Kitáb-i-Íqán Book of Certitude

Bahá'u'lláh

God has given man the eye of investigation by which he may see and recognize truth. He has endowed man with ears that he may hear the message of reality and conferred upon him the gift of reason by which he may discover things for himself. This is his endowment and equipment for the investigation of reality. Man is not intended to see through the eyes of another, hear through another’s ears nor comprehend with another’s brain. Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in the creative plan of God.

Therefore depend upon your own reason and judgment and adhere to the outcome of your own investigation; otherwise you will be utterly submerged in the sea of ignorance and deprived of all the bounties of God. Turn to God, supplicate humbly at His threshold, seeking assistance and confirmation, that God may rend asunder the veils that obscure your vision. Then will your eyes be filled with illumination, face to face you will behold the reality of God and your heart become completely purified from the dross of ignorance, reflecting the glories and bounties of the Kingdom.

(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Foundations of World Unity, p. 75)

Book of Certitude

Revealed in January 1861, the Kitab-i-Iqan (the Book of Certitude) is the “most important book written on the spiritual significance of the Cause” and a work that Baha’u’llah calls “the lord of books." Among the "foremost" works of His Revelation, the Iqan is “unequalled by any work in the entire range of Bahá’í literature, except the Kitab-i-Aqdas.”

The Iqan is unique in that “this Book alone” provides the basis for reconciling the followers of “the great religions of the world.” It "contains the basic tenets of the Faith" and "explains the attitude" of the Baha’i Faith toward "the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society." It elucidates key allegorical passages in the New Testament and the Qur’an that have caused misunderstandings among religious leaders. The Book of Certitude is one of Bahá'u'lláh's great "contributions to the world’s religious literature” and is "of unsurpassed preeminence among the doctrinal and ethical writings of the Author of the Baha’i Dispensation.”

I have compiled a number of resources which include study guides, outline, videos and audio files.