Kitáb-i-Íqán — §160

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 160 of 291.

Source (Persian)

حال حکم رجوع را ادراک فرما که به چه صريحی در خود فرقان نازل شده و احدی تا اليوم ادراک آن ننموده. حال چه می فرمائيد؟ اگر می فرمائيد که آن حضرت رجعت انبيای قبل بودند چنانچه از آيه مستفاد ميشود، و همچنين اصحاب او هم رجعت اصحاب قبل خواهند بود، چنانچه از آيات مذکوره هم رجعت عباد قبل واضح و لائح است. و اگر انکار کنند بر خلاف حکم کتاب که حجّت اکبر است قائل شدهاند. پس همين قسم حکم رجع و بعث و حشر را در ايّام ظهور مظاهر هويّه ادراک نما تا رجوع ارواح مقدّسه را در اجساد صافيه منيره به عين رأس ملاحظه فرمائی و غبارهای جهل و نفس ظلمانی را به آب رحمت علم رحمانی پاک و منزّه نمائی که شايد به قوّت يزدانی و هدايت سبحانی و سراج نورانی، سبيل صبح هدايت را از شام ضلالت تميز دهی و فرق گذاری.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Strive therefore to comprehend the meaning of “return” which hath been so explicitly revealed in the Qur’án itself, and which none hath as yet understood. What sayest thou? If thou sayest that Muhammad was the “return” of the Prophets of old, as is witnessed by this verse, His Companions must likewise be the “return” of the bygone Companions, even as the “return” of the former people is clearly attested by the text of the above-mentioned verses. And if thou deniest this, thou hast surely repudiated the truth of the Qur’án, the surest testimony of God unto men. In like manner, endeavour to grasp the significance of “return,” “revelation,” and “resurrection,” as witnessed in the days of the Manifestations of the divine Essence, that thou mayest behold with thine own eyes the “return” of the holy souls into sanctified and illumined bodies, and mayest wash away the dust of ignorance, and cleanse the darkened self with the waters of mercy flowing from the Source of divine Knowledge; that perchance thou mayest, through the power of God and the light of divine guidance, distinguish the Morn of everlasting splendour from the darksome night of error.

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

حکم

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

رجوع

r-j-ʿ → ““return””

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehend”

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

چه

ch-h

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

صريحی

ṣ-r-ḥ → “explicitly”

literal: explicit statement; clear declaration

در

d-r-r → “in the”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

فرقان

f-r-q → “Qur’án”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

نازل

n-z-l → “revealed”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

شده

sh-d → “been”

literal: to become; to be

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “none”

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

تا

t-y-y → “to” Distinctive

literal: so that/until

اليوم

y-w-m → “as yet” Distinctive

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

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ننموده.

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

می

m-y-y

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

فرمائيد؟

f-r-m → “sayest”

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

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Muhammad”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

انبيای

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

قبل

q-b-l → “old”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بودند

b-w-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “as”

literal: thus; in such manner; as

از

ʾ-z → “from the darksome”

literal: from

آيه

ʾ-y-y → “verse”

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

مستفاد

f-y-d → “idle talk” Distinctive

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

ميشود،

sh-w-d → “is” Distinctive

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “Companions”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

او

h-w-w → “His”

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

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

خواهند

kh-w-ʾ-h → “will”

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

مذکوره

dh-k-r → “above-mentioned”

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ → “clearly”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

لائح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet” Distinctive

literal: to appear; to shine; to flash; to gleam

انکار

n-k-r → “denied”

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation; wrong; evil; to deny; to reject

کنند

k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do, make

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

خلاف

kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

حجّت

ḥ-j-j → “testimony”

literal: path, way; clear path

اکبر

k-b-r → “surest”

literal: liver; soul; essence

قائل

q-w-l

literal: say; said; saying

پس

p-s

literal: then; then, therefore; therefore

همين

h-m-n

literal: the same; that very

قسم

q-s-m

literal: oath; division; kind; type

بعث

b-ʿ-th → ““revelation,”” Distinctive

literal: to send; to raise up; to dispatch

حشر

ḥ-sh-r → ““resurrection,””

literal: to gather, assemble, congregate; resurrection, Day of Judgment

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “witnessed” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

هويّه

h-w-y → “Essence” Distinctive

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

ارواح

r-w-ḥ → “souls”

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

مقدّسه

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

اجساد

j-s-d → “bodies”

literal: body; corpse; physical form

صافيه

ṣ-f-w → “and”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

منيره

n-w-r → “illumined” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

عين

ʿ-y-n → “eyes”

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

رأس

r-ʾ-s

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ

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

غبارهای

gh-b-r → “dust”

literal: dust; cloud; with-dust

جهل

j-h-l → “ignorance”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

نفس

n-f-s → “self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

ظلمانی

ẓ-l-m → “darkened”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

آب

m-w-h → “waters”

literal: father; ancestry; forefathers

رحمت

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

علم

ʿ-l-m → “Knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

پاک

p-ʾ-k → “cleanse”

literal: pure; clean; sanctified; holy

منزّه

n-z-h

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

شايد

sh-y-d → “perchance”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

قوّت

q-w-t → “power”

literal: strength; power; might

يزدانی

y-z-d → “divine”

literal: God, the Almighty (Persian term); divine; of God; Godly

هدايت

h-d-y → “guidance”

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

سبحانی

s-b-ḥ

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

سراج

s-r-j → “lamp”

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

سبيل

s-b-l

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

صبح

ṣ-b-ḥ → “Morn”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

شام

sh-ʾ-m → “night”

literal: evening/night; evening, night

ضلالت

ḍ-l-l → “error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

تميز

m-y-z → “distinguish”

literal: to distinguish; to differentiate; to discern

دهی

d-ʾ-d

literal: to give; to provide; to yield; to grant; to bestow

گذاری.

g-dh-r

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

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 ¶