Kitáb-i-'Ahd — §14

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 14 of 16.

Source (Persian)

بگو ای عباد اسباب نظم را سبب پريشانی منمائيد * و علّت اتّحاد را علّت اختلاف مسازيد * اميد آنکه اهل بهاء بکلمه مبارکه قل کلّ من عند اللّه ناظر باشند * و اينکلمه عليا بمثابه آبست از برای اطفاء نار ضغينه و بغضا که در قلوب و صدور مکنون و مخزون است * احزاب مختلفه از اين کلمه واحده بنور اتّحاد حقيقی فائز ميشوند * إنّه يقول الحقّ و يهدی السّبيل و هو المقتدر العزيز الجميل

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O servants! Let not the means of order be made the cause of confusion and the instrument of union an occasion for discord. We fain would hope that the people of Bahá may be guided by the blessed words: \‘Say: all things are of God.' This exalted utterance is like unto water for quenching the fire of hate and enmity which smouldereth within the hearts and breasts of men. By this single utterance contending peoples and kindreds will attain the light of true unity. Verily He speaketh the truth and leadeth the way. He is the All-Powerful, the Exalted, the Gracious.

Translation Notes

بگو

g-w-y → “Say”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

اسباب

s-b-b → “means”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

نظم

n-ẓ-m → “order”

literal: order; arrangement; organization; system

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

پريشانی

p-r-y-sh-ʾ-n → “confusion”

literal: to raise; to spread; to erect

منمائيد

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

علّت

ʿ-l-l → “cause”

literal: for us; to us

اتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: unity; union; unification

اختلاف

kh-l-f → “discord”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

مسازيد

s-ʾ-z

literal: level; equal; straight; upon a throne; resting upon; toward; to; direction of; other than; besides; except

اميد

ʾ-m-d → “hope”

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

آنکه

ʾ-n

literal: that; indeed; that, to

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

بهاء

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

بکلمه

k-l-m → “words”

literal: word; utterance; speech

مبارکه

b-r-k → “blessed”

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful; blest; blessed word

قل

q-w-l → “\‘Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; all, every

من

m-n

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

عند

ʿ-n-d

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “guided” Distinctive

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

باشند

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to remain

اينکلمه

k-l-m → “This exalted utterance”

literal: word; utterance; speech

عليا

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

بمثابه

m-th-l → “like unto” Distinctive

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

آبست

ʾ-b → “father’s” Distinctive

literal: water; father

از

ʾ-z → “by” Distinctive

literal: from

برای

b-r-y

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

اطفاء

ṭ-f-ʾ → “put out”

literal: to extinguish, put out, quench; to be extinguished; to perish; to go out

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

ضغينه

ḍ-gh-n → “enmity”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

بغضا

b-gh-ḍ → “hate”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

قلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

صدور

ṣ-d-r → “breasts”

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

مکنون

k-n-n → “concealed”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

مخزون

kh-z-n

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

احزاب

ḥ-z-b → “contending peoples”

literal: party; people; community

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

بنور

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

حقيقی

ḥ-q-q → “true”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

ميشوند

sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

يهدی

h-d-y → “guidance” Distinctive

literal: guidance; guide; guided

السّبيل

s-b-l → “way”

literal: captive; prisoner; captivity; to journey; to move; course

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

المقتدر

q-d-r → “All-Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “Exalted” Distinctive

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

الجميل

j-m-l → “Beauty” Distinctive

literal: beauty; comeliness

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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50 ¶

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A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶

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291 ¶

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Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

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Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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57 ¶

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Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

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Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