophets of God, explains their fundamental teachings, and elucidates allegorical passages from the New Testament and the Qur΄án that have given rise to misunderstandings among religious leaders, practitioners, and the public. Written in the span of two days and two nights, The Book of Certitude is, in the words of its translator, Shoghi Effendi, "the most important book written on the spiritual significance" of the Bahá'í Faith.

Genres: Religion, Baha I, Nonfiction, Philosophy, Spirituality, Inspirational, Scripture

174 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1861

About the author

Persian religious leader Bahaullah, originally Mirza Huseyn Ali, a follower of the Bab, founded the Baha'i in 1863.

Baha'i, the word, signifies a follower of Bahaullah, which means the "splendor of God" in Persian.

Bahá'u'lláh, a member of the great patrician family, endowed with wealth and vast estates, ably traced lineage to the ruling dynasties of imperial past. Bahá'u'lláh turned his back on the position at court, which these advantages offered; people knew his generosity and kindliness, which made him deeply loved among his countrymen.

The religious revolution caused much social upheaval, and Bahá'u'lláh announced support for the message, so his privileged position survived not long. After the execution, authorities unleashed the the waves of violence unleashed upon the Bábis; Bahá'u'lláh, engulfed, suffered the loss of all his worldly endowments, and imprisonment, torture, and a series of banishment subjected him. In the first banishment to Baghdad, he in 1863 announced that God promised his coming as the one divine messenger.

From Baghdad, people sent Bahá'u'lláh to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and finally to Acre in the Holy Land, where he arrived as a prisoner in 1868. From Adrianople and later from Acre, Bahá'u'lláh addressed a series of letters among the most remarkable documents in religious history to the rulers of his day. They proclaimed the coming unification of humanity and the emergence of a world civilization. They called upon the monarchs, emperors, and presidents of the 19th century to reconcile their differences, to curtail their armaments, and to devote their energies to the establishment of universal peace.

Bahá'u'lláh passed away at Bahji, just north of Acre, and people buried his body. His teachings already began to spread beyond the confines of the Middle East and brought the world community, focused on the point of his shrine today.

Reviews

[Chloë]

Who am I to rate the Word of God.

[David C. Mueller · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps one of the most influential books I have read in my life. It explains the Baha'i concept of progressive revelation and why religious leaders tend not to accept Prophets and religions coming after the advent of the ones they represent. Although originally written to an Islamic audience, the book contains much material on Christianity and should be interesting to Christians as well. This book is considered one of the preeminent books of the Baha'i Faith and was the one that led me to see Baha'u'llah as the Prophet for the modern era.

[Maya Bohnhoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? This book was one of the first I read before I became a Baha'i. It deals largely with prophecy and scriptural meaning and contains the most wonderful and evocative description of what it means to seek truth.

[Christopher · Rating 4 out of 5]

pretty good. often good and inspiring. sometimes feels kind of rambling and repetitive. it WAS written in only two days by a man who claims to be the second coming of jesus, so i suppose that should be expected. but it does have pearls of wisdom, and i feel good when i read it.

[Tricia Hague-Blackford]

This book is exceptional, with answers for all of the questions and metaphors, of the Holy Bible, the Koran, and other world religious Holy Books. It houses the proofs of Baha'u'llah as having been the Manifestation of God on earth for today. A must read for everyone searching for the Promised One of all Religions.

[Caroline Gabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

reading this book brought me joy

[James Tomasino · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some really powerful and moving stuff here. Great food for thought and the soul.

[Dana Paxson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Our contemporary views of religions place them in rather haphazard, discordant, and quaintly-framed relationships replete with contradiction, absurdity, and cartoonish anthropomorphisms. It is no wonder that modern civilization, with all its own failures of thought and action, sees little benefit from assigning religion to any other framework than a blood-drenched, superstitious past as seen in all too many history books. This book resets the reader's mind and heart.

The opening of the Book of Certitude sets the challenge:

"The essence of these words is this: they that tread the path of faith, they that thirst for the wine of certitude, must cleanse themselves of all that is earthly—their ears from idle talk, their minds from vain imaginings, their hearts from worldly affections, their eyes from that which perisheth. They should put their trust in God, and, holding fast unto Him, follow in His way."

The book's beginning continues by calling on the reader to cease "to regard the words and deeds of mortal men as a standard for the true understanding and recognition of God and His Prophets." This resets one's vision; if one acknowledges a God beyond human comprehension, how can one apply human criteria to such a Being?

From this beginning, one is offered an abundance of examples of the wholeness, the unity, the perfection of the pattern of all religions as they draw our focus and energies toward the emergence of the Bahá'í Faith today. One also sees many examples of the all-too-human efforts to obstruct, pervert, and co-opt the divine messages of God for degraded use by the powerful. Due to such efforts, every Messenger of God has suffered beyond our ability to comprehend.

