Kitáb-i-Íqán — §202

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 202 of 291.

Source (Persian)

باری، چون معنی علم را ادراک ننمودهاند و افکار مجعوله خود را که ناشی از مظاهر جهل شده، اسم آن را علم گذاشته، بر مبدء علوم وارد آوردهاند آنچه ديده‌ايد و شنيده‌ايد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Inasmuch as they have not apprehended the meaning of Knowledge, and have called by that name those images fashioned by their own fancy and which have sprung from the embodiments of ignorance, they therefore have inflicted upon the Source of Knowledge that which thou hast heard and witnessed.

Translation Notes

باری،

b-r-y

literal: well; cistern; pit

چون

ch-w-n → “As”

literal: since; when; as

معنی

ʿ-n-y → “meaning”

literal: meaning; sense; significance

علم

ʿ-l-m → “Knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ادراک

d-r-k → “apprehended”

literal: veiling; concealment

ننمودهاند

n-m-ʾ → “have not” Distinctive

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

افکار

f-k-r → “ponder” Distinctive

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions

مجعوله

j-ʿ-l → “fashioned”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

خود

kh-w-d → “by their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

ناشی

n-sh-ʾ → “of creation” Distinctive

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

مظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “embodiments” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

جهل

j-h-l → “ignorance”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

شده،

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

اسم

s-m-w → “name”

literal: name; title; designation

آن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

گذاشته،

g-dh-sh → “decree” Distinctive

literal: did not leave; did not allow; left no room for

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مبدء

b-d-ʾ → “Source”

literal: beginning; primacy; originality; origin; principle; starting point; commencement; start; inception; creation

وارد

w-r-d → “inflicted”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

آوردهاند

ʾ-w-r → “been entirely denied”

literal: wandering; vagabond; homeless

ديده‌ايد

d-y-d → “witnessed”

literal: to give; to grant; to present; justice; judgment; to see; sight; eye; seen

شنيده‌ايد.

sh-n-w → “heard”

literal: hear; to hear; heard

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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 ¶