Secret of Divine Civilization

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Texts & Scriptures of the Bahá'í Faith Bahá'í literature
From The Báb
Persian Bayán · Arabic Bayán Writings of the Báb
From Bahá'u'lláh
Hidden Words · Seven Valleys Gems of Divine Mysteries Kitáb-i-Íqán · Gleanings Summons of the Lord of Hosts Tabernacle of Unity Kitáb-i-Aqdas Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh Epistle to the Son of the Wolf
From `Abdu'l-Bahá
Secret of Divine Civilization Some Answered Questions Paris Talks Tablets of the Divine Plan Will and Testament
From Shoghi Effendi
World Order of Bahá'u'lláh Advent of Divine Justice God Passes By Bahá'í Administration This box: view • talk • edit

The Secret of Divine Civilization is a book written in 1875 by `Abdu'l-Bahá, addressed to the rulers and the people of Persia. It is considered to be part of the authoritative religious text of the Bahá'í Faith.

The book was originally published under the title of The Progress of Peoples as an anonymous author under the penname of Draybár, apparently a reference to John William Draper, a well known chemist and historian of his time.[1] The first English translation was published in London in 1910, and Chicago in 1918, under the title Mysterious Forces of Civilization. The currently used translation was completed by Marzieh Gail and published in 1957, with an introduction by Horace Holley.

The book was widely known in its time as an attempt to improve the degraded condition of Persia. The author frequently references current issues that were being debated, such as whether to modernize and accept Western technology, or to reject Western culture and rely on technology developed in Persia and the Islamic world.

See the full online text here.