Kitáb-i-Íqán — §14

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 14 of 291.

Source (Persian)

آخر تأمّل فرمائيد که سبب اين افعال چه بود که به اين قسم با طلعات جمال ذی الجلال سلوک می نمودند؟ و هر چه که در آن ازمنه سبب اعراض و اغماض آن عباد بود حال هم سبب اغفال اين عباد شده. و اگر بگوئيم حجج الهيّه کامل و تمام نبود لهذا سبب اعتراض عباد شد، اين کفری است صراح. لأجل آنکه اين به غايت از فيض فيّاض دور است و از رحمت منبسطه بعيد که نفسی را از ميان جميع عباد برگزيند برای هدايت خلق خود و به او حجّت کافيه وافيه عطا نفرمايد و مع ذلک خلق را از عدم اقبال به او معذّب فرمايد. بلکه لم يزل جود سلطان وجود بر همه ممکنات به ظهور مظاهر نفس خود احاطه فرموده و آنی نيست که فيض او منقطع شود و يا آنکه امطار رحمت از غمام عنايت او ممنوع گردد. پس نيست اين امورات محدَثه مگر از انفس محدوده که در وادی کبر و غرور حرکت می نمايند و در صحراهای بُعد سير می نمايند و به ظنونات خود و هر چه از علمای خود شنيدهاند همان را تأسّی می نمايند. لهذا غير از اعراض امری ندارند و جز اغماض حاصلی نخواهند. و اين معلوم است نزد هر ذی بصری که اگر اين عباد در ظهور هر يک از مظاهرشمس حقيقت چشم و گوش و قلب را از آنچه ديده و شنيده و ادراک نموده پاک و مقدّس می نمودند البتّه از جمال الهی محروم نمی ماندند و از حرم قرب و وصال مطالع قدسيّه ممنوع نمی گشتند. و چون در هر زمان حجّت را به معرفت خود که از علمای خود شنيده بودند ميزان می نمودند و به عقول ضعيفه آنها موافق نمی آمد لهذا از اين گونه امور غير مرضيّه از ايشان در عالم ظهور به ظهور می آمد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Reflect, what could have been the motive for such deeds? What could have prompted such behaviour towards the Revealers of the beauty of the All-Glorious? Whatever in days gone by hath been the cause of the denial and opposition of those people hath now led to the perversity of the people of this age. To maintain that the testimony of Providence was incomplete, that it hath therefore been the cause of the denial of the people, is but open blasphemy. How far from the grace of the All-Bountiful and from His loving providence and tender mercies it is to single out a soul from amongst all men for the guidance of His creatures, and, on one hand, to withhold from Him the full measure of His divine testimony, and, on the other, inflict severe retribution on His people for having turned away from His chosen One! Nay, the manifold bounties of the Lord of all beings have, at all times, through the Manifestations of His divine Essence, encompassed the earth and all that dwell therein. Not for a moment hath His grace been withheld, nor have the showers of His loving-kindness ceased to rain upon mankind. Consequently, such behaviour can be attributed to naught save the petty-mindedness of such souls as tread the valley of arrogance and pride, are lost in the wilds of remoteness, walk in the ways of their idle fancy, and follow the dictates of the leaders of their faith. Their chief concern is mere opposition; their sole desire is to ignore the truth. Unto every discerning observer it is evident and manifest that had these people in the days of each of the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth sanctified their eyes, their ears, and their hearts from whatever they had seen, heard, and felt, they surely would not have been deprived of beholding the beauty of God, nor strayed far from the habitations of glory. But having weighed the testimony of God by the standard of their own knowledge, gleaned from the teachings of the leaders of their faith, and found it at variance with their limited understanding, they arose to perpetrate such unseemly acts.

Translation Notes

آخر

ʾ-kh-r → “Reflect”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

تأمّل

ʾ-m-l → “hope” Distinctive

literal: denial; belying; falsification; rejection; liar; lying; false

فرمائيد

f-r-m

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

اين

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

افعال

f-ʿ-l → “motive for such deeds”

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

بود

b-w-d → “hath now led” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

قسم

q-s-m → “swear”

literal: oath; division; kind; type

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

جمال

j-m-l → “beauty of”

literal: beauty; comeliness

ذی

dh-w-y

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

الجلال

j-l-l → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

سلوک

s-l-k → “walk”

literal: conduct; behavior; way; path; spiritual wayfaring

می

m-y-y

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

نمودند؟

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ازمنه

z-m-n → “earth” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “of the denial”

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

اغماض

gh-m-ḍ → “ignore the”

literal: closing of the eye; overlooking; disregarding

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “those people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

اغفال

gh-f-l

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

شده.

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

بگوئيم

g-w-y

literal: say; to say; as-if

حجج

ḥ-j-j → “testimony of Providence” Distinctive

literal: path, way; clear path

الهيّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

کامل

k-m-l → “perfect”

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

تمام

t-m-m → “all”

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

لهذا

l-dh-ʾ → “that it hath therefore”

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

کفری

k-f-r → “blasphemy”

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

صراح.

