Kitáb-i-Íqán — §207

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 207 of 291.

Source (Persian)

سبحان اللّه، چقدر متعجّبم از مردمی که به او گرويدهاند و تابع چنين شخصی گشتهاند. به تراب قناعت نموده و اقبال جستهاند و از ربّ الارباب معرض گشتهاند و از نغمه بلبل و جمال گل به نعيب زاغ و جمال کلاغ قناعت نمودهاند. و ديگر چه چيزها ملاحظه شد از کلمات مجعوله اين کتاب. فی الحقيقه حيف است که قلم به تحرير ذکر آن مطالب مشغول شود و يا اوقات مصروف به آن گردد و ليکن اگر محکی يافت می شد حقّ از باطل و نور از ظلمت و شمس از ظلّ معلوم می آمد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Gracious God! How great is Our amazement at the way the people have gathered around him, and have borne allegiance to his person! Content with transient dust, these people have turned their face unto it, and cast behind their backs Him Who is the Lord of Lords. Satisfied with the croaking of the crow and enamoured with the visage of the raven, they have renounced the melody of the nightingale and the charm of the rose. What unspeakable fallacies the perusal of this pretentious book hath revealed! They are too unworthy for any pen to describe, and too base for one moment’s attention. Should a touchstone be found, however, it would instantly distinguish truth from falsehood, light from darkness, and sun from shadow.

Translation Notes

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

اللّه،

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

چقدر

ch-q-d → “How all-encompassing”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

متعجّبم

ʿ-j-b → “strange” Distinctive

literal: wonder; amazement; marvelous; strange

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

مردمی

m-r-d → “people”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

او

h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

گرويدهاند

g-r-w → “people” Distinctive

literal: group; community; faction; sect

تابع

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

چنين

ch-n-n

literal: such; thus; in this manner; like this

شخصی

sh-kh-ṣ → “man”

literal: person, individual, self; movement, stirring

گشتهاند.

g-sh-t

literal: become; became; to become

تراب

t-r-b → “dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil

قناعت

q-n-ʿ → “Content”

literal: Canaan; the biblical figure

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

literal: do; to do; do/make

اقبال

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

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

جستهاند

j-s-t

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

معرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

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

نغمه

n-gh-m → “melody”

literal: melody; tone; note

بلبل

b-l-b-l → “nightingale”

literal: confusion; mixture of languages; disorder

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

گل

g-l → “rose”

literal: rose-garden; garden of flowers

نعيب

n-ʿ-b → “croaking”

literal: croaking; cawing; cry of a raven

زاغ

z-y-gh

literal: deviated

نمودهاند.

n-m-w → “have renounced”

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

ديگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

چيزها

ch-y-z → “something”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

کلمات

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions

مجعوله

j-ʿ-l → “make” Distinctive

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

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

کتاب.

k-t-b → “book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

حيف

ḥ-y-f

literal: pity, injustice, wrong; to wrong, to treat unjustly

است

b-w-d

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

قلم

q-l-m → “pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

تحرير

ḥ-r-r → “heat” Distinctive

literal: to set free; to write down; to compose; حرارة (heat) is from ح-ر-ر but distinct semantic development from ‘free/write’

ذکر

dh-k-r

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

آن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

مطالب

ṭ-l-b

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

مشغول

sh-gh-l

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

شود

sh-w-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

اوقات

w-q-t

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

مصروف

ṣ-r-f

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

گردد

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

ليکن

l-k-n → “however” Distinctive

literal: is; to be (third person singular present); to be one; oneness; unity

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

محکی

m-ḥ-k → “touchstone”

literal: touchstone; touchstone, test

يافت

y-f-t → “have kept both” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

می

m-y-y → “will be made”

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

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

باطل

b-ṭ-l → “falsehood”

literal: falsehood, false; vain, null

نور

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

ظلمت

ẓ-l-m → “darkness”

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

شمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

آمد.

ʾ-m-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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160 ¶

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59 ¶