Kitáb-i-Íqán — §185

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 185 of 291.

Source (Persian)

باری هزار و دويست و هشتاد سنه از ظهور نقطه فرقان گذشت و جميع اين همج رعاع در هر صباح تلاوت فرقان نمودهاند و هنوز به حرفی از مقصود فائز نشدند و خود قرائت می کنند بعضی آيات را که صريح بر مطالب قدسيّه و مظاهر عزّ صمديّه است مع ذلک هيچ ادراک ننمودهاند. و اين مدّت اين قدر ادراک نشده که مقصود از تلاوت کتب و قرائت صحف در هر عصری، ادراک معانی آن و بلوغ به معارج اسرار آن بوده و إلّا تلاوت بی معرفت را البتّه فائده کلّی نباشد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Twelve hundred and eighty years have passed since the dawn of the Muhammadan Dispensation, and with every break of day, these blind and ignoble people have recited their Qur’án, and yet have failed to grasp one letter of that Book! Again and again they read those verses which clearly testify to the reality of these holy themes, and bear witness to the truth of the Manifestations of eternal Glory, and still apprehend not their purpose. They have even failed to realize, all this time, that, in every age, the reading of the scriptures and holy books is for no other purpose except to enable the reader to apprehend their meaning and unravel their innermost mysteries. Otherwise reading, without understanding, is of no abiding profit unto man.

Translation Notes

باری

b-r-y

literal: well; cistern; pit

هزار

h-z-r → “myriad”

literal: thousand

دويست

d-w → “two” Distinctive

literal: friend; beloved; to befriend

هشتاد

h-sh-t → “eighty”

literal: eighty

سنه

s-n-h → “years”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

نقطه

n-q-ṭ

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

فرقان

f-r-q → “separation” Distinctive

literal: faction; sect; group; company

گذشت

g-dh-r → “have passed”

literal: to leave; to pass; to abandon

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “these” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

همج

h-m-j → “abject”

literal: vain; base-born; worthless; confused rabble

رعاع

r-ʿ-ʿ → “foolish”

literal: rabble; base people; contemptible; foolish; vile

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

صباح

ṣ-b-ḥ → “morn”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

تلاوت

t-l-w → “recited”

literal: to recite; to read; to follow

نمودهاند

n-m-w → “have”

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

هنوز

h-n-w → “yet”

literal: still; yet; hitherto

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

حرفی

ḥ-r-f → “letter”

literal: letter; character; edge

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

فائز

f-w-z → “have failed” Distinctive

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

نشدند

sh-d → “have failed” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

قرائت

q-r-ʾ → “read”

literal: Qur’an; recitation; to read, recite; to read; to recite

می

m-y-y

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

کنند

k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ

literal: part; some; portion

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “verses”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

صريح

ṣ-r-ḥ

literal: explicit statement; clear declaration

بر

b-r-r → “to”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مطالب

ṭ-l-b → “theme” Distinctive

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

قدسيّه

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “Glory”

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

صمديّه

ṣ-m-d → “eternal”

literal: eternal, self-sufficient, divine, the Eternal

مع

m-ʿ

literal: with; together with; alongside

ذلک

dh-l-k

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

هيچ

h-y-ch → “not”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

ادراک

d-r-k → “apprehend”

literal: veiling; concealment

ننمودهاند.

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

مدّت

m-d-d → “ink” Distinctive

literal: hopeful; hope; hoping

قدر

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

کتب

k-t-b → “books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

صحف

ṣ-ḥ-f → “scriptures”

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

عصری،

ʿ-ṣ-r → “age”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “meaning”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

آن

ʾ-n → “their”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

بلوغ

b-l-gh → “teach” Distinctive

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

معارج

ʿ-r-j → “ascend” Distinctive

literal: to ascend, climb, mount

اسرار

s-r-r → “mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

بوده

b-w-d → “is”

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

بی

b-y → “without”

literal: without; is; to

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

البتّه

b-t-t

literal: certainly; certainly, definitely; absolute

فائده

f-y-d → “profit”

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

کلّی

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

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 ¶