Kitáb-i-Íqán — §281

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 281 of 291.

Source (Persian)

صاحبان هوش که از صهبای حبّ نوشيدهاند و گامی به کام نفس برنداشتهاند دلائل و برهان و حجّت را که جميع مشعر بر اين امر بديع و ظهور منيع الهی است اظهر از شمس در فلک چهارم مشاهده نمايند. حال اعراض خلق را از جمال الهی و اقبالشان را به هوای نفسانی ملاحظه فرمائيد. با همه اين آيات متقنه و اشارات محکمه که در ثقل اکبر که وديعه ربّانيّه است در بين عباد و اين احاديث واضحه که اصرح از بيان و تبيان است، از همه غافل و معرض شدهاند و چند حديث که به ادراک خود مطابق نيافتهاند و معنی آن را ادراک ننمودهاند متمسّک به ظاهر آنها شده و از سلسال خمر ذی الجلال و زلال بی زوال جمال لايزال محروم و مأيوس ماندهاند.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

They that have hearts to understand, they that have quaffed the Wine of love, who have not for one moment gratified their selfish desires, will behold, resplendent as the sun in its noon-tide glory, those tokens, testimonies, and evidences that attest the truth of this wondrous Revelation, this transcendent and divine Faith. Reflect, how the people have rejected the Beauty of God, and have clung unto their covetous desires. Notwithstanding all these consummate verses, these unmistakable allusions, which have been revealed in the “Most weighty Revelation,” the Trust of God amongst men, and despite these evident traditions, each more manifest than the most explicit utterance, the people have ignored and repudiated their truth, and have held fast to the letter of certain traditions which, according to their understanding, they have found inconsistent with their expectations, and the meaning of which they have failed to grasp. They have thus shattered every hope, and deprived themselves of the pure wine of the All-Glorious, and the clear and incorruptible waters of the immortal Beauty.

Translation Notes

صاحبان

ṣ-ḥ-b → “They that have”

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

هوش

h-w-sh → “hearts to understand”

literal: unconsciousness; senselessness

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

صهبای

ṣ-h-b → “immortal draught”

literal: wine

حبّ

ḥ-b-b → “of love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

نوشيدهاند

n-w-sh → “have quaffed”

literal: drink; to drink; write

گامی

g-ʾ-m → “for one moment”

literal: step; pace; stride

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

کام

k-ʾ-m → “sickness” Distinctive

literal: desire; appetite; lust; will; heap; hill; mound

برنداشتهاند

b-r-d-sh-t → “been broken” Distinctive

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

دلائل

d-l-l → “proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

برهان

b-r-h → “testimonies” Distinctive

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

حجّت

ḥ-j-j → “evidences”

literal: path, way; clear path

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

مشعر

sh-ʿ-r → “that” Distinctive

literal: hair

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

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

بديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: explicit statement; clear declaration

منيع

m-n-ʿ → “transcendent”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “divine”

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

است

b-w-d

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

شمس

sh-m-s → “sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

فلک

f-l-k → “I yield”

literal: ship; ark; orbit; sphere; heaven

چهارم

ch-h-r → “noon-tide”

literal: four

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “will behold”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نمايند.

n-m-ʾ

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

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “rejected” Distinctive

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

خلق

kh-l-q → “people” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

اقبالشان

q-b-l → “have clung”

literal: before; acceptance; approach

هوای

h-w-y → “desire”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

نفسانی

n-f-s → “desires” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Reflect” Distinctive

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

فرمائيد.

f-r-m → “revealed” Distinctive

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

همه

h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “consummate verses”

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

متقنه

t-q-n → “convincing”

literal: perfect, well-arranged, firmly constructed

اشارات

sh-y-r → “unmistakable allusions”

literal: explanation; commentary; to explain; to open

محکمه

ḥ-k-m

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

ثقل

th-q-l → “her burdens”

literal: weight; heavy; weighty testimony

اکبر

k-b-r

literal: liver; soul; essence

وديعه

w-d-ʿ → “Trust”

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

ربّانيّه

r-b-b → “of God”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

بين

b-y-n → “amongst men”

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

احاديث

ḥ-d-th → “traditions”

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

واضحه

w-ḍ-ḥ → “evident”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

اصرح

ṣ-r-ḥ → “explicitly”

literal: explicit statement; clear declaration

غافل

gh-f-l → “heedless”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

شدهاند

sh-d → “have been” Distinctive

literal: become; turned into; has become; to become; to be

چند

ch-n-d → “while” Distinctive

literal: some; several; a few; how many

ادراک

d-r-k → “understanding”

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

خود

kh-w-d → “their”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

مطابق

ṭ-b-q → “conform”

literal: layer; stratum; to fold; to accord

نيافتهاند

y-ʾ-f → “have found” Distinctive

literal: to find, discover; to obtain, acquire; to find; to obtain; to discover

معنی

ʿ-n-y → “meaning”

literal: meaning; sense; significance

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

متمسّک

m-s-k → “cling”

literal: musk; to seize; grip

آنها

null → ““death””

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

سلسال

s-l-s → “chains” Distinctive

literal: chain; links; succession

خمر

kh-m-r

literal: to drink; to imbibe

ذی

dh-w-y

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

الجلال

j-l-l → “the All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

زلال

z-l-l → “waters”

literal: to slip; to stumble; to fall

بی

b-y → “incorruptible”

literal: without; is; to

زوال

z-w-l → “at all times” Distinctive

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

مأيوس

y-ʾ-s → “despair” Distinctive

literal: despair; to despair; hopeless; to lose hope; hopelessness

ماندهاند.

m-ʾ-n

literal: remain; remained; to remain

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 ¶