Some Answered Questions

ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's answers were first written down in Persian by a secretary, and afterwards revised twice by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá. In 1908, three first editions were published: The Persian text by E.J. Brill in The Netherlands; the English translation of Laura Clifford Barney by Regan Paul, Trench, Trübner & Co. in London; and a French edition translated by {{Interlanguage link multi|Hippolyte Dreyfus|fr|3=Hippolyte Dreyfus-Barney}}, published by Ernest Leroux in Paris.

A new English translation revised by a committee at the Baháʼí World Centre was published in 2014 and made available in early 2015.

The book is divided into five parts:

Part one covers topics such as the one universal law that governs nature, rational, and spiritual proofs of the existence of God,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=God |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=164–165}} Manifestations of God{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=manifestations of God |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=231}} (Abraham,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Abraham |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=22}} Moses,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Moses |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=251}} Jesus, Muhammad{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Muhammad |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=251}} and his wives and battles, the Báb,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Báb |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=55–61}} and Baháʼu'lláh),{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Baháʼu'lláh |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=73–86}} and Biblical prophecies from chapters 8, 9, and 12 of the Book of Daniel (see Day-year principle),Riggs, Robert (1998). [http://bahai-library.com/riggs_i_daniel I, Daniel]. chapter 11 of the Book of Isaiah and chapters 11 and 12 of the Book of Revelation.{{Cite book |last=Sours |first=Michael |title=Understanding Biblical Prophecy |year=1996 |publisher=George Ronald |place=Oxford, UK |isbn=9781851681112}}{{cite book |last=Tai-Seale |first=Thomas |year=1992 |title=Thy Kingdom Come: A Biblical Introduction to the Baháʼí Faith |publisher=Kalimat Press |location=US |isbn=0933770936 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S_nrGgTmKV8C}}Able, John (2011). {{usurped|1=[https://archive.today/20160305151250/http://apocalypsesecrets.com/ Apocalypse Secrets: Baha'i Interpretation of the Book of Revelation]}}.

Part two consists of subjects of Christian interest, such as the significance of symbolism ("intelligible realities and their expression through sensible forms"Lepain, Jean-Marc (2015) [2002]. [http://bahai-library.com/lepain_terry_archeology_god The Archeology of the Kingdom of God]. pp. 246-270.), an examination and breakdown of various verses from the Bible, the story of Adam and Eve,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Adam |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=23}} the birth of Jesus, the "greatness of Christ,"{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=Jesus |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=214}} baptism,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=baptism |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=90}} miracles,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=miracles |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=249}} the Eucharist, Peter and the Papacy, the resurrection of Jesus,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=resurrection |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=293}} the Holy Spirit, the second coming of Jesus, the Day of Judgement, the Trinity, sin,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=sin |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=322–323}} blasphemy,{{Cite book |last=Momen |first=Moojan |year=2009 |title=Irfan Colloquia |volume=10 |contribution=Blasphemy against the Holy Spirit: Chapter 31 of Some Answered Questions |publisher=Irfan Colloquia |location=Wilmette, IL |chapter-url=http://bahai-library.com/momen_blasphemy_holy_spirit |pages=275–294 }} and predestination.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=fate |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=157}}

Part three speaks about topics such as the five aspects of spirit{{definition needed|date = September 2024}},{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=metaphysics |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=245–246}} the stations, power, and influence of the Manifestations of God, progressive revelation,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=time |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=338–339}} the two classes of Prophets,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=prophets |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=279}} God's rebukes of the Prophets,{{specify|date = September 2024}}{{cite book |last=Hemmat |first=Amrollah |year=2008 |title=Adam's Wish: Unknown Poetry of Tahirih |publisher=Baha'i Publishing Trust |isbn=978-1-890688-36-3 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s4sqVWBTy3AC |pages=23–24}} and infallibility.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=infallibility |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=196–197}}

The fourth part includes a Bahai commentary on the theory of evolution,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=evolution |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=136}}{{Cite book |editor-last = Brown |editor-first = Keven |year=2001 |title=Studies in the Bábí and Baháʼí Religions |volume=12 |contribution=Evolution and Baháʼí Belief: ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Response to Nineteenth-Century Darwinism |publisher=Kalimat Press |location=Los Angeles, US |pages=179–180 |chapter-url=http://bahai-library.com/brown_evolution_bahai_belief }} the origin of the universe,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=creation |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=116}} the difference between man and animal,Filson, Gerald. [https://journal.bahaistudies.ca/online/article/view/337 Mind: ‘the Power of the Human Spirit']. Journal of Bahá’í Studies, vol. 32, no. 3-4, July 2023, pp. 9-53. For a general discussion on this topic, see animal cognition the origin of man, the difference between the soul, mind, and spirit,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=soul |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=325–326}} human nature,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=evolution |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=186}} the origin of the spirit and mind of man, the relationship between the spirit and the body, the relationship between God and man (emanationism),{{cite book |last=Taherzadeh |first=Adib |author-link=Adib Taherzadeh |year=1987 |title=The Revelation of Baháʼu'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877-92 |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=0-85398-270-8 |url=http://www.peyman.info/cl/Baha'i/Others/ROB/V4/Cover.html |pages=41–42}} the physical and intellectual powers of man, the differences of character in men, the degree of knowledge man possesses and the knowledge the Manifestations of God possess, man's knowledge of God, the immortality of the spirit, the state and progress of the spirit after death, fate, the influence of the stars,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=astrology |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=52}} free will,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=free will |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=160}} visions, dreams{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=dreams and visions |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=125}} and communication with spirits,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=psychic powers |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=279–280}} and spiritual and physical healing.{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=health and healing |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=178–180}}

