Contributor
Stephen Lambden
- Prophecy in the Johannine Farewell Discourse: The Advents of the Paraclete, Ahmad, and the Comforter (Mu’azzí) Session #1 · 1993
- Thomas Kelly Cheyne Session #1 · 1993
- The Position of Mírzá Yahyá Núrí Subh-i-Azal: Some aspects of Azalí Anti-Baha’i Polemic and Baha’i Apologetics Session #8 · 1995 The exact nature of the position of Mirza Yahya Nuri, Subh-i-Azal ("The Morn of Eternity," 1830-1912) following the martyrdom of the Bab (1850) has long been a subject of Baha'i-Azali debate. The Bab wrote a number of Ta…
- Bahá’u’llah’s tablet to Pope Pius IX Session #12 · 1996 The paper offers an overview of the tablet's context as one of a series of messages penned by Manifestations to religious and political leaders and surveyed the tablet's contents, including possible allusions to the Firs…
- Christianity and the Bahá’i Faith: An Historical and Doctrinal Overview Session #12 · 1996
- Qa’im (Ariser) and Qayyum (Deity Self-Subsistent): The background and significance of twin messianic advents in Babi-Bahá’i scripture Session #14 · 1997 According to the Bahá'i poet and historian Nabil-i Zarandi, the Shaykhi leader Sayyid Kazim Rashti (d. 1260/1843[4]) predicted that ".. after the Qa'im the Qayyúm will be made manifest" (Dawnbreakers, 41). It is clear fr…
- The Best of Stories (Ahsan al-Qasas): Joseph Motifs and the Bábí-Bahá’í Interpretation of the Joseph Narrative Session #18 · 1998 The person and story of Joseph is important in both the Bible (Genesis 37-50) and the Qur'án (sura 12) where the account of this patriarch-prophet is the longest qur'anic narrative an aspect of the "best of stories" (a…
- The Tablet of the Fear of God [Righteousness, Piety...] Session #18 · 1998 The fairly brief (4-5pp) wholly Arabic Lawh al-Tuqá (Persian Lawh-i-Tuqá Tablet of the Fear of God [Righteousness, Piety...]) is published in the original Arabic but it has neither been translated into any other langua…
- Bahá’u’lláh’s Lawh-i-Hertik or the Tablet to Hardegg: Tablets to Christians, Part I Session #22 · 1999 · Lights Vol. 4 · PDF Lawh-i-Hertik, as the Tablet addressed to Georg David Hardegg is usually called, contains in an open and straightforward manner the proclamation of Bahá'u'lláh as the Promised One and the return of the Father to earth. T…
- From Alwáh to Ziyara: The Literary Forms of the Writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh Session #22 · 1999 The extensive Persian and Arabic writings of Sayyid 'Alí Muhammad, the Báb (1819-1850), and Mírzá Husayn 'Alí Núrí, Bahá'u'lláh (18171892), are extant in a variety of literary forms believed by their authors and by their…
- Lawh-i-Ru’yá (Tablet of Vision) Session #22 · 1999 The Lawh-i-Ru'yá was revealed in the House of 'Udi Khammar in 'Akká for an apparently Bahá'í believer referred to by Bahá'u'lláh as "My Name" (=Husayn?). In various sources this Tablet is said to date nineteen years prio…
- Lawh-i-Tibb (Tablet of Medicine) Session #22 · 1999 The Arabic and Persian text of Bahá'u'lláh's 'Tablet of Medicine' (Lawh-i-Tibb) is to be dated to the early 'Akká period of his ministry (early 1870s?). It was addressed to a Bahá'í named Mírzá Muhammad Ridá'-yi Tabib-i …
- The Background and Significance of Bábí-Bahá’í Interpretations of hurufat al-muqatta’at, the Mysterious Arabic Letters of the Qur’án Session #28 · 2000 Both Sunni and Shí'í Islamic traditions and sources contain numerous passages which dwell upon the secret, mysterious nature of those letters of the Arabic alphabet which open or occur before 29 of the 114 (=6x19) súrahs…
- The Lawh-i-Amváj (“Tablet of the Waves” [Billows]) of Bahá’u’lláh, Alwáh-i-Mustagath, Lawh-i-Baqá Session #28 · 2000 The Lawh-i-Amvaj (Tablet of the Waves [or Billows])[1] of Bahá'u'lláh has been published in Majmu`ih-yi alwah-i-mubarakih-yi hadrát-i-Bahá'u'lláh.[2] It also exists in numerous unpublished manuscripts. This Tablet was ap…
- Cherubim, Seraphim and Demythologization: Some aspects of Babi-Bahá’i angelology and the mala’ al-a`la (Supreme Concourse) Session #36 · 2001 The English word "angel" derives from the Greek angelos and basically signifies, like the Biblical Hebrew mal'akh which it often translates, `messenger'. On the most basic level angels are divine messengers though the wo…
- Aspects of the Prophetology (nubuwwa) and Theophanology (mazhariyya) of the Báb, Some Session #42 · 2002
- The Bab’s Risala fi’l-jasad al-nabi (Treatise upon the Body of the Prophet Muhammad) Session #42 · 2002
- Súrat al-qamis (Súrah of the Garment) of Bahá’u’lláh Session #42 · 2002
