A Tutorial on the Kitáb-i-Íqán

Book excerpt: A journey through the Book of CertitudeThe Kitáb-i-Íqán is one of the most important Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Bahá'u'lláh revealed this book within the space of two days and two nights, in the last years of His stay in Baghdád (AH 1278-AD 1862). According to Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith, The Kitáb-i-Íqán sets "forth in outline the Grand Redemptive Scheme of God" and it "occupies a position unparalleled by any work in the entire range of the Bahá'í literature, except The Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh's Most Holy Book."This current book is a record of the journey that the author has taken through The Kitáb-i-Íqán over a period of 12 years. It is not an interpretation or a critical analysis of the content of the book. Neither does it provide any personal opinion. It primarily guides reader through a systematic study of the Íqán while providing some background information on topics raised by Bahá'u'lláh in each paragraph. It is called a tutorial as it attempts to simulate, as much as possible, the tutor-tutored relationship in a self-paced personal study. All the references in the tutorial are sourced either from authoritative Bahá'í materials or obtained from other reliable sources.The 290 paragraphs of The Kitáb-i-Íqán are apportioned for study to 58 chapters. The size and complexity of each chapter reflects the content and intricacy of the issues addressed in the paragraphs included therein. Each chapter starts with an introduction that highlights the key ideas. Then in a coherent manner, background information on the terminologies, references and mystical concepts inherent in each paragraph is provided. The tutorial covers the 266 topics embedded in The Kitáb-i-Íqán. This second edition of the book, which was originally released in 2012, contains many editing improvements, and some changes and additions to the content.