A Legacy Archive · 1993–2019
Irfán
Colloquia —
Scholarship
for the Ages
Twenty-six years of Bahá'í scholarship, preserved and made searchable: 1,070 papers by 355 authors across 163 colloquia in English, Persian, and German.
Why this archive exists
Honouring a lifetime of study
For twenty-six years — from a first gathering at Newcastle in 1993 to the last in 2019 — scholars and students of the Bahá'í Faith came together in the United States, Italy, Germany, and Britain, and in English, Persian, and German, to study the Sacred Writings with rigour and reverence. Sustained by the Haj Mehdi Arjmand Memorial Fund, the Irfán Colloquia gathered hundreds of papers into forty-one published volumes: a quiet, sustained act of devotion carried on year after year.
That scholarship had grown scattered — spread across an ageing website and out-of-print proceedings, much of it hard to find and easy to lose. This site draws it back together. Every paper, every author, every session is preserved and made searchable in one place, so that the thought and love poured into these colloquia over so many years endures — honoured, and open to whoever comes seeking.
Featured Paper · Lights of Irfán Vol. 13
A Brief review of `Abdu’l-Bahá’s visit to North America
By Robert Stockman · Session #100
`Abdu'l-Bahá Abbás visited North America from April 11 to December 5, 1912. His eight-month sojourn took Him to some 38 localities in 15 states and the province of Quebec, Canada. Because His North American trip followed on an earlier European visit, when `Abdu'l-Bahá arrived in New York He had a developed daily routine. It appears that He gave approximately 351 talks during His trip (of which 139 were published in The Promulgation of Universal Peace), an average of 1.5 per day. Extrapolation from known attendance …
Library
Lights of Irfán & Beyond
41 volumes of scholarly proceedings across three series spanning 1997 to present — English, Persian, and German.
A living archive of careful Bahá'í scholarship, freely available to all seekers.
— Irfán Colloquia · 1993–present
Lights of Irfán · Vol. 304
Lights of Irfán: Papers Presented at the Irfán Colloquia and Seminars
Lights of Irfán · Vol. 36
Lights of Irfán: Papers Presented at the Irfán Colloquia and Seminars
Lights of Irfán · Vol. 20
Lights of Irfán: Papers Presented at the Irfán Colloquia and Seminars
Sessions
The Session Archive
163 colloquia held across the United States, Europe, and beyond, 1993–2019.
Explore the Archive
Four ways in
Enter by paper, by author, by session, or by volume — every path leads through the same body of work.