Kitáb-i-Íqán — §262

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 262 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و استقامت بر امر حجّتی است بزرگ و برهانی است عظيم. چنانچه خاتم انبياء فرمودند: " شَيَّبَتْنِی الآيَتَين " يعنی پير نمود مرا دو آيه که هر دو مشعر بر استقامت بر امر الهی است. چنانچه می فرمايد: "فَاسْتَقِمْ کما اُمِرْتَ."

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Steadfastness in the Faith is a sure testimony, and a glorious evidence of the truth. Even as the “Seal of the Prophets” hath said: “Two verses have made Me old.” Both these verses are indicative of constancy in the Cause of God. Even as He saith: “Be thou steadfast as thou hast been bidden.”

Translation Notes

استقامت

q-w-m → “Steadfastness”

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

بر

b-r-r → “in the” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Faith” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

حجّتی

ḥ-j-j → “testimony”

literal: path, way; clear path

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

بزرگ

b-z-r-g → “great” Distinctive

literal: great; large; important; grandeur

برهانی

b-r-h → “glorious evidence” Distinctive

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

عظيم.

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “Even as”

literal: thus; in such manner; as

خاتم

kh-t-m → ““Seal”

literal: to seal; to conclude; to end; seal

انبياء

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets””

literal: prophet; messenger

فرمودند:

f-r-m → “said”

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

شَيَّبَتْنِی

sh-y-b → “made Me old.””

literal: made-old

الآيَتَين

ʾ-y-h → “verse”

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token

يعنی

ʿ-n-y

literal: that is; meaning; i.e.

پير

p-y-r

literal: old

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “hath”

literal: to become; to be

مرا

m-n

literal: me; to me (Persian object pronoun); man; person; woman; wife

دو

d-w

literal: two; run; running

آيه

ʾ-y-y → “verses”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

مشعر

sh-ʿ-r → “indicative”

literal: hair

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

می

m-y-y → “will be made”

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

کما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

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 ¶