Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §241

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 241 of 291.

Source (Persian)

ای برادر، بايد چشم گشود و تفکّر نمود و ملتجی به مظاهر الهيّه شد که شايد از مواعظ واضحه کتاب پند گيريم و از نصائح مذکوره در الواح متنبّه شويم، اعتراض بر مُنزل آيات نکنيم، امرش را به جان تسليم کنيم و حکمش را به تمام جان و روان قبول نمائيم و مذعن شويم که شايد در فضای رحمت وارد شويم و در شاطی فضل مسکن يابيم.وَ إنّهُ بِعبادِهِ لَغَفُورٌ رَحيمٌ .

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O brother, we should open our eyes, meditate upon His Word, and seek the sheltering shadow of the Manifestations of God, that perchance we may be warned by the unmistakable counsels of the Book, and give heed to the admonitions recorded in the holy Tablets; that we may not cavil at the Revealer of the verses, that we may resign ourselves wholly to His Cause, and embrace wholeheartedly His law, that haply we may enter the court of His mercy, and dwell upon the shore of His grace. He, verily, is merciful, and forgiving towards His servants.

Translation Notes

ای
ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

برادر،
b-r-d → “brother”

literal: brother

بايد
b-y-d → “should”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

چشم
ch-sh-m → “eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

گشود
g-sh-ʾ → “Redeemer” Distinctive

literal: to open; to unlock

تفکّر
f-k-r → “meditate”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

نمود
n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

ملتجی
l-j-ʾ → “seek the sheltering shadow”

literal: refuge; shelter; place of asylum

به
b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

مظاهر
ẓ-h-r → “Manifestations”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الهيّه
ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

شد
sh-d

literal: to become; to be

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

شايد
sh-y-d → “perchance”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

از
ʾ-z

literal: from

مواعظ
w-ʿ-ẓ → “counsels”

literal: exhortation; admonition; preaching

واضحه
w-ḍ-ḥ → “unmistakable” Distinctive

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

کتاب
k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

پند
p-n-d → “admonished”

literal: counsel; admonition; advice

گيريم
g-r-f

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp; to hold; to seek

نصائح
n-ṣ-ḥ → “admonitions”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

مذکوره
dh-k-r → “recorded”

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

در
d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

الواح
l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

متنبّه
n-b-h → “awakening” Distinctive

literal: to awaken; to alert; to warn

شويم،
sh-w

literal: become; to become; became

اعتراض
ʿ-r-ḍ → “cavil” Distinctive

literal: objection, protest, denial; cavil

بر
b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مُنزل
n-z-l → “Revealer”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

آيات
ʾ-y-y → “verses”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

نکنيم،
k-n

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

امرش
ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

جان
j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

تسليم
s-l-m → “resignation”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

کنيم
k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

حکمش
ḥ-k-m → “law”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

تمام
t-m-m → “all”

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

روان
r-w-ḥ

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

قبول
q-b-l → “embrace” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

مذعن
dh-ʿ-n

literal: to know; to be aware

فضای
f-ḍ-w → “realm”

literal: space; expanse; void

رحمت
r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

وارد
w-r-d → “enter”

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

شاطی
sh-ṭ-ʾ → “shore”

literal: fitting; suitable; becoming

فضل
f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

مسکن
s-k-n → “dwell”

literal: dwelling; dwelling, residing; quiet

يابيم.وَ
y-b

literal: find

إنّهُ
ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

بِعبادِهِ
ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

لَغَفُورٌ
gh-f-r → “forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

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 ¶