Part five goes into topics such as the nonexistence of evil,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=evil |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=135}} two kinds of torment,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=suffering |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=328}} the justice and mercy of God, the punishment of criminals, strikes, reality, pre-existence, reincarnation,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=reincarnation |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=289}} pantheism ('Unity of Existence'),{{Cite book |last=Brown |first=Keven |year=2001 |title=Journal of Baháʼí Studies |volume=11:3-4 |contribution=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá's Response to the Doctrine of the Unity of Existence |publisher=Association for Baháʼí Studies |location=Ottawa, CA |pages=1–29 |chapter-url=http://bahai-library.com/brown_abdul-baha_unity_existence }} four kinds of comprehension,{{cite encyclopedia |last=Smith |first=Peter |encyclopedia=A concise encyclopedia of the Baháʼí Faith |title=knowledge |year=2000 |publisher=Oneworld Publications |location=Oxford |isbn=1-85168-184-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pYfrAQAAQBAJ |pages=221}} and ethics.{{cite book |last=Schaefer |first=Udo |author-link=Udo Schaefer |year=2007 |title=Baháʼí Ethics in Light of Scripture, Volume 1 - Doctrinal Fundamentals |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-85398-505-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3SvpjZAIBSwC}}{{cite book |last=Schaefer |first=Udo |author-link=Udo Schaefer |year=2009 |title=Baháʼí Ethics in Light of Scripture, Volume 2 - Virtues and Divine Commandments |publisher=George Ronald |location=Oxford, UK |isbn=978-0-85398-518-1 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=06iVrKqgLWYC}}

• Baháʼí cosmology
• Baháʼí Faith and science
• Baháʼí Faith and the unity of religion
• Kitáb-i-Íqán
• Tablet to Dr. Forel

{{Reflist|30em}}

• {{cite book |author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |author-link=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |orig-year=1908 |year=1990 |title=Some Answered Questions |publisher=Baháʼí Publishing Trust |location=Wilmette, Illinois, US |isbn=0-87743-162-0 |url=http://bahai-library.com/abdulbaha_some_answered_questions-original}}
• {{cite book |author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |author-link=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá |orig-year=1908 |year=2014 |title=Some Answered Questions |edition=Newly revised |publisher=Baháʼí World Centre |location=Haifa, Israel |isbn=978-0-87743-374-3 |url=http://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/some-answered-questions}}
• Kluge, Ian (2009). [http://bahai-library.com/kluge_saq_philosophical_perspective Some Answered Questions: A Philosophical Perspective], in Lights of Irfan, Volume 10.
• Ma'ani, Baharieh Rouhani (2017). [http://bahai-library.com/maani_saq_compiler Some Answered Questions" and Its Compiler], in Lights of Irfan 18.
• Oliveira, Marco (2020). [https://wilmetteinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Some-Answered-Questions-v1.2-EN.pdf Some Answered Questions: An Introduction to Bahá’í Teachings]. Wilmette Institute.
• Ruhi Institute. Spirit of Faith.
• Ruhi Institute. The Power of the Holy Spirit.
• Terry, Peter (2024). [https://bahai-library.org/terry_philosophy_material_spiritual Philosophy: Material and Spiritual], compilation and commentary.

• [http://www.bahaiebooks.org E-book version of Some Answered Questions - 2014 translation] (Epub and Mobi formats)
• [https://bahaiprayers.net Some Answered Questions in many languages]
• [http://www.h-net.org/~bahai/areprint/ab/M-R/M/mufawad/mufawad.htm Some Answered Questions in Persian] (Egypt, 1920)
• [http://bahai-library.com/abdulbaha_some_answered_questions 2014 translation, side-by-side with the 1908 translation]
• {{librivox book | title=Some Answered Questions | author=ʻAbdu'l-Bahá ʻAbbás}}
• [https://www.miscellanie.com/allthetexts/pocketfull/index.html A Pocketful of Meaning], compilation of terms, phrases and symbols used in Sacred Writings
• [http://bahai-library.com/tags/Some_Answered_Questions Related material on Baháʼí Library Online]

{{Baháʼí}}

Category:1908 books

Category:Works by ʻAbdu'l-Bahá

Category:1908 in religion