Kitáb-i-Íqán — §141

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 141 of 291.

Source (Persian)

اين است که عيسی بن مريم روزی بر کرسيّ جالس شدند و به نغمات روح القدس بياناتی فرمودند که مضمون آن اين است: ای مردم، غذای من از گياه ارض است که به آن سدّ جوع می نمايم و فراش من سطح زمين است و سراج من در شب ها روشنی ماه است و مرکوب من پاهای منست و کيست از من غنی تر بر روی زمين ؟ قسم به خدا که صد هزار غنا طائف حول اين فقر است و صد هزار ملکوت عزّت طالب اين ذلّت. اگر به رشحی از بحر اين معانی فائز شوی از عالم ملک و هستی در گذری و چون طير نار در حول سراج بهّاج جان بازی.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thus Jesus, Son of Mary, whilst seated one day and speaking in the strain of the Holy Spirit, uttered words such as these: “O people! My food is the grass of the field, wherewith I satisfy my hunger. My bed is the dust, my lamp in the night the light of the moon, and my steed my own feet. Behold, who on earth is richer than I?” By the righteousness of God! Thousands of treasures circle round this poverty, and a myriad kingdoms of glory yearn for such abasement! Shouldst thou attain to a drop of the ocean of the inner meaning of these words, thou wouldst surely forsake the world and all that is therein, and, as the Phoenix wouldst consume thyself in the flames of the undying Fire.

Translation Notes

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

بن

b-n-y → “Son”

literal: that; in that; because

مريم

m-r-y → “doubt”

literal: doubt; Mary; doubter, waverer

روزی

r-w-z → “one day”

literal: narration; tradition; fragrance; to grow; to spring forth; to sprout

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

کرسيّ

k-r-s

literal: throne, seat; chair

جالس

j-l-s → “seated”

literal: council; assembly; gathering; session

شدند

sh-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: to not become; to not be

به

b-h → “in” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

نغمات

n-gh-m → “melodies”

literal: melody; tone; note

روح

r-w-ḥ → “Spirit”

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

القدس

q-d-s → “Holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

بياناتی

b-y-n → “words”

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

فرمودند

f-r-m

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

مضمون

ḍ-m-n → “purport”

literal: content; substance; to contain; to imply

آن

ʾ-n → “I” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

مردم،

m-r-d → “people”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

غذای

gh-dh-w → “food”

literal: food; nourishment; sustenance

من

m-n → “My” Distinctive

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

گياه

g-y-h → “grass”

literal: plant

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

سدّ

s-d-d → “closed” Distinctive

literal: threshold; barrier; seat of authority

جوع

j-w-ʿ → “hunger”

literal: hunger; to hunger

می

m-y-y

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

نمايم

n-m-ʾ

literal: do; show; make

فراش

f-r-sh → “bed”

literal: to raise; to spread; to erect

سطح

s-ṭ-ḥ → “dust”

literal: surface; plane; level

زمين

z-m-n → “the”

literal: time; age; era; period

سراج

s-r-j → “lamp”

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

شب

sh-b → “night”

literal: night; nights

ها

w-j-h

literal: He; He is

روشنی

r-w-sh → “light”

literal: light; illumination; brilliance; clarity

ماه

m-ʾ-h → “moon”

literal: moon; month

مرکوب

r-k-b → “committed” Distinctive

literal: commit; commission; mount

پاهای

p-y-y → “feet”

literal: foot

غنی

gh-n-y → “richer”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

تر

t-r-r

literal: more (comparative suffix)

روی

r-w-y

literal: narration; tradition; fragrance; to grow; to spring forth; to sprout

قسم

q-s-m → “swear”

literal: oath; division; kind; type

خدا

kh-d-ʾ → “God”

literal: God; the Divine

صد

ṣ-d → “a”

literal: hundred

هزار

h-z-r → “Thousands”

literal: thousand

طائف

ṭ-w-f → “circle”

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

حول

ḥ-w-l → “round”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

فقر

f-q-r → “poverty”

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

ملکوت

m-l-k → “kingdoms”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

عزّت

ʿ-z-z → “glory”

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

طالب

ṭ-l-b → “theme” Distinctive

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

ذلّت.

dh-l-l → “abasement”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

رشحی

r-sh-ḥ → “sprinkling”

literal: emanations; outpourings; effusions

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “inner meaning”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

شوی

sh-d-n

literal: be; become

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هستی

h-s-t → “all that is therein” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

گذری

g-dh-r → “forsake”

literal: to place, to put, to leave, to set, to pass

چون

ch-w-n → “as”

literal: since; when; as

طير

ṭ-y-r → “soar” Distinctive

literal: bird; birds; flying creature; flying; flight

نار

n-ʾ-r → “flames”

literal: fire; blaze; flame

بهّاج

b-h-j → “rejoice”

literal: to set in motion, to excite, to stir; to blow (of winds)

جان

j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

بازی.

b-ʾ-z → “whence” Distinctive

literal: back; open; back, open

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 ¶