The Kitáb-i-Aqdas Project is a presentation of the Most Holy Book, the Kitáb-i-Aqdas, initially started to satisfy two criteria not present in any other electronic version available at the time:

As work progressed in design and construction to satisfy these two goals, other uses for, and further opportunities to enhance the Project were seen and added to the list. Thus, a summary of the current goals can be stated as:

As indicated by the ticks in the list above, some of these goals have been achieved. The index at the rear of the hardcopy is included and functional. Alternate navigation to individual Paragraphs, Questions and Answers, and Notes has been created in two forms - by number and by opening phrase. The electronic version can be read from front to back in the same way as the hardcopy, or accessed via the index at the rear, and because the pages each correspond to only a very small section of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas the paragraph/place one was last at can be remembered and easily and directly accessed again by the new ‘access by number’ or ‘access by opening phrase’ indices (‘bookmarks’ can still be used if desired). Using pop-ups, whether from the indices or from within the body of the Kitáb-i-Aqdas allows one to retain their place without having to continually reselect it, while the pop-up window itself allows navigation from one section to another. Finally, being written using HTML makes it accessible on perhaps every hardware and software platform available today.

Other goals are either in progress or have been put aside for later development. In the former category, the forward indexing and the English dictionary continue to move forward. The inclusion of documentation from the Universal House of Justice on matters related to the Most Holy Book is underway, and the full text of available references found throughout the Notes is progressing. In the latter category, though the process of adding the compilations has been started in conjunction with the development of the indices into the documentation from the Universal House of Justice, the indexing and cross-indexing into and from the compilations, and into and from the Kitáb-i-Aqdas has not been commenced, nor has any attempt been made to begin work on the indices into the work of Shoghi Effendi, or into the Texts from Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá that restate in some way the Kitáb-i-Aqdas subject matter.

There is no doubt, as the remaining goals are achieved and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas Project moves to a more complete condition, that yet further capacities and uses will be seen, to be added to the list above.(Note: There is no intention at this time to include a search facility as a means of searching through the entire Text. There are already excellent tools available for this purpose; the online “Bahá’í Library” and the software ‘Ocean’ are two such that most readily comes to mind). Further improvements in design and in visual appeal are also likely to occur over lengths of time.

It is hoped that the presentation of this electronic version of the Most Holy Book will prove of assistance in the understanding, comprehension and application of this most great and most precious Light from the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh.

Warmest greetings

Romane