ṣ-r-ḥ → “explicitly”

literal: explicit; clear, explicit; explicit statement

لأجل

ʾ-j-l

literal: sake; term; for the sake of

غايت

gh-y-t

literal: purpose; aim; goal; end; ultimate

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

فيض

f-y-ḍ → “from the grace”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

فيّاض

f-y-ḍ → “All-Bountiful”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

دور

d-w-r → “How far”

literal: cycle; dispensation; age; turn; round

رحمت

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

منبسطه

b-s-ṭ → “court” Distinctive

literal: carpet; mat; carpet of realm; expanse; table; surface

بعيد

b-ʿ-d → “far”

literal: after; behind; distance

نفسی

n-f-s → “soul”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ميان

m-y-n → “midst”

literal: between; among; amid; in the midst of

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all men”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

برگزيند

g-z-y → “hath singled out”

literal: choose; to choose, to select

برای

b-r-y → “for the guidance”

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

هدايت

h-d-y

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

خلق

kh-l-q → “of His creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

خود

kh-w-d → “His” Distinctive

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

کافيه

k-f-y → “suffice”

literal: to be content; to suffice; to be satisfied; to be satisfied with

وافيه

w-f-y

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

عطا

ʿ-ṭ-w

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

مع

m-ʿ

literal: with; together with; alongside

ذلک

dh-l-k

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

عدم

ʿ-d-m

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

اقبال

q-b-l → “for having turned away” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

معذّب

ʿ-dh-b → “chastisement” Distinctive

literal: punishment; torment; tormented

بلکه

b-l-k → “Nay, the manifold bounties”

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

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يزل

z-w-l

literal: cease; to cease; decline

جود

j-w-d

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “Lord of all beings” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

وجود

w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

همه

h-m-h → “all”

literal: all; every/all

ممکنات

m-k-n

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

مظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestations”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

آنی

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

منقطع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “been withheld” Distinctive

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

شود

sh-w-d

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

امطار

m-ṭ-r → “showers”

literal: rain

غمام

gh-m-m

literal: cloud; clouds

عنايت

ʿ-n-y

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

ممنوع

m-n-ʿ → “hinder”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

گردد.

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

پس

p-s → “From”

literal: then; then, therefore; therefore

محدَثه

ḥ-d-th → “traditions” Distinctive

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

مگر

m-g-r

literal: matter; affair; thing

محدوده

ḥ-d-d → “limitations” Distinctive

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

وادی

w-d-y → “valley”

literal: valley

کبر

k-b-r → “arrogance”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

غرور

gh-r-r → “pride”

literal: delusion, deceit; deluded, deceived

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’

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

صحراهای

ṣ-ḥ-r → “wilds”

literal: desert; wilderness

سير

s-y-r

literal: captive; prisoner; captivity; to journey; to move; course

ظنونات

ẓ-n-n → “ways of their idle fancy”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

علمای

ʿ-l-m → “leaders of their faith”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

شنيدهاند

sh-n-w → “heard”

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

همان

h-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

تأسّی

ʾ-s-y → “follow the dictates”

literal: follow

غير

gh-y-r

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

امری

ʾ-m-r

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

ندارند

d-ʾ-sh-t

literal: have; had; to have

جز

j-z

literal: except

حاصلی

ḥ-ṣ-l → “attained” Distinctive

literal: obtained; result; sum

نخواهند.

kh-w-h

literal: to want; to wish; will (future auxiliary); brother; sibling

نزد

n-z-d → “Unto every discerning observer”

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

بصری

b-ṣ-r

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

يک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

مظاهرشمس

ẓ-h-ر / ش-m-s

literal: manifestations of the sun

حقيقت

ḥ-q-q → “Truth”

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

چشم

ch-sh-m → “their eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

گوش

g-w-sh → “their ears”

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

قلب

q-l-b → “their hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

آنچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ديده

d-y-d → “had seen”

literal: to give; to grant; to present; justice; judgment; to see; sight; eye; seen

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehend”

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

پاک

p-ʾ-k

literal: pure; clean; sanctified; holy

مقدّس

q-d-s → “sanctified”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

البتّه

b-t-t → “assuredly”

literal: certainly; certainly, definitely; absolute

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprived of beholding”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

نمی

n-h-y

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

ماندند

m-ʾ-n

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

قرب

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

وصال

w-ṣ-l

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

مطالع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Manifestations” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

گشتند.

g-sh-t → “have been”

literal: to become; to turn; to be

چون

ch-w-n

literal: since; when; as

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “standard of their own knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ميزان

w-z-n

literal: weight; measure; to weigh

عقول

ʿ-q-l → “their limited understanding”

literal: intellect; wise persons; to understand

ضعيفه

ḍ-ʿ-f → “their limited understanding”

literal: weak; feeble; imperfect

آنها

null

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

موافق

w-f-q → “aid” Distinctive

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

آمد

ʾ-m-d

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

گونه

g-w-n → “such”

literal: kind, type; kind; manner

امور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

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

مرضيّه

r-ḍ-y

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

ايشان

ʾ-y-sh → “Prophets”

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

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 ¶