Kitáb-i-Íqán — §146

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 146 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و به قدم يقين در صراط حقّ اليقين قدم گذاريم که لعلّ نسيم رضا از رياض قبول الهی بوزد و اين فانيان را به ملکوت جاودانی رساند و عارف شوی بر معانی سلطنت و امثال آن که در اخبار و آيات ذکر يافته. و ديگر آنکه بر آن جناب محقّق و معلوم بوده آنچه را که يهود و نصاری به آن تمسّک جستهاند و بر جمال محمّدی اعتراض می نمودند بعينه در اين زمان اصحاب فرقان به همان تشبّث نموده و بر نقطه بيان، روح من فی ملکوت الامر فداه اعتراض می نمايند. اين بی خردان را مشاهده فرما که حرف يهودان را اليوم می گويند و شاعر نيستند. فنعم ما نُزّل مِن قَبْلُ فی شأنهم: "ذَرْهُمْ فِی خَوْضِهِم يَلعَبُونَ." " لَعَمْرُ کَ إِنَّهُمْ لَفِی سَکرَتِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ."

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thus with steadfast steps we may tread the Path of certitude, that perchance the breeze that bloweth from the meads of the good-pleasure of God may waft upon us the sweet savours of divine acceptance, and cause us, vanishing mortals that we are, to attain unto the Kingdom of everlasting glory. Then wilt thou comprehend the inner meaning of sovereignty and the like, spoken of in the traditions and scriptures. Furthermore, it is already evident and known unto thee that those things to which the Jews and the Christians have clung, and the cavilings which they heaped upon the Beauty of Muhammad, the same have in this day been upheld by the people of the Qur’án, and been witnessed in their denunciations of the “Point of the Bayán”—may the souls of all that dwell within the kingdom of divine Revelations be a sacrifice unto Him! Behold their folly: they utter the self-same words, uttered by the Jews of old, and know it not! How well and true are His words concerning them: “Leave them to entertain themselves with their cavilings!” “As Thou livest, O Muhammad! they are seized by the frenzy of their vain fancies.”

Translation Notes

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

قدم

q-d-m → “steps” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

يقين

y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

صراط

ṣ-r-ṭ → “Path”

literal: path, way, straight path

گذاريم

g-dh-r → “renounced” Distinctive

literal: to place, leave; to set

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

نسيم

n-s-m → “breeze”

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

رضا

r-ḍ-y → “from”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

رياض

r-w-ḍ → “meads”

literal: garden; meadow; enclosed garden

قبول

q-b-l → “acceptance”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

بوزد

w-z-d → “be wafted” Distinctive

literal: to blow; to waft

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

فانيان

f-n-y → “mortals”

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ملکوت

m-l-k → “Kingdom”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

جاودانی

j-w-d → “bounty” Distinctive

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

رساند

r-s-n → “attain”

literal: to reach; to convey; to cause to arrive; to deliver

عارف

ʿ-r-f → “comprehend” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

شوی

sh-d-n

literal: be; become

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “inner meaning”

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

سلطنت

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

امثال

m-th-l

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

آن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اخبار

kh-b-r → “traditions”

literal: news; inform; informed

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

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

يافته.

y-ʾ-f

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

ديگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

جناب

j-n-b → “thee”

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

محقّق

ḥ-q-q → “evident”

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

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “known”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بوده

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

يهود

y-h-d → “Jews”

literal: Jews; Jew; Judea

نصاری

n-ṣ-r → “Christians”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

تمسّک

m-s-k → “clung”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

جستهاند

j-s-t

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

محمّدی

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; Muhammad; praised

اعتراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “cavilings” Distinctive

literal: objection, protest, denial; cavil

می

m-y-y → “will be made”

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

نمودند

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

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

بعينه

ʿ-y-n → “eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

زمان

z-m-n → “day”

literal: time; age; era; period

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “people” Distinctive

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

فرقان

f-r-q → “of the Qur’án”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

همان

h-m → “all” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

تشبّث

sh-b-th → “clung”

literal: to cling to; to grasp; to hold fast

نقطه

n-q-ṭ → ““Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

بيان،

b-y-n → “Bayán”—may” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

روح

r-w-ḥ → “souls” Distinctive

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

من

m-n

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

الامر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelations”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

فداه

f-d-y → “sacrifice”

literal: alas; woe; oh

نمايند.

n-m-ʾ → “may”

literal: do; show; make

بی

b-y

literal: without; is; to

خردان

kh-r-d → “purchased” Distinctive

literal: smallness, littleness, minuteness; childhood

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “Behold”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

فرما

f-r-m

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

حرف

ḥ-r-f → “words” Distinctive

literal: letter; character; edge

اليوم

y-w-m

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

گويند

g-w-y → “I say” Distinctive

literal: say; to say; as-if

شاعر

sh-ʿ-r → “consciousness” Distinctive

literal: hair

نيستند.

h-s-t → “not”

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

فنعم

n-ʿ-m → “How well and true” Distinctive

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

ما

m-ʾ

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

نُزّل

n-z-l

literal: to descend, to be revealed

شأنهم:

sh-ʾ-n → “this Cause” Distinctive

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

"ذَرْهُمْ

dh-r-r → “atom” Distinctive

literal: atom; atoms; particle

خَوْضِهِم

kh-w-ḍ → “cavilings!””

literal: to wade; to engage in; to busy oneself

يَلعَبُونَ."

l-ʿ-b

literal: play; play/sport; player

لَعَمْرُ

ʿ-m-r → ““As Thou livest” Distinctive

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

إِنَّهُمْ

ʾ-n-n → “they”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

لَفِی

f-y → “within”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَکرَتِهِمْ

s-k-r → “frenzy”

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

يَعْمَهُونَ."

ʿ-m-h

literal: to be blind; blind (in spiritual sense); wander-blindly

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 ¶