The Kitabu'l-Asmá' or Book of Divine Names is a book written by the Báb, the founder of Bábi religion, in Arabic during his imprisonment in Máh-Kú and Chihriq in Iran (1847-1850). With a total volume of more than 3,000 pages, it is the largest revealed scripture in religious history. At least twenty-six manuscripts exist, and much of the text has not yet been located. Some extracts are available in English in the volume Selections from the Writings of the Báb.
Contents
The text is divided in nineteen unities (Vahid) and 361 gates (Báb; chapters). and consists largely of "lengthy variations of invocations of the names of God'. Each name is discussed in four different parts, each part written in a different 'mode of revelation': divine verses, prayers, commentaries, and rational arguments. The 361 chapters symbolize "all things" (Kull-i-Shay’) and the days of the year of the Badi' calendar.
The Báb gives explanations about many divine names and attributes and describes how humanity can be spritizualized by recognizing the Manifestation of God.