Notes to Aqdas, Sentence #446

Notes from the Authorized Translation

188. the letters B and E were joined and knit together # 177
Shoghi Effendi, in letters written on his behalf, has explained the significance of the "letters B and E". They constitute the word "Be", which, he states, "means the creative Power of God Who through His command causes all things to come into being" and "the power of the Manifestation of God, His great spiritual creative force".

The imperative "Be" in the original Arabic is the word "kun", consisting of the two letters "kaf" and "nun". They have been translated by Shoghi Effendi in the above manner. This word has been used in the Qur'an as God's bidding calling creation into being.

Anton Haddad's Notes

Kaf and Noon are two Arabic letters which, when united form the word kounn which means, Be; that is, before He said, Be, it was.

Earl Elder's Notes

2. According to Muslim belief God created everything out of nothing by speaking the Arabic word kun (be!) (cf. Qur'an 3:42). Baha'u'llah teaches here that before the "k" was joined to the "n", that is, before creation, he was in God's "School" and knew God's knowledge.

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