Editing Bábism (section)

==Writings==
{{See also|Báb#Writings}}

The Báb affirms that the verses revealed by a [[Manifestation of God]] are the greatest proof of His mission and the writings of the Báb comprise over two thousand tablets, epistles, prayers, and philosophical treatises. These writings form part of [[Baháʼí literature|Baháʼí scripture]], particularly his prayers, which are often recited individually as well as in devotional gatherings.<ref name="bahai.org">[https://www.bahai.org/documents/essays/martin-douglas/mission-bab-retrospective-1844-1944 MARTIN, DOUGLAS. "The Mission of the Báb."]</ref> 
The Báb's major writings include the [[Selections from the Writings of the Báb#Qayyúmu'l-Asmáʼ|Qayyúmu'l-Asmáʼ]] (a commentary on the [[Yusuf (sura)|Sura of Joseph]]), and the [[Persian Bayán]], which the Bábís saw as superseding the [[Qurʼan]]. The latter has been translated into [[French language|French]]; only portions exist in [[English language|English]].

The works of the Báb have also excited scholarly interest and analysis. Elham Afnan describes the writings of the Báb as having "restructured the thoughts of their readers, so that they could break free from the chains of obsolete beliefs and inherited customs".<ref name="AFNAN, ELHAM 2019 pp 3">AFNAN, ELHAM. "A Twofold Mission." (2019) pp 3</ref> Jack McLean notes the novel symbolism of the Báb's works, observing that "The universe of the Báb's sacred writings is pervasively symbolic. Numbers, colors, minerals, liquids, the human body, social relationships, gestures, deeds, language (letters and words), and nature itself are all mirrors or signs that reflect the profounder reality of the names and attributes (asmá va sifát) of God".<ref name=McLeanReview>{{cite web
 | title =Review of: ''Gate of the Heart: Understanding the Writings of the Báb''
 | url =https://bahai-library.com/mclean_saiedi_gate_heart
 | website =Bahai-Library.com |author= Jack McLean
 | date = 2009
 | access-date =31 March 2021}}</ref> Todd Lawson similarly identifies in the commentaries of the Báb an assertion of "the potential and ultimate meaningfulness of all created things, from the highest to the lowest."<ref>{{cite book |last=Lawson |first=Todd |chapter=The Dangers of Reading: Inlibration, Communion and Transference in the Qur'an Commentary of the Bab |title=Scripture and Revelation |page=198}}</ref> The Báb's works are characterised by linguistic innovation, including many [[neologisms]] whenever He found existing theological terms inadequate.<ref name="bahai.org"/> Several scholars have identified the continual repetition of particular words or phrases of religious importance to be a distinct feature throughout the Bab's writings.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Behmardi |first1=Vahid |last2=McCants |first2=William |title=A Stylistic Analysis of the Báb's Writings |url=https://bahai-library.com/behmardi_mccants_stylistic_analysis |journal=Online Journal of Baha'i Studies |volume= |issue= |pages=118, 132–134 |doi= |access-date=2 April 2021}}</ref> John Walbridge views the "unquestionably hypnotic" use of repetition in the Bab's Kitab-i-Panj Sha'n, where "the same evocative words are repeated ceaselessly" with gradual variations over time, as anticipating a [[minimalist]] aesthetic as well as possibly prefiguring the modernist style of [[Finnegans Wake]].<ref>{{cite book |last=Walbridge |first=John |title=The Báb's Panj Sha'n (Five Modes) in A Most Noble Pattern: Collected Essays on the Writings of the Báb, 'Alí Muhammad Shirazi (1819–1850) |url=https://bahai-library.com/walbridge_kitab_panj-shan_commentary}}</ref> The Báb himself categorised his writings into five modes: divine verses, [[prayers]], [[Tafsir|commentaries]], rational discourse – written in Arabic – and the Persian mode, which encompasses the previous four.<ref name="AFNAN, ELHAM 2019 pp 3"/> Baháʼí scholars have argued that there are commonalities between the Báb's writings and those of Western philosophers such as [[Hegel]],{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=246}} [[Kant]]{{sfn|Saiedi|2008|p=303}} and [[James Joyce]].<ref>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://bahai-library.com/pdf/l/lawson_joycean_modernism.pdf |chapter=Joycean Modernism in a Nineteenth-Century Qurʼan Commentary?: A Comparison of the Bab's Qayyūm al asmāʼ with Joyce's Ulysses |author=Todd Lawson |pages=79–118 |editor1=H. E. Chehabi |editor2=Grace Neville |title=Erin and Iran: Cultural Encounters between the Irish and the Iranians |place=Boston & Washington DC |publisher=Ilex Foundation & Center for Hellenic Studies Trustees of Harvard University |year=2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last= Walbridge |first= John |author-link= |title= The Báb's Panj Sha'n (Five Modes) in A Most Noble Pattern: Collected Essays on the Writings of the Báb, 'Alí Muhammad Shirazi (1819–1850) |url= https://bahai-library.com/walbridge_kitab_panj-shan_commentary}}</ref>

