Texts, Sacred, Numbers and Classifications of

1. 2001 Letter from Steve Cooney to the Universal House of Justice, 2001-06-18

"The collected volume represents only a fraction of Bahá'u'lláh's output during his 40-year ministry, when He revealed thousands of tablets which altogether represent a volume more than 70 times the size of the Qur'an and more than 15 times the size of the Old and New Testaments of the Bible." www.bahaiworldnews.org/story.cfm?storyid=163.

Over the years there has been periodic reporting of the collection and classification of the Sacred Texts. In 1983 the "Seven Year Plan 1979-1986 Statistical Report" published at Ridvan 1983 reported that:

The original letters and tablets housed at the World Centre numbered 15,000 documents. The authenticated copies for which no originals had yet been received constituted 46,000 items.

Together these 60,000 plus documents were broken down into 15,000 Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, 27,000 Tablets of Abdu'l-Bahá and over 17,500 letters of Shoghi Effendi.

In 1994 David Ruhe mentioned in the preface of his book 'The Robe of Light' that there are now more than 21,000 Tablets and letters of Bahá'u'lláh held in the Bahá'í Archives.

I would very much like to know the comparable figures as of 2001 and if possible the ratio or proportions of originals to authenticated copies. Also if there are any statistics regarding the Tablets and Writings of the Bab that would be useful. Failing that, the last published figures would be appreciated."

2. Response from the Universal House of Justice to Steve Cooney, 2002

• Authenticated items: Originals or reproductions of Tablets and letters as dispatched to or received by their addressees.

• Transcribed items: Secondary copies of Tablets or letters, copied by scribes of varying degrees of reliability, sometimes copied from an authenticated item, sometimes copied from another transcribed item.

• Draft copies or Working copies: These include copies prepared by a scribe/secretary for checking prior to preparing the final copy, copies kept by the scribe/secretary or by Shoghi Effendi for later reference.

      With loving Bahá'í greetings,
      Department of the Secretariat

3. 2002 letter, republished in Lights of Irfan vol. 10, 2009

4. 2010 letter

The Research Department has received a request from Mr. ... in an email letter of 21 July 2010 for the latest statistics on the Sacred Writings available at the Bahá’í World Centre.

The collection and collation of the Sacred Writings is an ongoing process, and the numbers are continually being revised. While past statistics, such as those referred to by Mr. ..., were based on counting the number of originals, transcriptions, and drafts held in the Archives, and included an element of double counting, the collation work has now reached a stage where estimates of the numbers of unique works can be given, as follows:

• For Bahá’u’lláh, well over 18,000 unique works have been identified, comprising over six million words. Of these works, nearly 15,000 have been authenticated by the Archives Office so far.

• For the Báb, over 2,000 unique works have been identified, comprising almost five million words. The works of the Báb have not yet been formally authenticated.

• For ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, over 30,000 unique works have been identified, comprising over five million words. Of these works, over 27,000 have been authenticated by the Archives Office to date.

• For Shoghi Effendi, well over 34,000 unique works have been identified, also comprising over five million words. Of these works, over 33,000 have been authenticated by the Archives Office.

5. 2013 letter

Dear Bahá’í Friend,

Your email letter dated 3 April 2013 requesting statistics concerning the Sacred Texts has been received at the Bahá’í World Centre and forwarded to the Research Department for study. That Department notes that the collection and collation of the Sacred Writings is an ongoing process, and the numbers are continually being revised. The estimates of the numbers of unique works can be given as follows:

• For Bahá’u’lláh, nearly 20,000 unique works have been identified. Most of these Writings have been collected; however, 865 are known to have been revealed, but the texts are not available. Close to 15,000 of the collected works have been authenticated by the Archives Office to date.

• For the Báb, over 2,000 unique works have been identified. Most of these Writings have been collected; however, 74 are known to have been revealed, but the texts are not available. Nearly 1,600 of the collected works have been authenticated.

• For ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, over 30,000 unique works have been identified. All of these Writings have been collected and over 27,000 of them have been authenticated.

• For Shoghi Effendi, over 22,000 unique works have been identified. All of these documents have been collected and the majority of them have been authenticated.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat