Bayan (Holy Scriptures)
Bayan ( Arabic : "explanation") is a term from the scriptures of Bab , which can denote both the Persian and the Arabic Bayan . The Bab also uses it as a generic term for all of his literature.
In the Persian fortress Maku (1847 or 1848), the Bab began to compile the Persian Bayan , which comprises about 8,000 verses and is divided into nine sections called Vahids (Arabic "units"). Each Vahid contains 19 sections except the last which has ten sections. An Arabic summary of the Persian text is given at the beginning of each section. The work interprets the sense and meanings of eschatological terms such as paradise , hell , death , resurrection , second coming , “the scales”, “the hour” and the last judgment and shows how these were fulfilled through his own appearance. In this work, the Bab also lays down the laws of his new religion and thereby repeals the laws of the Koran regarding prayer, fasting, marriage, divorce and the right of inheritance. He maintains faith in the prophetic mission of Muhammad , just as before the Bab the prophet of Islam repealed the ordinances of the gospel and yet recognized the divine origin of the faith of Jesus Christ . In addition, there are numerous references and appreciations in Persian Bayan, but also exhortations regarding "Whose God will reveal". According to the Baha'i Baha'u'llah , this prophesied revelator of God is the founder of their religion. The Bab writes in the Persian Bayan: "Until the day of the resurrection, the day of Him whom God will reveal, the Bayan is the infallible scales of God." Since Baha'u'llah adopted some laws in Kitab-i-Aqdas in 1873 , others modified and abrogated many, the Baha'i regard the Bab's scriptures as sacred texts, but his laws as outdated.
The Bab wrote the Arab Bayan in the last months of his life in the Persian fortress of Chihriq. This work deals with the same subject complexes as the Persian Bayan and is less extensive and weighty.
literature
- The Bab: A Selection from His Writings . Bahai Verlag, Hofheim 1991, ISBN 3-87037-247-8 , p. 77-115 .
- Der Bab: A small selection from his writings . Bahai Verlag, Hofheim 1980, ISBN 3-87037-121-8 , pp. 15-23 .
- Seyyed Ali Mohammed, dit le Bab: Le Béyân arabe. Le livre sacré du babysme . Leroux, Paris 1905 ( Bibliothèque orientale elzévirienne 80).
- Seyyed Ali Mohammed, dit le Bab: Le Bayan Persan . 4 volumes; 1911-1914. Geuthner, Paris.
- EG Browne: A Summary of the Persian Bayan . In: Moojan Momen (Ed.): Selections from the Writings of EG Browne on the Bábi and Bahá'í Religions . G. Ronald, Oxford 1987, ISBN 0-85398-246-5 , pp. 316-406.