Selections from the Writings of the Báb

Selections from the Writings of the Báb is a book of excerpts from notable works of the Báb, the forerunner-Prophet of the Bahá'í Faith. It was compiled and published in 1976 by the Universal House of Justice.

Before this publication, an authentic comprehensive selection of the Báb's writings had not been available to the Bahá'ís of the West. The Báb's writings were reviewed by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, and the selected passages were translated by Habib Taherzadeh, with the assistance of a translating committee.

This composition in Arabic is known by the title Tafsir surat Yusuf (Commentary on the Surah of Joseph). It is also known as Ahsan al-Qisas ("The Best of Stories") and Qayyúmu'l-Asmá' ("Maintainer of the Divine Names").

The work is structured like the Qur'an itself and divided into 111 chapters each with 42 verses. In addition, each chapter is headed by some combination of mysterious disconnected letters. None of these features had until this time occurred outside of the Qur'an in Islamic literature—at least they had not been used together in a single work. To have done so would have indicated to the reader that the author was claiming revelation.

The Qayyúmu'l-Asmá' was the first scriptural work of the Báb. The first chapter was written for Mullá Husayn, the first to believe in the Báb's claims, on the same day that the Báb proclaimed himself. Mullá Husayn had requested that Siyyid Kázim write a commentary on the Surah of Joseph, but Siyyid Kázim responded that the Promised One would reveal the commentary to him "unasked". (Balyuzi, p. 20)

On their meeting in Shiraz, the Báb began to write the commentary. Mullá Husayn reported:

He took up His pen, and with incredible rapidity revealed the entire Surih of Mulk, the first chapter of His commentary on the Surih of Joseph. The overpowering effect of the manner in which He wrote was heightened by the gentle intonation of His voice which accompanied His writing. Not for one moment did He interrupt the flow of the verses which streamed from His pen. Not once did He pause till the Surih of Mulk was finished. I sat enraptured by the magic of His voice and the sweeping force of His revelation.

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