| LIST OF THE BáB'S BEST-KNOWN WRITINGS |
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| N.B. The Báb Himself states in one passage of the Persian Bayán that His writings comprise no less than 500,000 verses. |
Bahá'í Faith, The: 1844-1963:
Information Statistical and Comparative, Including the Achievements of the
Ten Year International Bahá'í Teaching & Consolidation Plan 1953-1963 |
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| Very little of the Báb's revelation has been translated into English. Denis MacEoin has provided the most complete description of the Báb's works in his Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History, which is an updated and expanded revision of his 1977 Fellowship Dissertation for King's College, A Revised Survey of the Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History. His Sources for Early Bábí Doctrine and History contains a full listing and summary of the Báb's known works, index of first lines, index of titles, the location of known manuscript copies, and histories of the preservation or loss of certain works. Shoghi Effendi provides a short list of the Báb's best-known works in appendix one of the Dawnbreakers. |
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| Works of the Báb published in English: |
- A Compilation of Passages from the Writings of the Báb. 56 p. Compiled by the Universal House of Justice. New Delhi: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980.
- Bahá'í Prayers. 276 p. 2d ed. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1982.Though most of the prayers contained in this collection are from Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá, there are a few from the Báb.
- Selections from the Writings of the Báb. 235 p. Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, 1976. This is by far the longest and most complete collection of the Báb's writings yet published in English.
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| Works which include some writings of the Báb: |
- Materials for the Study of the Bábí Religion. 380 p. Compiled by Edward Granville Browne. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1918. This random assortment of material includes a few pieces of tangential use, including documents on the Báb's examination at Tabríz in 1848, a bibliography of Bábí works, and an unreliable history by Muḥammad Jawád Qazvíní.
- Selections from the Writings of E. G. Browne. 499 p. Edited by Moojan Momen. Oxford: George Ronald, 1987. This work does not contain any translations as such, but it does include Browne's summary of the Persian Bayán as well as a wealth of other useful information and snippets of translations.
- The Dawn-Breakers: Nabíl's Narrative of the Early Days of the Bahá'í Revelation. 685 p. ByNabíl-i-Zarandí, translated and edited by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, Ill.: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1932. This work does not contain any translations of the Báb's works, but it does include many of his recorded statements and his "Address to the Letters of the Living," pp. 92-4. This address has been reprinted in Hidden Words and Selected Holy Writings, Malaysia: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1985, pages 93-8.
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| Works of the Báb in French |
| There have also been significant translations of the Báb's works into European languages, especially Russian and French. I include here only the French, since they are likely to be more accessible to the casual scholar than the Russian. |
- Journal Asiatique. 1866 translation of a work by Kazem Beg of an unidentified Arabic work of the Báb.
- Kitáb-i-nuqtat al-káf and Táríkh-i-Jadíd are two early histories of the Bábí movement translated by E. G. Browne, in 1910 and 1893, respectively. Though not containing major works of the Báb, and though their authorship and accuracy are disputed, they were influential and are still important translations.
- Le Bayán Arabe, translated by A. L. M. Nicolas. 235 p. Paris: Librarie Ernest Leroux, 1905.
- Le Bayán Persan, translated in four volumes by A. L. M. Nicolas. 669 p. total. Paris: Librarie Paul Geuthner, 1911 through 1914.
- Le Livre des Sept Preuves, translated by A. L. M. Nicolas. Paris: Librarie Maison-neuve, 1902. This and the above two translations of Nicolas are said to be accurate and valuable translations.
- Religions et philosophies dans l'Asie centrale. Comte de Gobineau. Paris, 1865. This history is the first detailed scholarly work by a Westerner on the Bábí movement. Gobineau included a partial translation of the Arabic Bayán as an appendix to this book. It is said to be a poor translation with many errors.
- La Religion de Bab, Reformateur Persan. M. Clement Huart. Paris: Earnest Leroux, 1889. 64 pp. Contains about 25 pages of translations.
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| Bahá'í Library Online |
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