Books to study

Books mentioned for mastery or repeated readings

• Proofs, Prophecies, and Theology/Philosophy
  • Kitáb-i-Íqán^{1, 2, 3, 4}
  • Some Answered Questions^{1, 2, 3, 4}
• History
  • Dawn-Breakers (Nabíl's Narrative)^{1, 2, 3, 4, 6}
  • God Passes By^{3, 5}
• General teachings³
  • Gleanings³
  • Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh^{1, 3}
  • Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era (Dr. Esslemont's book)¹

1. "Books such as the Íqán, Some Answered Questions, the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh, Nabíl’s Narrative and Dr. Esslemont’s book should be read and read over again by every soul who desires to serve the Movement or considers himself an active member of the group."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 109)

2. "Books such as the Iqán, Some Answered Questions and The Dawn-Breakers should be mastered by every Bahá'í. The first two books will reveal the significance of this divine revelation as well as the unity of all the Prophets of old."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, from a letter dated 9 June 1932, in Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 106)

3. "...as to what subjects within the Faith you should concentrate on he feels that the young Bahá'ís should gain a mastery of such books as the "Gleanings", the "Dawn-breakers", "God Passes By", the "Íqán", "Some Answered Questions" and the more important Tablets. All aspects of the Faith should be deeply studied."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, letter dated 4 May 1946, in Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 143)

4. "Of special importance is the Book of the Íqán which explains the attitude of the Cause towards the prophets of God and their mission in the history of society. Besides this there is Some Answered Questions of the Master and The Dawn-Breakers of Nabíl. Every Bahá’í should master these books and be able to explain their contents to others. Besides their importance, they are interesting and most absorbing."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 9, 1932, in Importance of Deepening our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 102 and in Lights of Guidance, no. 1931)

5. "He feels that you will benefit greatly by the history of the Cause as outlined in 'God Passes By', and he hopes you will master the subjects and facts it contains and help to bring them to the attention of the Bahá'ís, as there is a need in the Cause to see our Holy Faith in its proper perspective, and he feels you can be of great help in this connection."

(On behalf of Shoghi Effendi, August 1944, to an individual believer, quoted in the compilation “Studying the Writings of Shoghi Effendi” on-line at https://bahai-library.com/compilation_studying_writings_guardian )

6. "I would strongly urge you to utilize, to the utmost possible extent, the wealth of authentic material gathered in Nabíl’s stirring narrative and to encourage the youth to master and digest the facts recorded therein as a basis for their future work in the teaching field, and as a sustenance to their spiritual life and activities in the service of the Cause."

(Shoghi Effendi, Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith, no. 78)

To-dos for this page

• Add any more sources for items marked in Writings by subject and complete bulleted list above