Kitáb-i-Íqán — §257

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 257 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و ربّ اعلی، روح ما سواه فداه، بخصوص به جميع علمای هر بلدی توقيعی صادر فرمودهاند و مراتب اعراض و اغماض هر کدام را در توقيع او به تفصيل ذکر فرمودهاند "فَاعْتَبِرُوا يَا اُولِی الاَبصَارِ." و مقصود از آن ذکر، آن بود که مبادا اهل بيان در ظهور مستغاث فی القيامة الاُخری اعتراض نمايند که در ظهور بيان جمعی از علماء موقن گشتهاند و چرا در اين ظهور نشد و نعوذ باللّه متمسّک به اين گونه مزخرفات شوند و از جمال الهی محروم گردند. بلی، اين علماء که مذکور شد اکثری معروف نبودند و به فضل اللّه از رياست ظاهره و زخارف فانيه جميع مقدّس و منزّه بودهاند. ذلِکَ مِن فَضلِ اللّه، يُؤتيهِ مَن يَشاءُ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Báb, the Lord, the most exalted—may the life of all be a sacrifice unto Him,—hath specifically revealed an Epistle unto the divines of every city, wherein He hath fully set forth the character of the denial and repudiation of each of them. “Wherefore, take ye good heed ye who are men of insight!” By His references to their opposition He intended to invalidate the objections which the people of the Bayán might raise in the day of the manifestation of “Mustagháth,” the day of the Latter Resurrection, claiming that, whereas in the Dispensation of the Bayán a number of divines have embraced the Faith, in this latter Revelation none of these hath recognized His claim. His purpose was to warn the people lest, God forbid, they cling to such foolish thoughts and deprive themselves of the divine Beauty. Yea, these divines to whom We have referred, were mostly unrenowned, and, by the grace of God they were all purged of earthly vanities and free from the trappings of leadership. “Such is the bounty of God; to whom He will He giveth it.”

Translation Notes

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

اعلی،

ʿ-l-w → “most exalted—may”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

روح

r-w-ḥ → “life” Distinctive

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

سواه

s-w-y → “of all” Distinctive

literal: other than; other-than; besides

فداه،

f-d-y → “be a sacrifice unto”

literal: alas; woe; oh

بخصوص

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled out” Distinctive

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

به

b-h → “unto”

literal: by it; by him; with it

علمای

ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

بلدی

b-l-d → “city”

literal: city; land; country

توقيعی

w-q-ʿ → “occurred” Distinctive

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

صادر

ṣ-d-r → “breasts” Distinctive

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

فرمودهاند

f-r-m → “Him,—hath”

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

مراتب

r-t-b → “station”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “denial”

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

اغماض

gh-m-ḍ → “ignore the”

literal: closing of the eye; overlooking; disregarding

کدام

k-d-m → “each”

literal: which; what; whoever; any

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

او

h-w-w → “He” Distinctive

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

تفصيل

f-ṣ-l → “separated” Distinctive

literal: detail; distinction; differentiation; to detail; to separate

ذکر

dh-k-r → “set forth” Distinctive

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

"فَاعْتَبِرُوا

ʿ-b-r → “tears” Distinctive

literal: expression; tear; interpretation

يَا

y-ʾ

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

اُولِی

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

الاَبصَارِ."

b-ṣ-r → “insight!””

literal: sight; insight; eyes

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

آن

ʾ-n → “His” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

بود

b-w-d → “was”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

مبادا

b-d-w → “lest”

literal: lest; perhaps; in order that not

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

بيان

b-y-n → “Bayán” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مستغاث

gh-w-th → “asked His help” Distinctive

literal: helper; sought-help; Mustaghath

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

القيامة

q-w-m → “Resurrection”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الاُخری

ʾ-kh-r → ““last”” Distinctive

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

جمعی

j-m-ʿ → “number”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

موقن

y-q-n → “certitude” Distinctive

literal: to be certain; to know with certainty

گشتهاند

g-sh-t → “have”

literal: become; became; to become

چرا

ch-r-ʾ → “Why should”

literal: why; wherefore

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

نشد

sh-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: to become; to occur; to happen; to be

نعوذ

ʿ-w-dh → “God forbid”

literal: we seek refuge; God forbid

باللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

متمسّک

m-s-k → “cling”

literal: musk; to seize; grip

گونه

g-w-n → “such”

literal: kind, type; kind; manner

مزخرفات

z-kh-r-f → “vanities” Distinctive

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: become; to become; became

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprive”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

گردند.

g-r-d → “become”

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

بلی،

b-l-y → “Yea”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

مذکور

dh-k-r → “referred”

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

اکثری

k-th-r → “mostly”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

معروف

ʿ-r-f → “unrenowned” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

فضل

f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

رياست

r-ʾ-s → “leadership”

literal: ostentation; hypocrisy; vainglory; ruin

فانيه

f-n-y → “shall perish” Distinctive

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

مقدّس

q-d-s → “purged” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

منزّه

n-z-h → “sanctified”

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

ذلِکَ

dh-l-k → ““Such” Distinctive

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

مَن

m-n → “whom” Distinctive

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

يُؤتيهِ

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: come; to come; bring

يَشاءُ.

sh-y-ʾ → “will”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘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 ¶