Kitáb-i-'Ahd — §4

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 4 of 16.

Source (Persian)

هر مقبلی اليوم عرف قميص را يافت و بقلب طاهر بافق اعلی توجّه نمود او از اهل بها در صحيفه حمراء مذکور * خذ قدح عنايتی باسمی ثمّ اشرب منه بذکري العزيز البديع *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Every receptive soul who hath in this Day inhaled the fragrance of His garment and hath, with a pure heart, set his face towards the all-glorious Horizon is reckoned among the people of Bahá in the Crimson Book. Grasp ye, in My Name, the chalice of My loving-kindness, drink then your fill in My glorious and wondrous remembrance.

Translation Notes

هر

h-r → “Every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

مقبلی

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

اليوم

y-w-m → “this Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

قميص

q-m-ṣ → “garment”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

يافت

y-f-t → “have kept both” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بقلب

q-l-b → “pure heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

طاهر

ṭ-h-r

literal: to purify; to cleanse

بافق

ʾ-f-q → “all-glorious Horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “towards the” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

توجّه

w-j-h → “set his face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “is” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

او

h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

بها

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

صحيفه

ṣ-ḥ-f → “Book”

literal: pages; scriptures; book

حمراء

ḥ-m-r → “Crimson”

literal: to be red; to redden

مذکور

dh-k-r → “mentioned”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

خذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

قدح

q-d-ḥ → “Cup”

literal: cup; goblet; drinking vessel

عنايتی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness”

literal: bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention

باسمی

s-m-w → “in My Name”

literal: heaven; sky

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اشرب

sh-r-b → “drink”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

منه

m-n

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

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “glorious”

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

البديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

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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 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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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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Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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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 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

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 ¶