Kitáb-i-Íqán — §104

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 104 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و بر اولی العلم و افئده منيره واضح است که غيب هويّه و ذات احديّه مقدّس از بروز و ظهور و صعود و نزول و دخول و خروج بوده و متعالی است از وصف هر واصفی و ادراک هر مُدرکی. لم يزل در ذات خود غيب بوده و هست و لايزال به کينونت خود مستور از ابصار و انظار خواهد بود. " لا تُدرکُهُ الاَبصَارُ و هُوَ يُدرِکُ الاَبصارَ و هُوَ اللَّطيفُ الخبيرُ" چه ميان او و ممکنات، نسبت و ربط و فصل و وصل و يا قرب و بُعد وجهت و اشاره به هيچ وجه ممکن نه زيرا که جميع من فی السّموات و الارض به کلمه امر او موجود شدند و به اراده او که نفس مشيّت است از عدم و نيستی بحت بات به عرصه شهود و هستی قدم گذاشتند.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men. “No vision taketh in Him, but He taketh in all vision; He is the Subtile, the All-Perceiving.” No tie of direct intercourse can possibly bind Him to His creatures. He standeth exalted beyond and above all separation and union, all proximity and remoteness. No sign can indicate His presence or His absence; inasmuch as by a word of His command all that are in heaven and on earth have come to exist, and by His wish, which is the Primal Will itself, all have stepped out of utter nothingness into the realm of being, the world of the visible.

Translation Notes

بر

b-r-r → “To”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

اولی

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

العلم

ʿ-l-m → “and” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

افئده

f-ʾ-d → “illumined heart” Distinctive

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind; heart; inner consciousness; mind; one who benefits; advantageous

منيره

n-w-r

literal: light; illumination

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ → “is evident”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

که

k-h → “that God,”

literal: that; who; who, that

غيب

gh-y-b → “unknowable” Distinctive

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

هويّه

h-w-y → “Essence” Distinctive

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

ذات

dh-w-t → “His Essence”

literal: self; essence; being

احديّه

ʾ-ḥ-d → “divine Being” Distinctive

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

مقدّس

q-d-s → “exalted”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

بروز

b-r-z

literal: appearance; manifestation; coming forth

ظهور

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

صعود

ṣ-ʿ-d → “ascent”

literal: ascent; ascension; rising; elevation

نزول

n-z-l → “descent”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

دخول

d-kh-l → “enter”

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

خروج

kh-r-j → “regress”

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

متعالی

ʿ-l-w → “immensely exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وصف

w-ṣ-f → “praise”

literal: to describe, characterize; description

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehend”

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يزل

z-w-l → “hath ever been”

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

در

d-r-r → “in the”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

هست

h-s-t → “are”

literal: is; be; are

به

b-h → “in” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

کينونت

k-w-n → “be” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

مستور

s-t-r → “hidden”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

ابصار

b-ṣ-r → “sight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

انظار

n-ẓ-r

literal: look; looking; view

خواهد

kh-w-h

literal: will; to wish; to want

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

هُوَ

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

يُدرِکُ

d-r-k → “taketh” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

اللَّطيفُ

l-ṭ-f → “Subtile”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

الخبيرُ"

kh-b-r → “the All-Informed”

literal: news; inform; informed

چه

ch-h → “For”

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

ميان

m-y-n

literal: between; among; amid; in the midst of

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

ممکنات،

m-k-n → “all created things”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

نسبت

n-s-b

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

ربط

r-b-ṭ → “firm” Distinctive

literal: connection; attachment; link; bond

فصل

f-ṣ-l → “separated”

literal: detail; distinction; differentiation; to detail; to separate

وصل

w-ṣ-l → “and” Distinctive

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

قرب

q-r-b → “proximity”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

بُعد

b-ʿ-d → “remoteness”

literal: after; behind; distance

وجهت

w-j-h

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

اشاره

sh-y-r → “allusions”

literal: king; sovereign; ruler; majesty

هيچ

h-y-ch

literal: nothing; any; not a single

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

زيرا

z-y-r

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all that”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

من

m-n

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

السّموات

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کلمه

k-l-m → “word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

امر

ʾ-m-r → “command” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

موجود

w-j-d → “come to exist”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

شدند

sh-d

literal: to not become; to not be

اراده

r-w-d → “desire”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

نفس

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مشيّت

sh-y-ʾ → “Primal Will”

literal: thing; something

عدم

ʿ-d-m → “nothingness”

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

نيستی

n-y-s-t

literal: nonexistence; nothingness; nullity; to rest; to settle; to lay to rest

بحت

b-ḥ-t

literal: mere; pure; absolute; sheer

بات

b-t-t

literal: certainly; certainly, definitely; absolute

عرصه

ʿ-r-ṣ → “realm”

literal: arena; field; space; open place

شهود

sh-h-d → “visible”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

قدم

q-d-m → “stepped” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

گذاشتند.

g-dh-r → “renounced”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; deed; action; conduct; behavior

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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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16 ¶

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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.

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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.

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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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‘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 ¶