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TheArabic Bayán (Arabic:البيان العربي,romanized: al-Bayān al-ʿarabī) is anunfinished book inArabic written by theBáb around 1848. It functions as a significantscripture inBábism, asserting that it is a product of divinerevelation andinspiration.
The wordBayán literally means declaration or elucidation.[1] In the context ofBábism, this term is used to refer to the writings of the Bāb in general, but usually is applied to two specific works, includingArabic Bayán.[1] Its larger sister book is inPersian, called thePersian Bayán.[1]
Exact date of the book's composition has been subject to disagreements. However, internal evidence indicates that it was composed while the Báb was imprisoned inMaku, Iran, at the end of 1848.[1] At that time, the Báb's restrictions were not severe, and he was permitted to write and communicate with his followers.[2] However, he did not manage to make theArabic Bayán complete and it remained unfinished withhis execution in 1850.[1]
Following clashes between Bábis and the Persian government, Bábi works including theArabic Bayán were banned. This made them hard to procure.[2] Only some thirteenmanuscripts of this work, including anautograph, are known to exist.[1] UnlikeAzalis, theBaháʼís showed little interest in preserving or distributing this work because they assumed it was abrogated and superseded bytheir own scripture.[2] The autograph was printed using lithography and circulated in Tehran by the Azalis, and it was later republished in 1957 by'Abd al-Razzaq al-Hasani in his bookal-Bābīyūn wa’l-Bahāʾīyūn.[1]
The book was intended to comprise nineteen chapters (wāḥeds), each containing nineteenabwāb.[1] Nonetheless it is incomplete, and contains only eleven chapters.[1] The number nineteen was arranged for the sake of symbolism[3] and according toAbjad numerals.[4] Other Bábi sources imply that the rest of chapters were to be written by Báb's successor,Subh-i-Azal.[3] Each of theabwāb is slightly longer than a verse, which leads to a high degree of compression in thewāḥeds and results in "little or no logic in the sequence of subjects".[1]
The book has been translated intoFrench twice.[1]Arthur de Gobineau first published an incomplete and inaccurate translation of the work in hisLes religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie centrale (1865), as part of the appendix "Ketab-è Hukkam".[1] The second translation was made byA. L. M. Nicolas, published under the titleLe Beyan arabe in 1905.[1] This work was of the earliest sources that enabled the Western world to understand Bábism.[5]