The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of the United
States
Dear Bahá'í friends,
We have received a number of inquiries as to the translation
and publication of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas from friends who are unable to read it in
its original form. We feel the following extract from a letter written on
behalf of the beloved Guardian by his secretary dated 27 December 1941,
addressed to the National Spiritual Assembly of India and Burma clarifies this
question:
“The reason it [the Kitáb-i-Aqdas] is not circulated amongst
all the Bahá'ís is, first, because the Cause is not yet ready or sufficiently
matured to put all the provisions of the Aqdas into effect and, second, because
it is a book which requires to be supplemented by detailed explanations and to
be translated into other languages by a competent body of experts. The
provisions of the Aqdas are gradually, according to the progress of the Cause,
being put into effect already, both in the East and the West. ...”
As is well known, the beloved Guardian has already given in
God Passes By, pp. 214-15, a summary of the contents of this Most Holy Book,
and included the codification of all the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas as one of
the objectives of the Ten Year Crusade. It is the intention of the Universal
House of Justice to achieve this objective by publishing a synopsis and
codification of these laws during the current Nine Year Plan.
Much of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has already been translated by the beloved Guardian and has been given to the friends in the West, although not designated, in every case, as coming from the Most Holy Book. [1] We give you below a list of such references for your guidance:
Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh:
Sections XXXVII, LVI, LXX, LXXI, LXXII, XCVIII, CV, CIV,
CLIX, and CLXV
The Promised Day is Come:
pp. 26 (1st para.), 36-37 (until the end of 2nd para.), 40
(2nd para.), and 84-85 (until the end of 1st para.)
The Challenging Requirements of the Present Hour [2]:
pp. 16-17 (until the end of 1st para.)
Bahá'í Administration:
p. 21 (1st para.)
The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh:
p. 134 (2nd para.)
The Bahá'í Community (1963 edition):
p. 4 (2nd & 3rd paras)
Star of the West, XIV:
pp. 112-14
The two reasons given by the Guardian in the extract of the
letter quoted above need further amplification:
1. As regards the first reason, regarding the timeliness of
putting into effect all the provisions of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, it must be borne
in mind that the beloved Guardian further stated:
"... the Laws revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in the Aqdas are,
whenever practicable and not in direct conflict with the Civil Law of the land,
absolutely binding on every believer or Bahá'í institution whether in the East
or in the West. Certain laws, such as fasting, obligatory prayers, the consent
of the parents before marriage, avoidance of alcoholic drinks, monogamy, should
be regarded by all believers as universally and vitally applicable at the
present time. Others have been formulated in anticipation of a state of society
destined to emerge from the chaotic conditions that prevail today. When the
Aqdas is published this matter will be further explained and elucidated. What
has not been formulated in the Aqdas, in addition to matters of detail and of
secondary importance arising out of the application of the Laws already
formulated by Bahá'u'lláh, will have to be enacted by the Universal House of
Justice. ..." (Bahá'í News, October 1935)
The Guardian has further written:
"It should be noted in this connection that this
Administrative Order is fundamentally different from anything that any Prophet
has previously established, inasmuch as Bahá'u'lláh has Himself revealed its
principles, established its institutions, appointed the person to interpret His
Word and conferred the necessary authority on the body designed to supplement
and apply His legislative ordinances. Therein lies the secret of its strength,
its fundamental distinction, and the guarantee against disintegration and
schism." ... (The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 145)
2. As to the second reason given by the beloved Guardian in
the extract referred to above, it must be noted that the supplementary material
to go with the publication of the laws of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas may well include
the following items, all of which require careful research and translation:
a. The Annex to the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, the Questions and
Answers. (God Passes By, p. 219)
b. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh in "elaboration and
elucidation of some of the laws He [Bahá'u'lláh] had already laid down."
(God Passes By, p. 216)
c. Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh establishing "subsidiary
ordinances designed to supplement the provisions of His Most Holy Book."
(God Passes By, p. 216)
d. The Letters and Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi
Effendi in interpretation of the laws and ordinances of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
e. Other explanations and footnotes that may be required in
elucidation of the provisions of that Book.
We hope the foregoing will clarify the matter for the
friends. ...
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
The Universal House of Justice
(‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice1963 to 1986’)
[1] In 1973, the last year of the Nine Year Plan, the
Universal House of Justice published A Synopsis and Codification of the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas. The volume includes all of the extracts in the list of
references that follows. The Bahá'í World Centre published a copiously
annotated English translation of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and related texts in 1992.]
[2] This message of Shoghi Effendi was later published in
CF, pp. 4-38; the passage from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas appears on pp. 18-19 (see also
PB, p. 63).
