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Work #289 · Mid (pre-declaration in 1863)

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá'u'lláh (Mírzá Ḥusayn-ʻAlí Núrí)
1862 (composed in Baghdad in two days and two nights, in response to questions from one of the Báb's maternal uncles) · Persian (with some Arabic passages)
Doctrinal-theological book · Bahá'í Faith

The "Book of Certitude" — Bahá'u'lláh's 1862 major doctrinal work, the principal theological text of the Bahá'í Faith

Attribute Fingerprint

Rows where works disagree are highlighted in gold. The full ontology grid is shown.

Attribute Kitáb-i-Íqán (Mid (pre-declaration in 1863))
Time · Extent Infinite
Time · Ontological Status Substantival
Time · Grain Continuous
Time · Freedom Non-Deterministic
Time · Traversability Linear
Time · Dimensionality One
Time · Direction Uni-directional
Space · Extent Infinite
Space · Ontological Status Substantival
Space · Curvature Flat
Space · Dimensionality Three
Space · Locality Local
Matter · Extent Infinite
Matter · Ontological Status Substantival
Matter · Conservation Conserved
Matter · Dimensionality Three
Matter · Locality Local
Observer · Time Instance Single
Observer · Space Instance Single
Observer · Knowledge Extent Partial
Observer · Knowledge Retainment Total
Observer · Physicality Embodied
Observer · Agency Both
Observer · Number Plural
Observer · Metaphysical Agency Personal
Observer · Moral Authority Scripture
Observer · Theological Method
Energy · Extent Infinite
Energy · Ontological Status Substantival
Energy · Conservation Conserved
Energy · Dispersibility Irreversible
Information · Ontological Status Substantival
Information · Cosmic Conservation Conserved
Information · Personal Conservation Conserved
Information · Granularity Continuous

Dimension-by-Dimension Evidence

What each work's passages reveal about its stance on each of the six dimensions.

Time

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Historical-revelatory time as the medium of progressive divine educative process.

Space

Kitáb-i-Íqán

The world as the proper space of the Bahá'í unity of religions and humanity.

Matter

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Embodied human life as the substrate of divine revelation and human response.

Observer

Kitáb-i-Íqán

The Bahá'í believer; the Manifestation of God as the singular divine-human observer. Personal-providential God as ultimate.

Energy

Kitáb-i-Íqán

The energies of divine revelation through historical Manifestations.

Information

Kitáb-i-Íqán

The accumulating progressive revelation preserved through the Bahá'í tradition and scriptures.

Internal Tensions

Where each work's argument pulls against itself.

Kitáb-i-Íqán

The Bahá'í Faith's relation to the Shi'a Islamic tradition from which it emerged remains controversial — Islamic theology generally does not accept Bahá'u'lláh's claim to be the promised one. The relation between Bahá'í theology and modern liberal-theological frameworks has been a continuing topic of scholarly engagement. The Universal House of Justice and the broader Bahá'í institutional framework were established subsequent to Bahá'u'lláh's death (1892), continuing the development of the tradition.