- The Bab’s Treatise on the Translocation of the Body of the Prophet Muhammad: An Introduction, Translation and Commentary Session #44 · 2002
- Motif of Joseph’s Garment in Islamo-Biblical and Babi-Baha’i Scripture: With a translation and Commentary on the Surat al-Qamis of Baha’u’llah Session #44 · 2002
- Báb’s Commentary on the Hadith al-Haqíqa (The Hadith about the Ultimate Reality): or the Tradition of Kumayl ibn Ziyad, al-Nakha’i Session #46 · 2003 The Hadíth al-Haqíqa ("Tradition concerning Ultimate Reality") or Hadíth Kumayl is the record of an alleged (Arabic) conversation between the first Shí'í Imám, `Alí b. Abí Tálib (d.40/661) and his Shí`í associate, the on…
- The Báb’s Response to a Question about Lawh-i-Mahfúz (Preserved Tablet) Session #46 · 2003 In this presentation a synopsis and partial translation will be given of the brief (2 page), relatively unknown Arabic treatise of the Báb on the meaning of al-lawh al-mahfuz (The Preserved Tablet). This along with some …
- Panel Presentation on “Qayyúmu’l-Asmá’” Session #46 · 2003 The Qayyúm al-Asmá' of the Báb, with special reference to the Súrat al-Mulk (QA.1 'The Surah of the Dominion') and the Surat Husayn (QA. 5 'The Surah of Husayn') Stephen N. Lambden The Qayyúm al-Asmá' is the first major …
- The Bab’s Commentary on the Ultimate Reality Session #48 · 2003 The Hadíth al-haqíqa ("Tradition concerning Ultimate Reality") or Hadíth Kumayl is the record of an alleged (Arabic) conversation between the first Shí`í Imam, `Alí b. Abí Tílib (d.40/661) and his Shí`í associate, the on…
- Kaleidoscope: Angelology and Colour Mysticism in Babi-Baha’i Scripture Session #48 · 2003 · Lights Vol. 5 · PDF "Say: O my God! O my God! I supplicate Thee by the blood of Thy chosen Ones through whom the Countenances of the Supreme Concourse (mala' al-a`la) and the companions of the Crimson Ark (ashab al-safinat alhamra') hath be…
- The Bab’s Sermon at Jeddah Session #51 · 2003
- The Báb’s Dalá’il Sab`ah (Seven Proofs): Some Introductory Notes Session #54 · 2004 It was perhaps towards the middle or latter part of his nine-months imprisonment at Mákú (The Open Mountain) between July 1847 and April 1848 in Persian province of Adhirbayjan (in the NW of Iran), that the Báb revealed …
- Mary Magdalene and the Resurrection of Jesus: Some ancient and modern traditions and Baha’i and Perspectives Session #60 · 2005 New Testament scholars generally regard Mary Magdalene a female contemporary of Jesus, one of his ardent admirers, and a Jewish woman who was the most important female figure within the New Testament relative to the gene…
- Tahrif (“scriptural falsification”) and Tanzil (“divine revelation”): Some aspects of divine guidance through sacred Scripture Session #60 · 2005 One of the major features of the age-old polemical interaction between major Abrahamic peoples and religions of the Book has been the question of the sacredness, veracity and inspired or revealed nature of specific scrip…
- Dimensions of Imam Ali’s Khutba al-Tutunjiyya (Sermon of the Gulf) and its Shaykhí, Bábí, and Bahá’í Interpretations Session #62 · 2005 Note: please see Lambden's website for a version of this abstract with proper diacritics and Arabic lettering The literary form of the Khutba, an Arabic word meaning `Sermon', `Oration', `Homily' or `Discourse', is impor…
- Mysteries within Mysteries: Some Notes on the Teachings of the Báb’s Kitáb-i-Panj Sha’n Session #62 · 2005 Note: please see Lambden's website for a version of this abstract with proper diacritics and Arabic lettering In the Name of God,the Deity Most Divine (al-a'ilah), the Supreme Deity (al-a'ilah). I, verily am God, no God …
- The Khutba al-Tutunjiyya (Sermon of the Gulf) ascribed to Imam `Ali: Shaykhi, Babi and Baha’i Interpretations Session #65 · 2005
- A Comparative Study of Two Istidlaliyyih Texts: The Báb’s Dal’il-i- Sab’ah (Seven Proof) and Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i Iqán Session #67 · 2006
- The Sidrah (Lote Tree) and Sidrat al-Munataha (Lote Tree of the Extremity): Some Aspects of their Islamic and Babi-Baha’i Interpretation Session #67 · 2006
- Biblical echoes in the Du`a al-simat (Prayer of the Signs): with some notes on the Commentary of Sayyid Kazim al-Husayni al-Rashti (d.1259/1843) and Babi-Baha’i intertextualities Session #69 · 2006
- A Comparative Study of Two Istidlaliyyih Texts: The Báb’s Dal’il-i- Sab’ah (Seven Proofs) and Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i Iqán Session #69 · 2006
