Kitáb-i-Íqán — §183

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 183 of 291.

Source (Persian)

سبحان اللّه، جهل و نادانی عباد به مقام و حدّی رسيده که به علم و اراده خود مقبل شده، از علم و اراده حقّ جلّ و عزّ معرض گشتهاند.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Gracious God! So great is the folly and perversity of the people, that they have turned their face toward their own thoughts and desires, and have turned their back upon the knowledge and will of God—hallowed and glorified be His name!

Translation Notes

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious”

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

اللّه،

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

جهل

j-h-l → “folly”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

نادانی

d-ʾ-n → “considered” Distinctive

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

مقام

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

حدّی

ḥ-d-d

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

رسيده

r-s-d

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

که

k-h → “that they”

literal: that; who; who, that

علم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اراده

r-w-d → “will”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

خود

kh-w-d → “their own thoughts”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

مقبل

q-b-l → “turned their face” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

شده،

sh-d → “have”

literal: to become; to be

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “God—hallowed”

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

جلّ

j-l-l

literal: exalted; glory; majesty

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “glorified” Distinctive

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

معرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned their back” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

گشتهاند.

g-sh-t

literal: become; became; to become

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Fire Tablet

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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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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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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 ¶