Kitáb-i-Íqán — §221

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 221 of 291.

Source (Persian)

چنانچه جميع ما يحتاج آن امّت از احکام دين و شريعت سيّد المرسلين در آن رضوان مبين موجود و معيّن گشته. و آن است حجّت باقيه برای اهلش بعد از نقطه فرقان زيرا مسلّم است حکم آن و محقّق الوقوع است امر آن. و جميع مأمور به اتّباع آن بودهاند تا ظهور بديع در سنه ستّين. و آن است که طالبان را به رضوان وصال می رساند و مجاهدان و مهاجران را به سرادق قرب فائز فرمايد. دليلی است محکم و حجّتی است اعظم. و غير آن را از روايات و کتب و احاديث اين فخر نه زيرا حديث و صاحبان حديث، وجود وقولشان به حکم کتاب ثابت و محقّق شده. و ديگر آنکه در احاديث اختلاف بسيار است و شبهه بی شمار.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

All the things that people required in connection with the Revelation of Muhammad and His laws were to be found revealed and manifest in that Ridván of resplendent glory. That Book constitutes an abiding testimony to its people after Muhammad, inasmuch as its decrees are indisputable, and its promise unfailing. All have been enjoined to follow the precepts of that Book until “the year sixty” —the year of the advent of God’s wondrous Manifestation. That Book is the Book which unfailingly leadeth the seeker unto the Ridván of the divine Presence, and causeth him that hath forsaken his country and is treading the seeker’s path to enter the Tabernacle of everlasting reunion. Its guidance can never err, its testimony no other testimony can excel. All other traditions, all other books and records, are bereft of such distinction, inasmuch as both the traditions and they that have spoken them are confirmed and proven solely by the text of that Book. Moreover, the traditions themselves grievously differ, and their obscurities are manifold.

Translation Notes

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “All have”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

ما

m-ʾ

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

يحتاج

ḥ-w-j → “that people required”

literal: need; needy; needs

آن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

امّت

ʾ-m-m

literal: mother

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

احکام

ḥ-k-m → “laws”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

دين

d-y-n

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

شريعت

sh-r-ʿ → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

سيّد

s-y-d

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

المرسلين

r-s-l → “Apostle” Distinctive

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

رضوان

r-ḍ-w → “Ridván”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

مبين

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

موجود

w-j-d → “be found” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

معيّن

ʿ-y-n → “eyes” Distinctive

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

گشته.

g-sh-t → “were”

literal: become; became; to become

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

حجّت

ḥ-j-j → “testimony”

literal: path, way; clear path

باقيه

b-q-y → “everlasting”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

برای

b-r-y → “to”

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

اهلش

ʾ-h-l → “its people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

نقطه

n-q-ṭ → “Point”

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

فرقان

f-r-q

literal: faction; sect; group; company

زيرا

z-y-r → “inasmuch as”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

مسلّم

s-l-m

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

محقّق

ḥ-q-q → “God” Distinctive

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

الوقوع

w-q-ʿ → “occurred” Distinctive

literal: to fall, to occur, to happen; incident, event

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

به

b-h → “to”

literal: by it; by him; with it

اتّباع

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

تا

t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “advent” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

سنه

s-n-h → ““the year”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

ستّين.

s-t-y → “praised”

literal: threshold; capital city; province

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

طالبان

ṭ-l-b → “seeker”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

وصال

w-ṣ-l → “reunion”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

می

m-y-y

literal: present continuous marker; continuous-marker

رساند

r-s-n → “attain”

literal: to reach; to convey; to cause to arrive; to deliver

مجاهدان

j-h-d

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

مهاجران

h-j-r → “remoteness” Distinctive

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

سرادق

s-r-d-q → “Tabernacle”

literal: pavilion; tabernacle; canopy; tent

قرب

q-r-b → “Presence”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

فائز

f-w-z

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

فرمايد.

f-r-m → “saith”

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

دليلی

d-l-l → “proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

اعظم.

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

غير

gh-y-r → “other traditions, all other”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

روايات

r-w-y

literal: narration; tradition; fragrance; to grow; to spring forth; to sprout

کتب

k-t-b → “books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

احاديث

ḥ-d-th → “traditions”

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

فخر

f-kh-r → “glory” Distinctive

literal: glory; boasting; pride

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

صاحبان

ṣ-ḥ-b → “they that”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

وقولشان

و ق-w-l → “have spoken them”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

ثابت

th-b-t → “confirmed”

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

شده.

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

ديگر

d-g-r → “other”

literal: home; place; land; abode

اختلاف

kh-l-f → “differ”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

بسيار

b-s-r

literal: much; many; very; greatly

شبهه

sh-b-h → “doubt”

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

بی

b-y → “are”

literal: without; is; to

شمار.

sh-m-r → “regard” Distinctive

literal: to count; to regard; to esteem; to consider

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 ¶

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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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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 ¶

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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 ¶