Kitáb-i-Íqán — §133

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 133 of 291.

Source (Persian)

سؤالی می نمائيم از آن جناب که اگر مقصود از سلطنت، حکم ظاهر و غلبه و اقتدار ظاهر ملکی باشد که همه ناس مقهور شوند و به ظاهر مطيع و منقاد گردند تا دوستان مستريح و معزّز و دشمنان مخذول و منکوب شوند، پس در حقّ ربّ العزّه که مسلّماً سلطنت به اسم اوست و جميع به عظمت و شوکت او معترفند اين نوع از سلطنت صادق نمی آيد. چنانچه مشاهده می نمائی که اکثر ارض در تصرّف دشمنان اوست و جميع بر خلاف رضای او حرکت می نمايند و همه کافر و معرض و مدبرند از آنچه به آن امر فرموده و مقبل و فاعل اند آنچه را نهی نموده و دوستان او هميشه در دست دشمنان مبتلا و مقهورند.چنانچه همه اينها اظهر من الشّمس واضح است.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And now, ponder this in thine heart: Were sovereignty to mean earthly sovereignty and worldly dominion, were it to imply the subjection and external allegiance of all the peoples and kindreds of the earth—whereby His loved ones should be exalted and be made to live in peace, and His enemies be abased and tormented—such form of sovereignty would not be true of God Himself, the Source of all dominion, Whose majesty and power all things testify. For, dost thou not witness how the generality of mankind is under the sway of His enemies? Have they not all turned away from the path of His good-pleasure? Have they not done that which He hath forbidden, and left undone, nay repudiated and opposed, those things which He hath commanded? Have not His friends ever been the victims of the tyranny of His foes? All these things are more obvious than even the splendour of the noon-tide sun.

Translation Notes

سؤالی

s-ʾ-l → “I implore Thee” Distinctive

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

می

m-y-y

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

نمائيم

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

جناب

j-n-b → “thou”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

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

سلطنت،

s-l-ṭ → “earthly sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

حکم

ḥ-k-m

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “external” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

غلبه

gh-l-b → “ascendancy”

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

اقتدار

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ملکی

m-l-k → “worldly dominion”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

باشد

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

همه

h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “peoples and kindreds”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

مقهور

q-h-r → “supreme” Distinctive

literal: to overpower; to vanquish; wrath; might; force; compulsion; overwhelming

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

مطيع

ṭ-w-ʿ

literal: to obey; to comply with

منقاد

q-w-d → “commander” Distinctive

literal: restriction; confinement; limitation; obedience; submission; being led

گردند

g-r-d → “were” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

دوستان

d-w-s-t → “loved ones”

literal: friend; beloved

مستريح

r-w-ḥ → “live in peace”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility

معزّز

ʿ-z-z → “exalted”

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

دشمنان

d-sh-m → “foes”

literal: enemy; adversary; foe

مخذول

kh-dh-l → “abased”

literal: to abandon; to forsake; abandoned; forsaken; defeated

منکوب

n-k-b → “tormented—such”

literal: defeated; routed; subdued; overturned

پس

p-s

literal: then; then, therefore; therefore

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “of” Distinctive

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

ربّ

r-b-b → “God” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مسلّماً

s-l-m

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

اسم

s-m-w

literal: name; title; designation

اوست

h-s-t → “hath” Distinctive

literal: is; be; are

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

عظمت

ʿ-ẓ-m → “majesty”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

شوکت

sh-w-k → “majesty”

literal: majesty; glory; might; splendor

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

معترفند

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: knowledge; know; knower

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

نوع

n-w-ʿ → “divers” Distinctive

literal: type; kind; species

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “true”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

نمی

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

آيد.

ʾ-y-d

literal: come; support; may aid

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

اکثر

k-th-r → “generality”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “mankind” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

تصرّف

ṣ-r-f → “treatment”

literal: to turn; to dispose; to manage affairs

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

خلاف

kh-l-f → “contrary”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

رضای

r-ḍ-y → “good-pleasure”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

حرکت

ḥ-r-k

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

کافر

k-f-r → “repudiated” Distinctive

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

معرض

ʿ-r-ḍ

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

مدبرند

d-b-r

literal: management; scheme; reflect

امر

ʾ-m-r → “things” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

فرموده

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

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

مقبل

q-b-l

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

فاعل

f-ʿ-l → “done”

literal: do; deed; do/act

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

نموده

n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

هميشه

h-m-sh → “continually”

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

دست

d-s-t → “tyranny of His” Distinctive

literal: hand; control, power, authority

مبتلا

b-l-w → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

من

m-n

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

الشّمس

sh-m-s → “noon-tide sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

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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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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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 ¶