REVIEW -- There are three basic characteristics which distinguish
every Divine Revelation. Firstly, it explains truths such as the
nature of God, the human condition and the world around us; secondly,
it directs us towards right conduct and warns us to eschew evil;
and thirdly, to those who have faith and accept its guidance,
it imparts the good news of forgiveness, purification and salvation,
and provides a fresh impetus to the march of human progress and
civilization."
Such is one example of the kind of clear-eyed explanations
and incisive observations that Dr. Suheil Bushrui offers in The
Style of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas: Aspects of the Sublime, one
of the first scholarly books to appear on the Kitáb-i-Aqdas
since it was released in an official English translation in 1993.
As Dr. Bushrui notes, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas holds
a singular position in Bahá'í literature. Revealed
by Bahá'u'lláh sometime around 1873, its title translates
into English as "The Most Holy Book." Although ostensibly
a book of religious laws, Bahá'ís believe that it
spells out nothing less than the charter for a new civilization
and offers to humanity "the highest means for the maintenance
of order in the world and the security of its peoples," as
Bahá'u'lláh himself says.
In undertaking, then, to analyze the style of the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas, and, at the same time, to help Western readers
understand the underlying power and depth of its original Arabic,
Dr. Bushrui has embarked on a rather daunting task.
Yet Dr. Bushrui, who holds the Bahá'í
Chair for World Peace at the University of Maryland at College
Park, has written a meticulous and eloquent work. His book makes
accessible to the English-language reader the majestic qualities
of the original Arabic of this most sacred of Bahá'í
texts. Its publication marks a seminal event in the understanding
of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and in Bahá'í studies.
The Bahá'í community has long honored
learning. However, it has only begun to cultivate the habit of
objective scholarship about itself and its texts that is the modern
counterpart of higher criticism. Partly this is the result of
reasons internal to its own development, partly of circumstances
that it shares with other faiths whose historical origins lie
in the nineteenth century. Dr. Bushrui correctly points out that
"no other religion has had its scriptural treasures translated
into a universal language, as has the Bahá'í Faith,
within so very short a period of time since the inception of the
Dispensation."
Translation, of course, relies heavily on what used
to be called the lower criticism, an activity that is more commonly
referred to now as textual criticism. It seeks to establish the
original form or definitive form of a given text from the available
variants. Dr. Bushrui provides a sure-footed introduction to these
matters, which are basic to any understanding of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.
He discusses the location of the work in the ministry of
Bahá'u'lláh
and sketches in its textual history since its revelation. The
Bahá'í Faith is unique in that the authenticity
of its textual traditions cannot be questioned. As Dr. Bushrui
remarks, "among the unique features of the Bahá'í
Faith is that reliable transcriptions of its sacred texts were
produced under the supervision of their Author, rendering their
authenticity beyond doubt. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas is no exception,
having been transcribed on several occasions during the lifetime
of Bahá'u'lláh Himself."
Thus, for the Bahá'í Faith constructing
its sacred canon is not nearly so daunting a task as translating
it correctly. The depth of Dr. Bushrui's linguistic knowledge
and his extensive practice as a translator are immensely helpful
in guiding the English-language reader through these aspects of
the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. He is able to convey the special qualities
that the Arabic language confers on the original and illuminate
both the presence and significance of those elements in the English
translation.
The Arabic language presents special difficulties
for any translator. Dr. Bushrui rightly contends that "the
complexities of the Arabic language and the immense problems involved
in translating the revealed Word have made it practically impossible
for Western scholars to 'encompass the Qur'án with their
reason.' And although the Kitáb-i-Aqdas is in many ways
more readily approachable then the Qur'án, no Western scholar
can hope to achieve a profound appreciation of it only through
the acquisition of academic skills."
It is in resolving precisely this issue of how to
approach the Kitáb-i-Aqdas with a "profound appreciation"
that Dr. Bushrui's analysis soars. Though fully grounded in critical
methodology, it is not oppressed by a scholarly apparatus that
makes the book inaccessible to the lay reader. Dr. Bushrui writes
with a lightness and deftness of touch that will make his book
invaluable for anyone who simply wants better to understand the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Of course, his discussion will be most useful
to members of the Bahá'í community, for he writes
from within that spiritual tradition. However, his is not a narrow
or sectarian analysis, and non-members of the Faith will be able
to profit from it as well, even if they are otherwise unsympathetic
to the Bahá'í Faith.
Dr. Bushrui's argument is particularly compelling
when he discusses the literary devices present in the style of
the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. They adhere to no specific literary
form in Arabic, and Dr. Bushrui convincingly demonstrates how
they have an effect that transcends the limitations of poetry
or prose. From them proceeds a music "tempered by the discipline
of precise and unequivocal expression."
The reader who follows Dr. Bushrui through the details
of this analysis will comprehend the meaning and effects of the
Kitáb-i-Aqdas with a new profundity. Dr. Bushrui's language
will echo in the reader's own understanding in ways that permit
him to recover the grandeur and power of the original text. The
source of its spirituality will still keep its ultimate secrets,
but the English-language reader will reach the last page of Dr.
Bushrui's book with a transformed appreciation of the sublime
style in which its spirituality is encased. He will thereby approach
more closely the spiritual heart of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas itself.
Dr. Miles L. Bradbury (Dr. Bradbury specializes
in the history of religion in America and teaches in the History
Department of the University of Maryland at College Park.)
