1. Some Works of the First Stage (To January 1846)
The first, interpretive, stage comprises works written up to the middle of the first month of A.H. 1262 (A.D. 1846).
| # | Title: | Place and date: | Structure: | Comments: |
| 1 | Fi’s-Suluk I (On the Virtuous Journey I). | Very early work was written before the declaration of the Báb and even before the death of Siyyid Kazim. | ||
| 2 | Fi’s-Suluk II (On the Virtuous Journey II) | Written after the Báb’s declaration. | ||
| 3 | Tafsir-i-Suriy-i-Baqarih I (Commentary on the Surih of the Cow I) | Written within a year, was completed at the end of A.H. 1260 (A.D. 1844). | ||
| 4 | Tafsir-i-Suriy-i-Yusif (Commentary on the Surih of Joseph), commonly referred to as the Qayyumu’l-Asmá’ (The Self-Subsisting Lord of All Names) | Began on the night of the Báb’s declaration in May 1844 and completed during the next forty days. | 111 chapters | Crucial text; interprets various verses of the Qur’anic Surih of Joseph in terms of the principle of progressive revelation, disclosing both the station of the Báb and of Bahá’u’lláh. |
| 5 | Sahify-i-Makhzunih (Hidden Treasured Epistle) | Written shortly after the declaration of the Báb. | Fourteen prayers and visitation tablets | |
| 6 | Kitabu’r-Ruh (Book of the Spirit) | Written at sea during the Báb’s return journey from Mecca. | Large work, consisting of approximately seven-hundred short surihs. | |
| 7 | Tafsir-i-Bismillah (Commentary on Bismillah) | |||
| 8 | Sahifiy-i-A’mal-i-Sanih (Epistle on the Devotional Deeds of the Year) | Written between Mecca and Medina, on the first day of A.H. 1261 | An introduction and seven chapters. | |
| 9 | Sahifiy-i-Bayna’l-Haramayn (Epistle Revealed between the Twin Shrines) | Written between Mecca and Medina, on the first day of A.H. 1261. | ||
| 10 | Kitabu’l-Fihrist (Indexical Tablet) | Written in Bushihr on Jumadi’th-Thani 15, 1261 (June 21. 1845), shortly after the Báb returned to Iran from Mecca. | ||
| 11 | Sahifiy-i-Radaviyyih (Epistle of Rida’) | Written at different times, many sermons were written during the journey to Mecca and Medina. | Fourteen sermons | |
| 12 | Sharh-i-Du’a’-i-Ghaybat (Commentary on the Occultation Prayer), also called Tafsir-i-Ha’ (Interpretation of the Letter Ha’) and Sahifiy-i-Ja’fariyyih (Epistle of Ja’far) | Written in the early to middle part of the first month of A.H. 1262. | Fourteen chapters | |
2. Some Works of the Second Stage (January 1846 – April 1847)
The second, philosophical, stage consists of works the Báb wrote during the remainder of His stay in Shíráz and His six months of residence in Isfahan (January 1846 – April 1847).
| # | Title: | Place and date: | Structure: | Comments: |
| 1 | Sahifiy-i-Adliyyih (Epistle of Justice: Root Principles) | Written in the second half of the first month of 1262 (late January 1846). | The first major work that the Báb wrote in Persian. | |
| 2 | Sahifiy-i-Furu-i-Adliyyih (Epistle of Justice: Branches) | |||
| 3 | Tafsir-i-Suriy-i-Kawthar (Commentary on the Surih of Abundance) | Written during the final months of the Báb’s stay in Shíráz … around May 1846. | Long work | |
| 4 | Tafsir-i-Ha’ (Commentary on the Letter Ha’) | Written after the Commentary on the Surih of Abundance, but before the Báb’s departure for Isfahan. | ||
| 5 | Tafsir-i-Sirr-i-Ha’ (Commentary on the Mystery of Ha’) | Written shortly after the Commentary on the Letter Ha’. | ||
| 6 | Tafsir-i-Suriy-i-Va’l-‘Asr (Commentary on the Surih of the Afternoon) | Written in one night, in October or November 1846, during the Báb’s stay in Isfahan. | ||
| 7 | Risaliy-i-Ithbat-i-Nubuvvat-i-Khassih (Epistle on the Proofs of the Prophethood of Muhammad) | Written in Isfahan | ||
| 8 | Tablet to Mirza Sa’id | Written in Isfahan. | One of the most explicit and complex philosophical writings of the Báb. | |
| 9 | Risalah Fi’l-Ghina’ (Treatise on Singing) | |||
3. Some Works of the Third Stage (April 1847 – July 1850)
The third, legislative, stage encompasses works written during the period from the Báb’s departure from Isfahan for Maku in April 1847 to His martyrdom in July 1850.
| # | Title: | Place and date: | Structure: | Comments: |
| 1 | Bayán-i-Farsi (Persian Bayán) | The greater part of this work was written in the prison of Maku. | Comprising of nine vahids (unities) of nineteen chapters or bábs (gates) – with the exception of the last unity, which has only ten gates. | The Mother Book of the Bábí Dispensation |
| 2 | Bayánu’l-Arabi (Arabic Bayán) | The greater part of the work was written in Maku. | While much shorter in length than the Persian Bayán, the Arabic Bayán contains eleven full unities, whereas the Persian Bayán ends with gate 10 of the ninth unity. | |
| 3 | Dala’il-i-Sab ih (Seven Proofs) | Written in Maku. | ||
| 4 | Tablet to Mulla Baqir | |||
| 5 | Kitabu’l-Asmá’ (Book of Divine Names) | Some of the chapters were written during the Báb’s imprisonment in Maku, and others while He was in Chihriq. | More than three thousand pages. Consists of nineteen unities and 361 gates (chapters). | |
| 6 | Kitab-i-Panj Sha’n (Book of the Five Modes of Revelation) | Written within the first days of the spring of 1850. | Nineteen chapters | The Tablet of Hurufat, or Tablet of Nineteen Temples, is one of the chapters. |
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