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The Style of the Kitab-i-Aqdas: Aspects of the Sublime

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The Style of the Kitab-I-Aqdas : Aspects of the Sublime
by Suheil Bushrui

This is a wonderfully small but complete book which covers one of the most imporant books in the history of the Baha'i Faith, the Most Holy Book by the Founder Baha'u'llah. It is His book of religious laws for his followers and Mr.Bushrui covers it in grace and style. In addition to expaining the nature of the offical English translation, he explains words which are difficult to translate from Arabic, giving us insight about the nature of this important book at the same time. He covers a wider variety of subjects in an extremely short volume, detailing aspects of the book worthy of more than usual reflection. It is a thin book, covering a vast area. Not many people could cover so important a book in 74 pages with style and deep content, but Mr. Bushrui does so. It is book of interest to students of comparative religon, students of Arabic literature and culture, students of the Baha'i Faith, students of Middle East history and culture, among many others. It reads compactly and covers much in a short space. It is worth your time and worth your attention.

The reader may wish to google the title of the book, whereupon he will be directed to Sen McGlinn's rather balanced review on Baha'i Library Online, the earlier review here being a little ebullient. This book is too short, at under 70 pages (and with more than 10 of those in the foreword), and I can't find any place where it gives more than a few pointers about what ought to be the subject of the book: the style of the Kitab-i-Aqdas. It consists of a foreword giving the background to this particular work of Baha'u'llah, an introduction which focuses in a general way on scholarly approaches to the Baha'i Writings, then two parts which constitute the real substance of the book. Part I deals with the nature of the sublime and the sacred, paying particular attention to the qualities of the Arabic language that enable it to express both lofty and intricate themes, while part II (about 40 pages) actually contains some analysis of style, form and content of the Aqdas, the apparent subject matter of Bushrui's tome.

In the introduction (p.23) the author states: "The purpose of this essay is to comment in general terms on the sublime style of the original Arabic text of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, with reference to the Qur'an and, to a lesser extent, the Bible." The bit that gives him away is, of course, "in general terms". However he may have chosen, in terms general and broad, to convey his message, yet there was no need for such vagueness, nor for so many digressions, none worse than the discussion of style (p. 41). Here, Bushrui lists the 9 styles that one Baha'i scholar has identified, highly speculatively, in Baha'u'llah's Writings, then continues with talk of the inimitability of Baha'u'llah's own poetic prose, with no clear attempt to explain into which of these 9 categories the Kitab-i-Aqdas would fit. Further, several of these 9 categories bear almost no resemblance to anything that would be conventionally be called a style ("6. Tablets concerning matters of government and world order, and those addressed to the kings," "9. Tablets dealing with social teachings.") Regarding vagueness, there are numerous passages where Bushrui makes a statement and backs it up by long-winded assertions of the superlative nature of Baha'u'llah's prose, or of the Baha'i revelation in general, without clarifying himself, or offerring any real analysis. The discussion of form, and to a lesser extent content, on pp. 39 - 40 is a good example ("The hallmarks of this form of writing are its matchless precision, its graceful but compelling flow, its chaste economy of diction, its inimitable craftsmanship and its prodigious mastery of the language in all its multifarious ramifications.") Similar passages abound. Even worse is the final paragraph, which bears no relation to the rest of the book, and could have been the last paragraph (or maybe the first) of any book on the Faith.

The real discussion begins on about page 47, and it is here that the book becomes interesting. For about 20 pages, Bushrui contents himself with a meaningful analysis some of the stylistic elements of the Kitab-i-Aqdas, including an extended discussion of some keywords that are repeated and invested with special significance by Baha'u'llah. The book is easy on the eye, both in presentation and writing style, and there is much to be impressed by. Bushrui appears to know his subject well, and it is a shame he could not leave aside the digressions and annoying panegyric about the Faith to concentrate on his topic.

This looks like the start of something - a series of short lectures or friendly informal talks, not a finished work. It is disappointing, and contains too little to recommend it. It may be worth getting because it is part of a young field, so the reader may wish to encourage and stimulate further research by buying and reading this book. There is nothing aversive here, but it is too light to be of much use.