Kitáb-i-Íqán — §45
Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 45 of 291.
Source (Persian)
اين است معنی آيهمبارکه که می فرمايد: "فَلا اُقسِمُ بِرَبِّ المَشارِقِ و المَغَارِب."
زيرا که از برای هر شمسی از اين شموس مذکوره محلّ اشراق و غروب است. و چون علمای تفسير بر حقيقت اين شمس های مذکوره اطّلاع نيافتند لهذا در تفسير اين آيه مبارکه معطّل شدند. و بعضی ذکر نمودند که چون آفتاب در هر روز از نقطه ای طلوع می نمايد غير از نقطه يوم قبل لهذا به لفظ جمع ذکر فرموده. و بعضی ديگر نوشتهاند که مقصود فصول اربعه است که در هر فصلی چون شمس از محلّی طالع می شود و به محلّی غروب می نمايد لهذا مشارق و مغارب ذکرشده. اين است مراتب علم عباد. و با وجود اين به جواهرعلم و لطائف حکمت چه جهل ها و عيوب ها که نسبت می دهند.
Shoghi Effendi Translation
This is the meaning of the sacred verse: “But nay! I swear by the Lord of the Easts and the Wests,” inasmuch as the “Suns” referred to have each their own particular rising and setting place. And as the commentators of the Qur’án have failed to grasp the symbolic meaning of these “Suns,” they therefore were at pains to interpret the above-quoted verse. Some of them maintained that owing to the fact that the sun each day rises from a different point, the terms “easts” and “wests” have been mentioned in the plural. Others have written that by this verse the four seasons of the year are intended, inasmuch as the dawning and setting points of the sun vary with the change of the seasons. Such is the depth of their understanding! None the less, they persist in imputing error and folly to those Gems of knowledge, those irreproachable and purest Symbols of wisdom.
Translation Notes
برای
literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي
اطّلاع
literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation
