Kitáb-i-Íqán — §276

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 276 of 291.

Source (Persian)

اين است حکم و امر اصحاب آن حضرت که از قبل بيان فرمودهاند. و حال ملاحظه فرمائيد که زوراء موافق اين روايت ارض ری است. و اين اصحاب را در آن مکان به بدترين عذاب بقتل رساندند و جميع اين وجودات قدسی را عجم شهيد نموده چنانچه در حديث مذکور است و شنيدهاند و بر همه عالم واضح و مبرهن است. حال چرا اين خراطين ارض در اين احاديث که جميع آن به مثل شمس در وسط سماء ظاهر شد تفکّر نمی نمايند و اقبال به حقّ نمی جويند و به بعضی احاديث که معنی آن را ادراک ننمودهاند از ظهور حقّ و جمال اللّه اعراض جستهاند و به سقر مقرّ گزيدهاند؟ نيست اين امور مگر از اعراض فقهای عصر و علمای عهد. اين است که صادق بن محمّد می فرمايد: "فُقَهاءُ ذلِکَ الزَّمانِ شَرُّ فُقَهاءِ تَحْتَ ظِلِّ السَّماءِ مِنهُم خَرَجَتِ الفِتْنَةُ و إلَيهم تَعُودُ."

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Such is the condition and fate of His companions which in former days hath been foretold. And now observe how, according to this tradition, Zawrá is no other but the land of Rayy. In that place His companions have been with great suffering put to death, and all these holy beings have suffered martyrdom at the hand of the Persians, as recorded in the tradition. This thou hast heard, and unto it all testify. Wherefore, then, do not these grovelling, worm-like men pause to meditate upon these traditions, all of which are manifest as the sun in its noon-tide glory? For what reason do they refuse to embrace the Truth, and allow certain traditions, the significance of which they have failed to grasp, to withhold them from the recognition of the Revelation of God and His Beauty, and to cause them to dwell in the infernal abyss? Such things are to be attributed to naught but the faithlessness of the divines and doctors of the age. Of these, Sádiq, son of Muhammad, hath said: “The religious doctors of that age shall be the most wicked of the divines beneath the shadow of heaven. Out of them hath mischief proceeded, and unto them it shall return.”

Translation Notes

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

حکم

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

آن

ʾ-n → “His” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

بيان

b-y-n → “utterance”

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

فرمودهاند.

f-r-m → “hath been foretold”

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

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “observe”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

زوراء

z-w-r → “visit”

literal: falsification; distortion; forgery

موافق

w-f-q → “aid” Distinctive

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

روايت

r-w-y → “tradition”

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

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

ری

r-ʾ → “Rayy”

literal: object-marker; object marker; to

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

در

d-r-r → “In that”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مکان

m-k-n → “Placeless”

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

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

بدترين

b-d

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

عذاب

ʿ-dh-b → “chastisement”

literal: torment, punishment, chastisement

بقتل

q-t-l → “put to death”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

رساندند

r-s → “attained” Distinctive

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

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

وجودات

w-j-d → “beings”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

قدسی

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

عجم

ʿ-j-m → “Persian”

literal: Persians; Persian, non-Arabic; non-Arabs/foreigners

شهيد

sh-h-d → “suffered martyrdom”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نموده

n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “as”

literal: thus; in such manner; as

حديث

ḥ-d-th → “tradition”

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

مذکور

dh-k-r → “recorded”

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

شنيدهاند

sh-n-w → “thou hast heard”

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

بر

b-r-r → “unto it”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

همه

h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “all” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

مبرهن

b-r-h-n

literal: human; mankind; human nature

چرا

ch-r-ʾ → “Why should”

literal: why; wherefore

خراطين

kh-r-ṭ-y-n → “grovelling, worm-like men”

literal: dung beetles

مثل

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

شمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

وسط

w-s-ṭ → “meridian”

literal: mediator; intermediary; means; to mediate

سماء

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifest”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

شد

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

تفکّر

f-k-r → “meditate”

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

نمی

n-h-y → “forbidden”

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

اقبال

q-b-l → “embrace” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “Truth”

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

جويند

j-w-y → “take fast hold”

literal: to seek; to quest; to look for; to search for

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “certain”

literal: part; some; portion

معنی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: meaning; sense; significance

ادراک

d-r-k → “grasp” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “faithlessness” Distinctive

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

جستهاند

j-s-t → “have clung”

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

سقر

s-q-r → “infernal abyss”

literal: to settle, to be established, to remain fixed

مقرّ

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: matter; affair; thing

گزيدهاند؟

g-z-y-d → “dwell”

literal: have chosen; choose

امور

ʾ-m-r → “things”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

مگر

m-g-r → “save through”

literal: except; except/unless

فقهای

f-q-h → “doctors”

literal: to understand; to comprehend; insight; jurisprudence

عصر

ʿ-ṣ-r → “age”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

عهد.

ʿ-h-d

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “truth” Distinctive

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

بن

b-n-y → “son”

literal: that; in that; because

محمّد

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; Muhammad; praised

می

m-y-y

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

ذلِکَ

dh-l-k → “that” Distinctive

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

الزَّمانِ

z-m-n → “age” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

شَرُّ

sh-r-r → “most wicked” Distinctive

literal: evil; harm; wickedness

تَحْتَ

t-ḥ-t → “beneath the”

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

ظِلِّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

مِنهُم

m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

خَرَجَتِ

kh-r-j → “hath mischief proceeded” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

الفِتْنَةُ

f-t-n

literal: trial; tribulation; temptation; sedition; discord; strife

إلَيهم

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

تَعُودُ."

ʿ-w-d → “habits” Distinctive

literal: return; habit; Ad

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.

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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

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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 ¶