Baha’u’llah as fulfilment of the theophanic promise in the Sermons of Imam ‘Alí ibn Abí Ṭálib. Translation of al Ṭutunjiyya, Iftikhár and Ma’rifat bin-Nurániyyat

Abstract

In the traditions of the Twelver Branch of Islám or Imámí Shi'ism in particular, three sermons of Imám ʿAlí stand out as pivotal in their contribution to the Bahá’í writings. These are known as the sermons of Ṭutunjiyyih [the Gulf ), Nurániyyat [Recognition through Luminousness], and Iftikhár [Glorification]. They hold tremendous theological importance, and, down the centuries, have had a magnetic effect on Shi'ih religious thought. The author of the book that contains these three sermons, Ḥafiz Rajab al Bursi (died 1411 CE), held a very high view of the station of the Imams, Likewise these texts vere highly valorized by Shaykh Aḥmad and Siyyid Kazim, Sayyid `Alí Muhammad, the Bab and Mirza Husayn ʿAli, Baha’u’lllah respectively.