The Making of Some Answered Questions

*A retelling drawn from the Foreword and the Author's Preface to **Some Answered Questions** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá (2014 translation, Bahá'í Reference Library). The words in quotation marks are from those pages and from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas.*

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In the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Bahá'u'lláh told the believers that after His passing they should "refer ye whatsoever ye understand not in the Book to Him Who hath branched from this mighty Stock." That Branch was 'Abdu'l-Bahá. One of the best-known records of Him explaining the Teachings is *Some Answered Questions.*

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Laura Clifford Barney came from a prominent family of scholars and artists in Washington, D.C. May Bolles Maxwell introduced her to the Faith in Paris around 1900, and soon afterwards she made the first of many visits to 'Akká. In those years 'Abdu'l-Bahá was still confined within the city by the Ottoman authorities and kept under constant watch, and it was dangerous to receive visitors at all.

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Even so, between 1904 and 1906 Miss Barney made several long visits, sometimes staying for weeks or months, and was able to put questions to 'Abdu'l-Bahá on a wide range of subjects. Many of the conversations took place at the lunch table. One of His sons-in-law or one of His three secretaries of that time wrote down His replies in Persian.

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She later recalled how the talks were given. "I have given to you my tired moments," 'Abdu'l-Bahá said once as He rose from the table after answering one of her questions. Sometimes He could speak at length. Often He was called away after a few moments, and days or even weeks might pass with no lesson at all. "But I could well be patient," she wrote, "for I had always before me the greater lesson—the lesson of His personal life."

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The answers were first written down only so that she could study them. Later she asked His permission to publish them. A selection was made from the notes, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá corrected it twice in His own hand, sometimes revising it substantially, and carefully reviewed the final wording.

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In 1908 the book appeared in three first editions: the Persian text in Holland, Miss Barney's English translation in London, and a French translation by Hippolyte Dreyfus, whom she later married, in Paris. Its chapters range from the influence of the Prophets and the meaning of Christian doctrines to the nature of the soul and questions such as reincarnation and the treatment of criminals.

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Shoghi Effendi wrote that in this book the reader "will find the clue to all the perplexing questions that agitate the mind of man in his search after true knowledge."

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*This is a retelling. For the full account, see the Foreword and the Author's Preface to **Some Answered Questions** by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in the Bahá'í Reference Library.*

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