- The Grandeur of Islam and the Magnificence of the Qur’an: The Bab’s Dala’il-i Sab`ah (Seven Proofs and the Baha’u’llah’s Kitab-i iqan (Book of Certitude) Session #72 · 2006 With the now widespread negative attitudes towards the Islamic religion and its founder Prophet Muhammad (d. 632 CE), it is fitting that Bahá'ís remind themselves of the grandeur of Islam and the magnificence of the Qur'…
- Some Aspects of the Shi`i-Shaykhí Universe and of the Persian and Arabic Writings of Sayyid Kázim al-Husayní al-Rashtí Session #72 · 2006 "Within the bosom of Islam (sadr al-islám) many were submerged in the ocean of idle fancies and vain imaginings. Subsequent to the Seal of the Prophets (khátam-i anbiyá') [= Muhammad] and to the purified [Twelver] Imams …
- From Desolation to Deification: Some Comments on the Theological and secular meanings of the Arabic word Baha’ in Islamic and Bábi-Baha’i Literatures. Session #74 · 2007
- Joseph and the Motif of the Garment of Joseph in the Qayyūmu’l-Asmá’ and other Bábí-Bahá’i Sacred Writings. Session #74 · 2007
- Bahá’ al-Dín al-`Amilí (d. 1030/1621): A Bahá’í before Bahá’u’lláh and an initiate of the al-ism al-a`zam (“The Greatest Name of God”) Session #76 · 2007
- Khutbah al-Jidda (Oration at Jeddah) of the Bab Session #76 · 2007
- Bahá’ al-Dín al-`Ahmili: A Bahá’í before Bahá’u’lláh and an initiate of the al-ism al-a`zam Session #79 · 2007
- And It Came to Pass: the Báb and the Fulfillment of Shí’í Islamic Messianism (Part 1) Session #81 · 2008 The Báb fixed very, very precisely, to the exact minute, the time of the onset of the New age and non-literally understood "Day of Resurrection" (yawm al-qiyáma). According to Persian Bayán the "Day of God" commenced on …
- And It Came to Pass: the Báb and the Fulfillment of Shí’í Islamic Messianism (Part 2) Session #81 · 2008 See full abstract under Part One, above.
- The Khutbas or literary “Sermons” of the Báb Session #81 · 2008 The Arabic word khutba has a range of senses in Islamic literatures. It is only loosely and inadequately defined by the western Christian terms "sermon", "homily" or "oration", etc. Within Islamic literary history khutba…
- Gateways to the Qayyúm al-Asmá’ of the Báb: Some Introductory Notes Based on an Examination of its Surah Session #88 · 2009 The around 400-page Arabic Qayyum al-asma' (mid. 1844 CE) of Sayyid `Alí-Muhammad Shírazi, the Báb (d. 1850 CE) is not an easy book to comprehend. It is a kind of commentary on the Qur'anic story of Joseph (Q. 12) but mu…
- Soul, Spirit, Mind and Intellect, from Antiquity to a Bahá’í Perspective: An Intertextual Trajectory from Biblical Times and Hellenistic Antiquity to the Islamic and Bábí-Bahá’í Psychology Session #88 · 2009 "The soul is the cause or source of the living body. The terms cause and source have many senses. But the soul is the cause of its body alike in all three senses which we explicitly recognize. It is (a) the source or ori…
- Names and Attributes of God Session #89 · 2009 God has numerous personal and associated names and attributes within Abrahamic (Jewish, Christian, Islamic) religious scripture and related exegetical texts. The third word in the Hebrew Bible is the personal Name of God…
- From al-Mulk (the Dominion) to al-Mu’minin (the Believers): Some Further Thoughts on the Surah Titles of the Qayyúm al-`asmá of the Báb Session #95 · 2010 The around 400 page Arabic Qayyum al-asma' (mid. 1844 CE) of the Báb, Sayyid `Ali Muhammad Shirazi, (d. 1850 CE) is not an easy book to comprehend. It is a kind of commentary on the qur'anic story of Joseph (Q. 12) but m…
- The Genesis of Bábí Ritual as Exemplified in the Khasa’il-Sab`a (‘The Seven Directives’) of the Báb Session #95 · 2010 This very brief work of the Báb, the Risala Khasa'il-i Sab`ah ('The Treatise of the Seven Directives") is, aside from certain surahs of the Qayyúm al-asma' and a few other pre-1845 CE writings, one of the earliest legal-…
- The Bábí-Bahá’í Transformation and Interpretation of the Islamic Basmala Session #102 · 2011 "The Basmala is closer to the Greatest Name (al-ism al-a`zam) than the black of the eye is to its white." (A well-known Islamic tradition)
- From Nabi (Prophet) and Rasul (Messenger) to Mazhar-i Ilahi (`Manifestation of God’): A Babí-Bahá’í Trajectory through the Biblical-Islamic Prophets and Messengers Session #102 · 2011 "God... created 124,000 nabí (prophets) and I [Muhammad] am the most noble of them... and God created 124,000 wasi (successors) and `Alí is the most noble of them..." (Muhammad through Imam Rida' cited Bihar 2 11:30-31).
