The Kitáb-i-Aqdas
Glossary
The “Servant of Bahá”, ‘Abbás Effendi (1844-1921), the eldest son and appointed Successor of
Bahá’u’lláh, and the Centre of His Covenant.
The ancient Arabic system of allocating a numerical value to letters of the alphabet, so that the numbers may be represented by letters and vice versa. Thus every word has both a literal meaning and a numerical value.
Literally the “Gate”, the title assumed by Mírzá ‘Alí Muḥammad (1819-1850) after the Declaration of His Mission in
Shíráz in May 1844. He was the Founder of the Bábí
Faith and the Herald of Bahá’u’lláh
Bahá means Glory. It is the Greatest Name of God and a title by which Bahá’u’lláh is designated. Also, the name of the first month of the
Bahá’í year and the first day of each Bahá’í month.
Bahá’u’lláh
The “Glory of God”, title of Mírzá Ḥusayn-‘Alí (1817-1892), the Founder of the Bahá’í Faith.
The Bayán (“Exposition”) is the title given by the Báb to His Book of Laws, and it is also applied to the entire body of His Writings. The Persian Bayán is the major doctrinal work and principle repository of the laws ordained by the Báb. The Arabic Bayán is parallel in content but smaller
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