The Arabic Bayán (Arabic: البيان العربي, romanized: al-Bayān al-ʿarabī, lit. 'declaration, elucidation') is a book in Arabic written by the Báb around 1848.[1] Its larger sister book is in Persian, called the Persian Bayán.[1] The work is incomplete, containing only eleven chapters (wāḥeds). Each chapter contains nineteen abwāb.[1] The grammar is highly irregular.[1]
History
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 in Maku, Iran, at the end of 1848.[1]
Translations
The book has been translated into French twice.[1]Arthur de Gobineau first published an incomplete and inaccurate translation of the work in his Les religions et les philosophies dans l'Asie centrale (1865), as part of the appendix "Ketab-è Hukkam".[1] The second translation was made by
A. L. M. Nicolas, published under the title Le Beyan arabe in 1905.[1]
