Kitáb-i-Íqán — §128

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 128 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و هرگز در هيچ عهد و عصر جز حيات و بعث و حشر حقيقی مقصود انبياء و اولياء نبوده و نيست. و اگر قدری تعقّل شود در همين بيان آن حضرت، کشف جميع امور می شود که مقصود از لحد و قبر وصراط و جنّت و نار چه بود. و ليکن چه چاره که جميع ناس در لحد نفس محجوب و در قبر هوی مدفونند. خلاصه اگر قدری از زلال معرفت الهی مرزوق شويد می دانيد که حيات حقيقی حيات قلب است نه حيات جسد. زيرا که در حيات جسد همه ناس و حيوانات شريکند و ليکن اين حيات مخصوص است به صاحبان افئده منيره که از بحر ايمان شاربند و از ثمره ايقان مرزوق. و اين حيات را موت از عقب نباشد و اين بقا را فنا از پی نيايد. چنانچه فرمودهاند: "المؤمِنُ حَيٌّ فِی الدّارَينِ." اگر مقصود حيات ظاهره جسدی باشد که مشاهده می شود موت آن را اخذ می نمايد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

In every age and century, the purpose of the Prophets of God and their chosen ones hath been no other but to affirm the spiritual significance of the terms “life,” “resurrection,” and “judgment.” If one will ponder but for a while this utterance of ‘Alí in his heart, one will surely discover all mysteries hidden in the terms “grave,” “tomb,” “sirat,” “paradise” and “hell.” But oh! how strange and pitiful! Behold, all the people are imprisoned within the tomb of self, and lie buried beneath the nethermost depths of worldly desire! Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realize that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit. For the life of the flesh is common to both men and animals, whereas the life of the spirit is possessed only by the pure in heart who have quaffed from the ocean of faith and partaken of the fruit of certitude. This life knoweth no death, and this existence is crowned by immortality. Even as it hath been said: “He who is a true believer liveth both in this world and in the world to come.” If by “life” be meant this earthly life, it is evident that death must needs overtake it.

Translation Notes

هرگز

h-r-g → “never”

literal: never; at no time; never ever

در

d-r-r → “In”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

هيچ

h-y-ch

literal: nothing; any; not a single

عهد

ʿ-h-d

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

عصر

ʿ-ṣ-r → “age”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

جز

j-z → “apart from”

literal: except

حيات

ḥ-y-y → ““life,””

literal: life; vitality; living

بعث

b-ʿ-th

literal: to send; to raise up; to dispatch

حشر

ḥ-sh-r → ““resurrection,””

literal: to gather, assemble, congregate; resurrection, Day of Judgment

حقيقی

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

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

انبياء

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets”

literal: prophet; messenger

اولياء

w-l-y → “chosen ones”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

نبوده

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

قدری

q-d-r → “while”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

تعقّل

ʿ-q-l → “mind” Distinctive

literal: intellect; minds; understand

همين

h-m-n → “this”

literal: the same; that very

بيان

b-y-n → “utterance”

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

آن

ʾ-n → “of” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت،

ḥ-ḍ-r → “‘Alí” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

کشف

k-sh-f → “unveiled” Distinctive

literal: unveiling; disclosure; revelation

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

امور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

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

می

m-y-y

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

لحد

l-ḥ-d → “impious” Distinctive

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

قبر

q-b-r → “sepulchres” Distinctive

literal: Cyprus (toponym)

وصراط

ṣ-r-ṭ → “path”

literal: path, way, straight path

جنّت

j-n-n → ““paradise””

literal: you (singular/plural pronoun)

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: fire; blaze; flame

چه

ch-h

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

ليکن

l-k-n → “however” Distinctive

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

چاره

ch-r-h

literal: remedy; cure; solution; means; way

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

نفس

n-f-s → “self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

محجوب

ḥ-j-b → “veils” Distinctive

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

هوی

h-w-y → “worldly desire”

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

مدفونند.

d-f-n → “buried”

literal: to bury; burial

خلاصه

kh-l-ṣ

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

زلال

z-l-l → “dewdrop of the crystal waters”

literal: to slip; to stumble; to fall

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “divine”

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

مرزوق

r-z-q → “attain”

literal: sustenance; provision; to grant livelihood

شويد

sh-w-d → “been” Distinctive

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

دانيد

d-ʾ-n-s → “ignorance” Distinctive

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

قلب

q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

نه

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: end; ended; utmost

جسد.

j-s-d → “flesh”

literal: body; corpse; physical form

زيرا

z-y-r → “For”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

همه

h-m-h

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

حيوانات

ḥ-y-w → “life” Distinctive

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

شريکند

sh-r-k → “infidels” Distinctive

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

اين

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

مخصوص

kh-ṣ-ṣ

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

به

b-h → “by” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

صاحبان

ṣ-ḥ-b

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

افئده

f-ʾ-d → “heart”

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

منيره

n-w-r → “light” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

ايمان

ʾ-m-n → “faith”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

شاربند

sh-r-b → “quaffed”

literal: drink; drank; to drink

ثمره

th-m-r → “fruit”

literal: fruit; the fruit

ايقان

y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

موت

m-w-t → “death”

literal: death; dead; to die

عقب

ʿ-q-b

literal: outcome; end; result; consequence

بقا

b-q-y → “eternal”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

فنا

f-n-y

literal: to annihilate; to disappear; annihilation

پی

p-y

literal: trace; pursuit; trace, awareness

نيايد.

ʾ-m-d → “come” Distinctive

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “Even as”

literal: thus; in such manner; as

فرمودهاند:

f-r-m → “hath been said”

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

فِی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الدّارَينِ."

d-y-r → “country”

literal: land; abode/house; world

ظاهره

ẓ-h-r → “earthly” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “arrested”

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

نمايد.

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

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 ¶