Kitáb-i-Íqán — §167

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 167 of 291.

Source (Persian)

همچنين اين نفوس هم از اکسير الهی در آنی عالم ترابی را طيّ نموده به عوالم قدسی قدم گذارند و به قدمی از مکان محدود به لامکان الهی واصل شوند. جهدی بايد تا به اين اکسير فائزشوی، که در يک آن مغرب جهل را به مشرق علم رساند و ظلمت ليل ظلمانی را به صبح نورانی فائز گرداند و بعيد صحرای ظنّ را به چشمه قرب و يقين دلالت کند و هياکل فانيه را به رضوان باقی مشرّف فرمايد. حال اگر در حقّ اين ذهب حکم نحاسی صادق می آيد در حقّ اين عباد هم حکم عباد قبل از فوز به ايمان صادق و محقّق است.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Likewise, these souls, through the potency of the Divine Elixir, traverse, in the twinkling of an eye, the world of dust and advance into the realm of holiness; and with one step cover the earth of limitations and reach the domain of the Placeless. It behooveth thee to exert thine utmost to attain unto this Elixir which, in one fleeting breath, causeth the west of ignorance to reach the east of knowledge, illuminates the darkness of night with the resplendence of the morn, guideth the wanderer in the wilderness of doubt to the well-spring of the Divine Presence and Fount of certitude, and conferreth upon mortal souls the honour of acceptance into the Ridván of immortality. Now, could this gold be thought to be copper, these people could likewise be thought to be the same as before they were endowed with faith.

Translation Notes

همچنين

ch-n-n → “Likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

نفوس

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

اکسير

إكسير (non-Arabic) → “potency of the Divine Elixir”

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “Divine”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

آنی

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ترابی

t-r-b → “dust”

literal: to carve; to hew; to shape; dust of carving

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

طيّ

ṭ-y-y → “traverse”

literal: traverse; folding

نموده

n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

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

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

قدسی

q-d-s → “holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

قدم

q-d-m → “step” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

گذارند

g-dh-r → “renounced” Distinctive

literal: to place, leave; to set

مکان

m-k-n → “earth” Distinctive

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

محدود

ḥ-d-d → “limitations” Distinctive

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

واصل

w-ṣ-l → “reach”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

شوند.

sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

جهدی

j-h-d → “Strive” Distinctive

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

بايد

b-y-d → “must”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

تا

t-y-y → “to” Distinctive

literal: so that/until

فائزشوی،

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: to attain; to gain; to succeed; to win

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

يک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

مغرب

gh-r-b → “west”

literal: west; sunset; place of setting

جهل

j-h-l → “ignorance”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

مشرق

sh-r-q → “east” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

رساند

r-s-n → “attain”

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

ظلمت

ẓ-l-m → “darkness”

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

ليل

l-y-l → “night”

literal: night; darkness

صبح

ṣ-b-ḥ → “morn”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

نورانی

n-w-r → “resplendence of the” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

گرداند

g-r-d → “were”

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

بعيد

b-ʿ-d → “after” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

صحرای

ṣ-ḥ-r → “wilderness”

literal: desert; wilderness

ظنّ

ẓ-n-n → “doubt”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

چشمه

ch-sh-m → “eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

قرب

q-r-b → “Presence”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

يقين

y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

دلالت

d-l-l → “proof” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

کند

k-r-d

literal: to do; to make; to act; to dig, excavate; slow

هياکل

h-y-k-l → “form” Distinctive

literal: temple; body; edifice; structure

فانيه

f-n-y → “mortal” Distinctive

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

رضوان

r-ḍ-w → “Ridván”

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

باقی

b-q-y → “immortality” Distinctive

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

مشرّف

sh-r-f → “honored”

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

فرمايد.

f-r-m → “conferreth” Distinctive

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

حال

ḥ-w-l → “Now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

حقّ

ḥ-q-q

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

ذهب

dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

حکم

ḥ-k-m → “be thought” Distinctive

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

نحاسی

n-ḥ-s → “copper”

literal: copper; brass; base metal

صادق

ṣ-d-q

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

می

m-y-y

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

آيد

ʾ-y-d

literal: come; support; may aid

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

قبل

q-b-l → “before”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

ايمان

ʾ-m-n → “faith”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

است.

b-w-d

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

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 ¶

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50 ¶

Gleanings

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