- Ridwan Renewed: The Semitic-Abrahamic religions and Babi-Baha’i concepts of Ridvan Session #109 · 2012 "And a Ridwan from God is supremely great" (Qur'an 9:72b) "O people of the earth! ... God promised both the male and female believers among the people of the covenant (ahl al-`ahd) what pertains to the [messianic] Dhikr …
- Shi`i and Babi-Baha’i Imamology: Some introductory Notes on the Twelver Imams and traditions attributed to them in Shi`i and Babi-Baha’i scriptural sources Session #109 · 2012 The names Muhammad, Imam `Ali, and Fatima More or less from its origins in the decades after the passing of the Arabian Prophet Muhammad (c. 570-11/632) in 632 CE., the Muslim world came to be divided into Imami Shi`i an…
- The Bábí-Bahá’í Theology of ‘Adl (Justice) and the Lawh-i Ridván al-’Adl of Bahá’u’lláh Session #116 · 2013 "This is the Ridwan al `Adl ("Paradise of Justice"). It was indeed made manifest through the Divine Bounty (al-fadl) for God hath ornamented it with His Mighty, Incomparable [Scriptural] Traces (al-athar)." In the Name o…
- Carmel Calling Jerusalem: History and Prophesy Related to Carmel, Mount Carmel and the Tablet of Carmel Session #116 · 2013 "It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be raised above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it" (Isaia…
- Some New, Little-known, or Unstudied Writings of Bahá’u’lláh (1817-1892) Session #123 · 2014 "God testifieth unto His Own Self, through His Own Self (li nafsī bi-nafsī) that I, verily, am One that liveth in the Abhá Horizon (bi innani ana hayy fi al ufuq al abha). Wherefore doth He cry out from the Light of the …
- Some New, Little-known, or Unstudied Writings of the Báb (1819-1850) Session #123 · 2014 As is well-known, the B�b wrote, dictated or revealed many thousands of Arabic and Persian verses. The roughly 500 page Islamic holy book, the Arabic Qur'�n, contains just over 6,200 verses. In various of his writings, t…
- Some New, Little-Known, or Unstudied Writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh Session #123 · 2014 No abstract provided, but see also Some New, Little-known, or Unstudied Writings of the Báb (1819-1850) and Some New, Little-known, or Unstudied Writings of Bahá'u'lláh (1817-1892) .
- “He-She-It Is”� (Huwa): The re-created Basmala in Babi-Baha’i Literary Commencements Session #130 · 2015 "In the Name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate" بِس�'مِ اللهِ الر�'َ��'منِ الر�'َ�ِيمِ "In the Name of God, the Inaccessible, the Most Holy" بِس�'مِ اللهِ الامنع الاقدس "In the Name of God, the Glorious, the All-Gl…
- Twin Shining Lights, Part 1: Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Ahsa’i Session #137 · 2016 Shaykh Ahmad ibn Zayn al-Din al-Ahsa'i was born in eastern Arabia (now Saudi Arabia) in the mid. 18th century, during the sacred seventh Islamic month of Rajab, in the year 1166 AH., or sometime during May, 1753 CE. His …
- Twin Shining Lights, Part 2: Sayyid Kazim al-Rashti Session #137 · 2016 Like the Bab, Sayyid Kazim al-Husayni al-Rashti was a descendent of the third, martyred Imam Husayn (d. 60/680). Little is known about his early life save that he was born in Rasht, a city in northern Persia. His precise…