Worth reading many times, and this reviewer is in yet another pass of its study. Each reading yields deeper understanding, along with the next level of search to be undertaken.

[Gail]

"Kitab-i-Iqan (the Book of Certitude) by Baha'u'llah. Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i-Iqan, revealed in 1861, is one of the "foremost" among the works of His Revelation, “unequalled by any work in the entire range of Baha’i literature, except the Kitab-i-Aqdas.” The Iqan is the “most important book written on the spiritual significance of the Cause” and is unique in that “this Book alone” provides the basis for reconciling the followers of “the great religions of the world.” Described by Baha’u’llah as the “lord of books,” the Iqan "contains the basic tenets of the Faith" and "explains the attitude" of the Baha’i Faith to "the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society." It elucidates key allegorical passages in the New Testament and Qur’an. Gems of Divine Mysteries (Javahiru'l-Asrar), a short work Baha'u'llah revealed around 1860, relates to themes found in both the Iqan and in the Seven Valleys. A central theme of the book is the return of the Promised One in a human guise. It also considers the symbolic meaning of many Islamic and biblical terms and explores such matters as the cause of the rejection of the prophets of the past and the danger of a literal interpretation of scripture."

[Ryan]

It's difficult to review a primary religious text. I can, however, attempt to give a taste of what the Kitab-i-Iqan seems to be about, from my perspective.

Bahá'u'lláh is attempting to found a new, syncretic religion that embraces the Abrahamic lineage. Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, he claims, are all reflections of a single godhead, manifesting from time to time when necessary to stoke the flames of faith. Naturally, he claims that the Bahá'í Faith is the next step in this sequence.

Consider the Sun. Were it to say now, "I am the sun of yesterday," it would speak the truth. And should it, bearing the sequence of time in mind, claim to be other than the sun, it would still speak the truth.

The principle difficulty in this approach is overcoming the resistance of entrenched belief systems. Once established, a dogmatic religion cannot countenance a departure from its rule set without ceasing to exist by definition. Bahá'u'lláh spends some time discussing the difference between dogmatic belief versus a more nuanced attempt to appreciate the content of a spiritual teaching.

It's wonderfully written and poetic, though I often felt it probably lost something in the translation from Persian (my edition was translated by Shoghi Effendi).

[david lewis · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has two goals, one is proving the continuity of God's revelation in history, and the second is proving that him (Baha'u'llah) is one of such messengers. I think the book accomplishes the first better than the latter, though even then in a rather unsystematic and vague manner. The problem is that, certainly, the prophets are always reformers, captivating, wise, self-denying, subject to persecution, fulfilling scriptures in unexpected ways, etc., but all of those things are, in a sense, only necessary conditions for prophethood, not suficient conditions. Distinguishing a revelation from God and the poetic work of a devout person quoting scripture is an extremely tricky task, and is one that Baha'u'llah doesn't address at all.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

An enigmatic book written by the founder of the Baha'i faith, it claims to reveal symbolic meanings for theological concepts common to many of the Abrahamic religions. It also describes one of the key tenets of the Baha'is, namely that the founders of the major religions were all "manifestations of God" sent to facilitate the spiritual evolution of humanity. The audience for the book was mainly Islamic, so most of the scriptures cited are pertinent to Shi'a Islam, though it also cites some Christian scriptures and affirms their inspiration, an unusual belief for the time and place the book was written. Worth reading for those researching the background of the Baha'i faith.

[Tayylor · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was hoping for more from this, but I can’t say there’s enough here to recommend it above other spiritual texts. It’s fairly repetitive and one-note, and the tone is off-putting. Baha’u’llah takes great issue with the pride, arrogance and hateful attitude of people who have dismissed prophets throughout the ages - which is fair enough - but the manner in which he does this never really transcends the qualities he opposes in people. And while his central point of the unity of religions is good, it doesn’t feel as well-presented or non-judgemental as the earliest spiritual tradition to assert this: Hinduism.

[Jonathan Widell · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book of Certitude is a reminder that Bahaism is also a Koranic religion. The pain which caused Bahaullah to write it is palpable on its pages but, in general, it has generated light instead of heat. The text is grace itself. The argument is subtle but simple: like the Bible, the Koran points to a faith that is missed by those who adhere to the literal interpretation of their holy book and go on to build a community around their traditions rather than keeping an open mind to the spiritual meaning of the revelation.

