Kitáb-i-Íqán — §116

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 116 of 291.

Source (Persian)

در اين موقع يک آيه ذکر می نمايم که اگر چشم بصيرت باز کنی تا زنده هستی بر مظلومی آن حضرت نوحه و ندبه نمائی. و آن آيه در وقتی نازل شد که آن حضرت از شدّت بلايا و اعراض ناس، به غايت افسرده و دلتنگ بود، جبرئيل از سدرة المنتهای قرب نازل شد و اين آيه تلاوت نمود: "وَ إنْ کَانَ کَبُرَ عَلَيکَ إعرَاضُهُم فَاِنِ اسْتطَعْتَ اَن تَبْتَغِيَ نَفَقاً فی الاَرضِ اَو سُلَّماً فی السَّماء. " که ترجمه آن اين است که اگر بزرگ است بر تو اعراض معرضين و سخت است بر تو ادبار منافقين و ايذای ايشان، پس اگر مستطيعی و می توانی، طلب کن نقبی در زير ارض يا نردبانی به سوی آسمان، که تلويح بيان اين است که چاره نيست و دست از تو بر نمی دارند مگر آنکه درزير زمين پنهان شوی و يا به آسمان فرار نمائی.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We shall cite in this connection only one verse of that Book. Shouldst thou observe it with a discerning eye, thou wilt, all the remaining days of thy life, lament and bewail the injury of Muhammad, that wronged and oppressed Messenger of God. That verse was revealed at a time when Muhammad languished weary and sorrowful beneath the weight of the opposition of the people, and of their unceasing torture. In the midst of His agony, the Voice of Gabriel, calling from the Sadratu’l-Muntahá, was heard saying: “But if their opposition be grievous to Thee—if Thou canst, seek out an opening into the earth or a ladder into heaven.” The implication of this utterance is that His case had no remedy, that they would not withhold their hands from Him unless He should hide Himself beneath the depths of the earth, or take His flight unto heaven.

Translation Notes

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

موقع

w-q-ʿ → “occurred” Distinctive

literal: to fall, to occur, to happen; incident, event

يک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

آيه

ʾ-y-y → “verse”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

می

m-y-y

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

چشم

ch-sh-m → “eye”

literal: eye; vision; sight

بصيرت

b-ṣ-r → “discerning”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

باز

b-ʾ-z

literal: back; open; back, open

کنی

k-r-d → “made” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to speak; to abstain; to refrain from; to avoid; allusion; insinuation; indirect reference

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

زنده

z-n-d → “life” Distinctive

literal: prison; jail

هستی

h-s-t

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مظلومی

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Majesty”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

نوحه

n-w-ḥ → “lament”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

ندبه

n-d-b → “lament”

literal: lamentation; wailing; mourning

وقتی

w-q-t → “time”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

نازل

n-z-l → “revealed”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

شدّت

sh-d-d → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: become; became; severe

بلايا

b-l-w

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “opposition” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

ناس،

n-ʾ-s → “people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

به

b-h → “unto”

literal: by it; by him; with it

غايت

gh-y-t → “highest wish”

literal: purpose; aim; goal; end; ultimate

افسرده

f-s-r-d → “extinguish”

literal: broken-hearted; melancholy; sorrowful

دلتنگ

d-l → “heart” Distinctive

literal: sorrowful; grieved; distressed

جبرئيل

j-b-r → “dominion”

literal: might; might/omnipotence; dominion

سدرة

s-d-r → “Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

المنتهای

n-h-y

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

قرب

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

تلاوت

t-l-w

literal: to recite; to read; to follow

نمود:

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

"وَ

w-w-w → “God” Distinctive

literal: and; quotation mark

کَانَ

k-w-n → “be”

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

کَبُرَ

k-b-r

literal: great; grand; mighty; large

عَلَيکَ

ʿ-l-y

literal: highest; most high; supreme

فَاِنِ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; verily

اسْتطَعْتَ

ṭ-w-ʿ

literal: obedience; obeyed; obedient

تَبْتَغِيَ

b-gh-y

literal: befit; transgression; befit, be proper

نَفَقاً

n-f-q

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الاَرضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

اَو

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

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

سُلَّماً

s-l-m

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

السَّماء.

s-m-w → “heaven.””

literal: heaven; sky

ترجمه

t-r-j-m

literal: translation

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

بزرگ

b-z-r-g → “great” Distinctive

literal: great; large; important; grandeur

تو

t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

سخت

s-kh-t

literal: hard, difficult, severe; harshness

ادبار

d-b-r

literal: deliberation; consideration; prudence; management; planning; counsel

ايذای

ʾ-dh-y

literal: harm; harm/tribulation; harm, injury

ايشان،

ʾ-y-sh

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

پس

p-s

literal: then; then, therefore; therefore

توانی،

t-w-n → “canst”

literal: to be able, can; power, strength

طلب

ṭ-l-b → “seek”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

نقبی

n-q-b → “veil” Distinctive

literal: veil; opening; mask

زير

z-y-r → “inasmuch as”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

سوی

s-w-y

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

تلويح

l-w-ḥ → “implication”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

بيان

b-y-n → “utterance”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

چاره

ch-r-h → “remedy”

literal: remedy; cure; solution; means; way

دست

d-s-t → “hands”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

نمی

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

دارند

d-ʾ-r → “repository” Distinctive

literal: to hold, keep, maintain, possess

مگر

m-g-r → “save through”

literal: matter; affair; thing

زمين

z-m-n → “days” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

پنهان

p-n-h → “refuge” Distinctive

literal: hidden; concealed; to hide

شوی

sh-d-n → “was” Distinctive

literal: be; become

فرار

f-r-r → “flight”

literal: to flee, escape, run away

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

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-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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 ¶