Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §138

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 138 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و همچنين ملاحظه نما، با اينکه به نهايت ذلّت آن حضرت شهيد شد و احدی نبود که آن حضرت را در ظاهر نصرت نمايد و يا غسل دهد و کفن نمايد مع ذلک حال چگونه از اطراف و اکناف بلاد چقدر از مردم که شدّ رحال می نمايند برای حضور در آن ارض که سر بر آن آستان بمالند. اين است غلبه و قدرت الهی و شوکت و عظمت ربّانی.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Furthermore, call to mind the shameful circumstances that have attended the martyrdom of Husayn. Reflect upon his loneliness, how, to outer seeming, none could be found to aid him, none to take up his body and bury it. And yet, behold how numerous, in this day, are those who from the uttermost corners of the earth don the garb of pilgrimage, seeking the site of his martyrdom, that there they may lay their heads upon the threshold of his shrine! Such is the ascendancy and power of God! Such is the glory of His dominion and majesty!

Translation Notes

اينکه

literal: this; where; these

SE rendered همچنين (hmchnín)ملاحظه (mláḥẓh)نما، (nmá،)اينکه (iynkh)نهايت (nháyt)ذلّت (dhllt)حضرت (ḥḍrt)شهيد (shhíd) as “call, mind, shameful circumstances, him, the martyrdom”

غسل
ghsl gh-s-l “washed” Distinctive

literal: washed/bathed; washing; wash

This form usually rendered as “take” (1 occurrences)

washed 50% take 25% wash 25%
دهد
dhd d-h

literal: give; to give; given

SE rendered ظاهر (ẓáhr)نصرت (nṣrt)نمايد (nmáyd)غسل (ghsl)دهد (dhd)کفن (kfn)نمايد (nmáyd)حال (ḥál)چگونه (chgúnh) as “outer seeming, aid, may, take up, bury, his, how”

کفن
kfn k-f-n “bury”

literal: shroud; shrouding

3 occurrences in corpus

از

literal: from

SE rendered کفن (kfn)نمايد (nmáyd)حال (ḥál)چگونه (chgúnh)از (iz)اطراف (iṭráf)اکناف (iknáf)بلاد (blád)چقدر (chqdr)از (iz)مردم (mrdm) as “bury, his, how, of, uttermost corners, earth, numerous, those”

23 occurrences in corpus

اکناف
iknáf k-n-f

literal: corners; sides

SE rendered حال (ḥál)چگونه (chgúnh)از (iz)اطراف (iṭráf)اکناف (iknáf)بلاد (blád)چقدر (chqdr)از (iz)مردم (mrdm)رحال (rḥál) as “his, how, of, uttermost corners, earth, numerous, those, don the garb of pilgrimage”

2 occurrences in corpus

می
m-y-y

literal: present continuous marker; continuous-marker

SE rendered بلاد (blád)چقدر (chqdr)از (iz)مردم (mrdm)رحال (rḥál)می (mí)نمايند (nmáynd)برای (bráy)حضور (ḥḍúr)ارض (irḍ) as “earth, numerous, of, those, don the garb of pilgrimage, seeking, site of his martyrdom”

3 occurrences in corpus

بمالند
bmálnd m-ʾ-l “substance” Distinctive

literal: wealth, substance

This form usually rendered as “lay” (1 occurrences)

substance 50% lay 25% goods 25%

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