[Tom Rothbauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent book. I turn down pages that have significant or important messages. I turned over 50 pages. This Holy Book of Baha'i speaks continually of the Manifestations of the divine and Wellsprings of Divine Knowledge which have been given to us throughout history within the various religious traditions. "All their utterances are in reality but the expressions of one Truth." (p163)

[John Luthy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in 1965.
It opened my eyes to the continuity and clarity of messengers from God, share a single purpose: Give guidance, faith, hope and charity to all who seek, regardless of the time.
God says it's never too late.

[Martin Genet · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have always found belief systems fascinating and the Bahai faith particularly interests me because it embraces and accepts a number of faiths. I think the faith has elements that would appeal to many.

[Carlos Arboleda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it my friends! Unity and oneness of God and the Messengers is the most great of beauties and the healing balm. Enjoy.

[Anes foroughi]

some things

[Mary Chamberlin]

Deep and profound, very applicable for someone who has just finished "A New Earth"

[Kobina Amissah-Fynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's explains the end-times prophecies of the Bible and the Qu'ran.

[Anisa]

One of my favorites of all time. It really is a Book of Certitude.

[Matthew LaFave · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real nice place to start. Como no? Inter alia.

[Goleta · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of that went over my head. I need to study this one.

[John White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. Everything that comes from the pen of Baha'u'llah is beautiful.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really hard read to get through.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book which covers the Bahai Faith and talks about some of the key tenets of this fairly lesser known religion. The Baha'i Faith was founded by the prophet of theirs called Bahaiullah. The really interesting thing about this religion is that they believe in all the prophets starting from Adam through to Moses and then Jesus and Prophet Muhammad also. The really interesting thing about this book was from a Shia perspective the reference and reference given to the 12 imams according to the Shia Faith. I didn't know about this. It always astonishes me how many other religions seem to to look at Imam Ali and imam Hussain as being revered figures. There are various sects called the Ghulat sects which have very different and various forms of trinities among them. This religion certainly isn't like that but I'm always amazed even at contemporary literature and the amount of reverence outside the Muslim world that's given to Imam Ali and especially imam Hussain. There are lots of quotes from hadith from the Prophet Muhammad and and references to the Koran in particular in this short book which I found really interesting. Anyway here are some of my favourite bits:

An observer will recognise that in the dispensation of the Quran both the book and the cause of Jesus were confirmed. As to the matters of names, Muhammad himself declared: I am Jesus.

Moreover in the traditions the terms sun and moon has been applied to prayer and fasting, even as it is said: fasting is illumination: prayer is light.

On a subsequent day when the prophet together with his companions was offering the noontide prayer and had already performed to the prescribed rakaats the voice of Gabriel was heard again. In the middle of that same prayer Mohammed suddenly turned his face away from Jerusalem and faced the Kaaba in Mecca. Where upon a profound dismay was seen suddenly in the Companions of the Prophet.

The universe is pregnant with these manifold bounties awaiting the hour when the effects of its unseen gifts will be made manifest in this world when the languishing and sore athirst will attain the living kawther (river in heaven) of their Wellbeloved and the airing Wanderer lost in the Wilds of remoteness and nothingness will enter the Tabernacle of life and attain reunion with his heart's desire. Verily I say see the blaze of the bush of love burning in the side of the heart that the streaming Waters of holy utterance can never quench. Oceans can never allay this leviathans burning thirst and this Phoenix of the undying fire can abide nowhere save in the Glow of the countenance of the well beloved. Therefor Kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of the heart and guide it with the global understanding that the breath of The Infidel may extinguish not it's a flame no dim it's brightness.

For no warrior could be found on earth more excellent and nearer to God than Hussain son of Ali so peerless and incomparable was he. There was none to equal him in the world. Thou must have heard what befell him. God's Malice on the head of the people of tyranny.

Oh my friend were the bird of my mind to explore the heavens of the revelation of the Quran were it to contemplate the realm of divine knowledge unfolded therein you would surely find a number of doors and knowledge that open before you.

All things lie imprisoned within the hollow of his mighty hand.

Our human attainment moves upon a lame ass, while truth riding up on the wind darts across space.

[Duane Herrmann]

The more times I read it, the more I understood. The matching together of Jewish, Christian, Muslim and Baha'i scriptures, and their joint meanings, is fascinating!! I refer to the book constantly and quote it often.

[Kolya · Rating 5 out of 5]

Explains very well why all Prophets/Manifestations of God/Avatars are equal but come at different times in different places making the Earth a school, with each Manifestation like a Teacher, educating humanity from immaturity to maturity. He called this: Progressive Revelation.

[Simona Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

2nd most important text of Baha’u’llah

Reading this book requires an open heart and a willingness to study, ponder, and reflect. Reading it many times throughout one’s lifetime will help greatly improve one’s ability to comprehend it.