Kitáb-i-Íqán — §177

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 177 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و با اينکه اين فقره هم معلوم و واضح است که در جميع احيان ظهور مظاهر قدسيّه، علمای عهد مردم را از سبيل حقّ منع می نمودند چنانچه در جميع کتب و صحف سماوی مذکور و مسطور است. و احدی از انبياء مبعوث نشد مگر آنکه محلّ بغض و انکار و ردّ و سبّ علماء گشت. قاتَلَهُم اللّهُ بِما فَعَلوا مِن قَبلُ وَمِن بَعدُ کانُوا يَفعَلُون. حال کدام سبحات جلال اعظم از اين هياکل ضلال است؟ واللّه کشف آن اعظم امور است و خرقش اکبر اعمال.وَفَّقَنَا اللَّهُ و إيّاکُم يا مَعْشَرَ الرّوحِ لَعَلَّکُم بِذلِکَ فی زَمَنِ المُستَغاثِ تُوَفّقُونَ و من لِقاءِاللّه فی ايّامِهِ لا تَحْتَجِبُون.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

It is clear and evident that whenever the Manifestations of Holiness were revealed, the divines of their day have hindered the people from attaining unto the way of truth. To this testify the records of all the scriptures and heavenly books. Not one Prophet of God was made manifest Who did not fall a victim to the relentless hate, to the denunciation, denial, and execration of the clerics of His day! Woe unto them for the iniquities their hands have formerly wrought! Woe unto them for that which they are now doing! What veils of glory more grievous than these embodiments of error! By the righteousness of God! to pierce such veils is the mightiest of all acts, and to rend them asunder the most meritorious of all deeds! May God assist us and assist you, O concourse of the Spirit! that perchance ye may in the time of His Manifestation be graciously aided to perform such deeds, and may in His days attain unto the Presence of God.

Translation Notes

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: that, the fact that, this (demonstrative particle)

فقره

f-q-r

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

است

b-w-d → “It is”

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

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

احيان

ḥ-y-n

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “revealed” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

قدسيّه،

q-d-s → “Holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

علمای

ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عهد

ʿ-h-d → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

مردم

m-r-d → “have hindered the people”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از

ʾ-z → “from attaining unto”

literal: from

سبيل

s-b-l → “way”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

منع

m-n-ʿ

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

می

m-y-y

literal: present continuous marker; continuous-marker

نمودند

n-m-ود → “they”

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

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

کتب

k-t-b → “books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

صحف

ṣ-ḥ-f → “scriptures”

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

سماوی

s-m-w → “heavenly”

literal: heaven; sky

مذکور

dh-k-r

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

مسطور

s-ṭ-r → “records”

literal: written; inscribed; recorded

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “Not one” Distinctive

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

انبياء

n-b-ʾ → “Prophet of God” Distinctive

literal: prophet; messenger

مبعوث

b-ʿ-th → “was made manifest” Distinctive

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

نشد

sh-d → “did not”

literal: to become; to occur; to happen; to be

مگر

m-g-r

literal: matter; affair; thing

محلّ

ḥ-l-l → “place”

literal: place; location; spot

بغض

b-gh-ḍ → “hate”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

انکار

n-k-r → “denial” Distinctive

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

ردّ

r-d-d → “reject”

literal: rejected; repudiated

سبّ

s-b-b → “cause” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

گشت.

g-sh-t → “were”

literal: to become; to turn; to be

قاتَلَهُم

q-t-l → “death” Distinctive

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

اللّهُ

ʾ-l-h → “By the righteousness of God”

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

بِما

m-ʾ

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

فَعَلوا

f-ʿ-l → “deeds” Distinctive

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

مِن

m-n

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

قَبلُ

q-b-l → “formerly” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بَعدُ

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

کانُوا

k-w-n

literal: be; was; to be

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

کدام

k-d-m → “doing! What”

literal: which; what; whoever; any

سبحات

s-b-ḥ → “veils”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

جلال

j-l-l → “glory”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “more grievous” Distinctive

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

هياکل

h-y-k-l

literal: temple; structure; form; body

ضلال

ḍ-l-l → “of error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

کشف

k-sh-f → “unveiled” Distinctive

literal: unveiling; disclosure; revelation

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

امور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

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

خرقش

kh-r-q → “rend”

literal: tear; pierce; tear/rend

اکبر

k-b-r → “most meritorious” Distinctive

literal: liver; soul; essence

اعمال.وَفَّقَنَا

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

literal: deed; deeds; work

إيّاکُم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

مَعْشَرَ

ʿ-sh-r → “concourse”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

الرّوحِ

r-w-ḥ → “of the Spirit”

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

لَعَلَّکُم

ʿ-l-l → “cause” Distinctive

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

بِذلِکَ

dh-l-k

literal: that; this; it; by that

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

زَمَنِ

z-m-n → “time of His Manifestation”

literal: time; age; era; period

المُستَغاثِ

gh-w-th → “asked His help” Distinctive

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

تُوَفّقُونَ

w-f-q → “assist” Distinctive

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

لِقاءِاللّه

l-q-y → “Presence”

literal: meeting; casting; meeting, attainment

ايّامِهِ

y-w-m → “His days”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَحْتَجِبُون.

ḥ-j-b → “veils” Distinctive

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

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 ¶