Gems of Divine Mysteries

[2] The tablet (as Baháʼu'lláh's works are often called) was written during his time in Baghdad (1853-1863) in Arabic, and was published in English in 2002.

[2] The work was written in reply to a question from Siyyid Yúsuf-i-Sidihí Isfahání, a religious leader of the Shiʻas in Najaf,[1] who had asked the question of how the promised Mahdi could have been "transformed"[3] (meaning: the return of the Promised One in a different human guise) into Ali-Muhammad the (Báb).

The introduction of the published English translation lists some of these topics, some of which are: "rejection of the Prophets of the past," "danger of a literal reading of scripture," "the meaning of the signs and portents of the Bible concerning the advent of the new Manifestation," "the continuity of divine revelation," "intimations of Baháʼu'lláh's approaching declaration," and the significance or meanings of terms such as "Day of Judgement" and "the Resurrection.

[3] The governing body of the Baha'i Faith global community, the Universal House of Justice, announced in April 2001, as part of its ongoing five-year plan, that the Centre for the Study of the Texts — at the Baháʼí World Centre — would "focus on translations into English from the Holy Texts.

"[4] The publication of Gems of Divine Mysteries was one of the projects undertaken in fulfilment of that five-year plan.