"This book presents three of the works of Abdu.l-Bah., son of the
founder of the Bah..i Faith, dealing with social and political issues.
In The Secret of Divine Civilization (1875) Abdu.l-Bah. supports the
administrative and broader social reforms of Mirz. Hosayn Kh.n, but
looks mainly for organic reform through the efforts of Iranian
intellectuals to waken and educate the masses. In this work, Abdu.l-Bah.
gives virtuous and progressive Islamic clerics a leading role among
these intellectuals, indeed most of his appeals are directed
specifically to them. A Traveller's Narrative (1889/90) is an
authoritative statement of the broad lines of Bah.'i social and
political thinking. The Art of Governance (1892/93) was written as Iran
entered a pre-revolutionary phase, and ideas that we recognise today as
the precursors of political Islam were spreading. It sets out the
principles underlying the ideal relationship between religion and
politics and between the government and the people. In addition to
presenting the first parallel text translations of these works, the
Persian texts incorporate notes on variants in the early published
sources. An introduction outlines the intellectual and political
landscape from which Abdu.l-Bah. wrote, and in which his expected
readers lived. "