Most of the writings of the Báb have been lost. The Báb himself stated they exceeded five hundred thousand verses in length; the Qurʼan, in contrast, is 6300 verses in length. If one assumes 25 verses per page, that would equal 20,000 pages of text.{{sfn|MacEoin|1992|p=15}} [[Nabíl-i-Aʻzam|Nabíl-i-Zarandí]], in ''[[The Dawn-Breakers]]'', mentions nine complete commentaries on the Qurʼan, revealed during the Báb's imprisonment at [[Maku, Iran|Máh-Kú]], which have been lost without a trace.{{sfn|MacEoin|1992|p=88}} Establishing the true text of the works that are still extant, as already noted, is not always easy, and some texts will require considerable work. Others, however, are in good shape; several of the Báb's major works are available in the handwriting of his trusted secretaries.{{sfn|MacEoin|1992|pp=12–15}}

Most works were revealed in response to specific questions by Bábís. This is not unusual; the genre of the letter has been a venerable medium for composing authoritative texts as far back as Paul of Tarsus. Three-quarters of the chapters of the New Testament are letters, were composed to imitate letters, or contain letters within them.<ref>On letters as a medium of the composition of the New Testament, see {{cite book |author=Norman Perrin |title=The New Testament: An Introduction, Proclamation and Parenesis, Myth and History |place=New York |publisher=Harcourt Brace Jovanovitch |year=1974 |pages=96–97}}</ref> Sometimes the Báb revealed works very rapidly by chanting them in the presence of a secretary and witnesses.

The Archives Department at the [[Baháʼí World Centre]] currently holds about 190 [[Tablet (religious)|Tablets]] of the Báb.<ref>{{cite web |author=Unpublished letter from the Universal House of Justice |title=Numbers and Classifications of Sacred Writings Texts |url=http://bahai-library.com/uhj_numbers_sacred_writings |access-date=16 December 2006}}</ref> Excerpts from several principal works have been published in an English language compilation of the Báb's writings: ''[[Selections from the Writings of the Báb]]'', other publications include ''[[Prayers from the Bab: The Remembrance of God]]''. Denis MacEoin, in his ''Sources for Early Bābī Doctrine and History'', gives a description of many works; much of the following summary is derived from that source. In addition to major works, the Báb revealed numerous letters to his wife and followers, many prayers for various purposes, numerous commentaries on verses or chapters of the Qurʼan, and many khutbihs or sermons (most of which were never delivered). Many of these have been lost; others have survived in compilations.{{sfn|MacEoin|1992|pp=15–40}}

Also significant to Bábism are the writings of [[Quddús]], which "display a close similarity to that of the Báb in both form and content" according to Moojan Momen and Todd Lawson,<ref>{{cite book |last= Momen |first= Moojan |author-link= |title= Quddus: Holy people of the world: a cross-cultural encyclopedia |year= 2004 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=H5cQH17-HnMC&q=%22display+a+close+similarity+to+that+of+the%22&pg=PA710 |location= |publisher= Bloomsbury Academic|page= 710 |isbn=9781576073551}}</ref> as well as the poetry and prose of [[Tahirih]].