Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §215

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 215 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و اين شرايط از صفات عالين و سجيّه روحانيّين است که در شرايط مجاهدين و مشی سالکين در مناهج علم اليقين ذکر يافت. و بعد از تحقّق اين مقامات برای سالک فارغ و طالب صادق، لفظ مجاهد درباره او صادق می آيد. و چون به عمل "و الّذين جَاهَدُوا فيِنا " مؤيّد شد البتّه به بشارت " لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ سُبُلَنَا" مستبشر خواهد شد.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

These are among the attributes of the exalted, and constitute the hall-mark of the spiritually-minded. They have already been mentioned in connection with the requirements of the wayfarers that tread the Path of Positive Knowledge. When the detached wayfarer and sincere seeker hath fulfilled these essential conditions, then and only then can he be called a true seeker. Whensoever he hath fulfilled the conditions implied in the verse: “Whoso maketh efforts for Us,” he shall enjoy the blessing conferred by the words: “In Our ways shall We assuredly guide him.”

Translation Notes

اين

literal: this; these

شرايط

literal: condition; requirement; clause

از

literal: from

صفات

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

عالين

literal: highest; upon; exalted

سجيّه

literal: nature; nature, hallmark

روحانيّين

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

است

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

که

literal: that; who; who, that

در

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مجاهدين
j-h-d “Strive” Distinctive

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

مشی

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

مناهج

literal: ways; paths; way

علم

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اليقين

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

ذکر

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

يافت.
y-f-t “have kept both” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بعد
b-ʿ-d “When” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

تحقّق

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

مقامات
q-w-m “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

برای

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

سالک
s-l-k “Deal” Distinctive

literal: conduct; behavior; way; path; spiritual wayfaring

فارغ

literal: free; detached; empty; unoccupied

طالب

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

صادق،

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

لفظ
l-f-ẓ “words” Distinctive

literal: word; utterance; expression

درباره

literal: concerning, about; in connection with

او
h-w-w “he” Distinctive

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

می

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

آيد.
ʾ-y-d “aid” Distinctive

literal: come; support; may aid

چون

literal: since; when; as

به
b-h “in” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

عمل

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

literal: and; quotation mark

الّذين
l-dh-y “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

فيِنا
f-y “in” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

مؤيّد

literal: come; support; may aid

شد

literal: to become; to be

البتّه

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

بشارت

literal: human; mankind; human nature

لَنَهْدِيَنَّهُمْ

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

سُبُلَنَا"

literal: path; way; path/way

خواهد

literal: will; to wish; to want

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