Kitáb-i-Íqán — §117

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 117 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و حال امروز مشاهده نما که چقدر از سلاطين به اسم آن حضرت تعظيم می نمايند و چقدر از بلاد و اهل آن که در ظلّ او ساکن اند و به نسبت به آن حضرت افتخار دارند، چنانچه بر منابر وگلدسته ها اين اسم مبارک را به کمال تعظيم و تکريم ذکر می نمايند. و سلاطينی هم که در ظلّ آن حضرت داخل نشدهاند و قميص کفر را تجديد ننمودهاند ايشان هم به بزرگی و عظمت آن شمس عنايت مقرّ و معترف اند. اين است سلطنت ظاهره که مشاهده می کنی. و اين لابدّ است از برای جميع انبياء که يا در حيات و يا بعد از عروج ايشان به موطن حقيقی ظاهر و ثابت می شود چنانچه اليوم ملاحظه می گردد. و ليکن آن سلطنت که مقصود است لم يزل و لايزال طائف حول ايشان است و هميشه با ايشان است و آنی انفکاک نيابد و آن سلطنت باطنيّه است که احاطه نموده کلّ من فی السّموات و الارض را.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider, how great is the change today! Behold, how many are the Sovereigns who bow the knee before His name! How numerous the nations and kingdoms who have sought the shelter of His shadow, who bear allegiance to His Faith, and pride themselves therein! From the pulpit-top there ascendeth today the words of praise which, in utter lowliness, glorify His blessed name; and from the heights of minarets there resoundeth the call that summoneth the concourse of His people to adore Him. Even those Kings of the earth who have refused to embrace His Faith and to put off the garment of unbelief, none the less confess and acknowledge the greatness and overpowering majesty of that Day-star of loving kindness. Such is His earthly sovereignty, the evidences of which thou dost on every side behold. This sovereignty must needs be revealed and established either in the lifetime of every Manifestation of God or after His ascension unto His true habitation in the realms above. What thou dost witness today is but a confirmation of this truth. That spiritual ascendency, however, which is primarily intended, resideth within, and revolveth around Them from eternity even unto eternity. It can never for a moment be divorced from Them. Its dominion hath encompassed all that is in heaven and on earth.

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “Consider”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

امروز

r-w-z → “today”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نما

n-m-ʾ → “behold”

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

چقدر

ch-q-d → “How all-encompassing”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

از

ʾ-z → “From”

literal: from

سلاطين

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

اسم

s-m-w → “His” Distinctive

literal: name; title; designation

آن

ʾ-n → “His” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

تعظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “bow the knee”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

می

m-y-y

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

بلاد

b-l-d → “nations and kingdoms”

literal: city; land; country

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shelter of His shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

ساکن

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

اند

b-w-d → “have sought”

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

نسبت

n-s-b → “relationship”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

افتخار

f-kh-r → “pride themselves therein”

literal: glory; boasting; pride

دارند،

d-ʾ-r → “repository” Distinctive

literal: to hold, keep, maintain, possess

چنانچه

ch-n-n

literal: thus; in such manner; as

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

منابر

n-b-r → “pulpits”

literal: pulpit; elevated platform for preaching

وگلدسته

g-l → “clay” Distinctive

literal: pulpit; pulpits (plural of گلدسته)

ها

w-j-h

literal: He; He is

اين

ʾ-y-n → “His”

literal: this; these

مبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

کمال

k-m-l → “utmost”

literal: perfection; completeness; fully; with full; in complete; to complete, perfect, fulfill

تکريم

k-r-m → “bounty” Distinctive

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

ذکر

dh-k-r → “glorify” Distinctive

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

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

داخل

d-kh-l → “have refused to embrace” Distinctive

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

نشدهاند

sh-w-d → “have refused to embrace” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

قميص

q-m-ṣ → “garment”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

کفر

k-f-r → “unbelief”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

تجديد

j-d-d → “new”

literal: to demolish, destroy, tear down

ايشان

ʾ-y-sh → “His” Distinctive

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

بزرگی

b-z-r-g → “greatness”

literal: great; large; important; grandeur

شمس

sh-m-s → “Day-star” Distinctive

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

عنايت

ʿ-n-y → “loving kindness” Distinctive

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

مقرّ

q-r-r → “confess and acknowledge” Distinctive

literal: matter; affair; thing

معترف

ʿ-r-f

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ظاهره

ẓ-h-r → “earthly” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

کنی.

k-r-d → “made” Distinctive

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

لابدّ

b-d-d → “must needs”

literal: must, necessarily, needs must, there is no escape

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

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “every”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

انبياء

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets”

literal: prophet; messenger

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

حيات

ḥ-y-y → “lifetime”

literal: life; vitality; living

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

عروج

ʿ-r-j → “ascension”

literal: to ascend, climb, mount

موطن

w-ṭ-n → “country” Distinctive

literal: homeland; native country; dwelling place

حقيقی

ḥ-q-q → “true”

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

ثابت

th-b-t

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

اليوم

y-w-m → “today”

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

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “witness” Distinctive

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

گردد.

g-r-d → “become”

literal: become; to become; make

ليکن

l-k-n → “however” Distinctive

literal: is; to be (third person singular present); to be one; oneness; unity

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “primarily intended” Distinctive

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يزل

z-w-l → “from eternity” Distinctive

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

طائف

ṭ-w-f → “circle”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

هميشه

h-m-sh

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

آنی

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

انفکاک

f-k-k → “divorced”

literal: separation; separated

نيابد

y-ʾ-f

literal: to find; to obtain; to discover; to reach

باطنيّه

b-ṭ-n → “spiritual”

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

literal: do; to do; do/make

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

من

m-n

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

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

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 ¶