Kitáb-i-Íqán — §137

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 137 of 291.

Source (Persian)

باری، مقصود نه چنان است که ادراک نمودند بلکه مقصود از غلبه و قدرت و احاطه مقامی ديگر و امری ديگر است. مثلاً ملاحظه فرمائيد غلبه ترشّحات دم آن حضرت را که بر تراب ترشّح نموده و به شرافت و غلبه آن دم، تراب چگونه غلبه و تصرّف در اجساد و ارواح ناس فرموده. چنانچه هر نفسی برای استشفاء به ذرهّ ای از آن مرزوق شد شفا يافت و هر وجود که برای حفظ مال قدری از آن تراب مقدّس را به يقين کامل و معرفت ثابته راسخه در بيت نگاه داشت جميع مالش محفوظ ماند. و اين مراتب تأثيرات آن است در ظاهر و اگر تأثيرات باطنيّه را ذکر نمايم البتّه خواهند گفت تراب را ربّ الارباب دانسته و از دين خدا بالمرّه خارج گشته.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

But the purpose of these verses is not what they have imagined. Nay, the terms “ascendancy,” “power,” and “authority” imply a totally different station and meaning. For instance, consider the pervading power of those drops of the blood of Husayn which besprinkled the earth. What ascendancy and influence hath the dust itself, through the sacredness and potency of that blood, exercised over the bodies and souls of men! So much so, that he who sought deliverance from his ills, was healed by touching the dust of that holy ground, and whosoever, wishing to protect his property, treasured with absolute faith and understanding, a little of that holy earth within his house, safeguarded all his possessions. These are the outward manifestations of its potency. And were We to recount its hidden virtues they would assuredly say: “He verily hath considered the dust to be the Lord of Lords, and hath utterly forsaken the Faith of God.”

Translation Notes

باری،

b-r-y → “But” Distinctive

literal: well; cistern; pit

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

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

نه

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: end; ended; utmost

چنان

ch-n-ʾ → “how” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehend”

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

نمودند

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

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

بلکه

b-l-k → “Nay”

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

غلبه

gh-l-b → ““ascendancy,””

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

قدرت

q-d-r → ““power,””

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

مقامی

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ديگر

d-g-r → “different”

literal: home; place; land; abode

امری

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

مثلاً

m-th-l → “For instance” Distinctive

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “consider”

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

فرمائيد

f-r-m → “consider”

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

دم

d-m-m → “blood”

literal: breath; moment; instant

آن

ʾ-n → “those drops of the”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Husayn” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

را

r-ʾ-ʾ → “of”

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

تراب

t-r-b → “earth”

literal: dust; earth; soil

ترشّح

r-sh-ḥ → “besprinkled”

literal: explanation; commentary; to explain; to open

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

شرافت

sh-r-f → “honored” Distinctive

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

چگونه

ch-g-n → “how”

literal: how; in what manner

تصرّف

ṣ-r-f

literal: to turn; to dispose; to manage affairs

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اجساد

j-s-d → “bodies”

literal: body; corpse; physical form

ارواح

r-w-ḥ → “souls”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “of men”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

نفسی

n-f-s → “he” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

برای

b-r-y → “Briefly” Distinctive

literal: well; cistern; pit

استشفاء

sh-f-y → “Thy healing” Distinctive

literal: to seek healing; to be healed; recovery

ذرهّ

dh-r-r → “atom”

literal: atom; particle; mote

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

مرزوق

r-z-q → “partake”

literal: sustenance; provision; to grant livelihood

شد

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

يافت

y-f-t → “have kept both” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

وجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

مال

m-w-l → “property”

literal: hope; wish; desire; aspiration

مقدّس

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

يقين

y-q-n → “absolute faith” Distinctive

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

کامل

k-m-l

literal: desire; appetite; lust; will; heap; hill; mound

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ثابته

th-b-t → “established”

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

راسخه

r-s-kh → “steadfast”

literal: steadfast; firm; firmly rooted; established

بيت

b-y-t → “his house”

literal: house; household; family; verse

نگاه

n-g-h

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

داشت

d-ʾ-sh-t → “hath”

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

محفوظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “safeguarded”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

ماند.

m-ʾ-n → “remain” Distinctive

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

مراتب

r-t-b → “outward manifestations”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

تأثيرات

ʾ-th-r → “writings” Distinctive

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

باطنيّه

b-ṭ-n

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

ذکر

dh-k-r → “recount” Distinctive

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

نمايم

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: do; show; make

البتّه

b-t-t → “assuredly”

literal: certainly; certainly, definitely; absolute

خواهند

kh-w-ʾ-h → “will”

literal: to will; to want; shall; will (future auxiliary)

گفت

g-f-t → “say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

دانسته

d-ʾ-n → “considered”

literal: to know, deem, consider, suppose

دين

d-y-n → “Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed

خدا

kh-d-ʾ → “God”

literal: God; the Divine

بالمرّه

m-r-r → “utterly”

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

خارج

kh-r-j → “banished” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

گشته.

g-sh-t → “have been” Distinctive

literal: become; became; to become

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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.

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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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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

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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.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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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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57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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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 ¶