Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §46

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 46 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و همچنين از اين بيانات واضحه محکمه متقنه غير متشابه تفطّر سماء را که از علائم ساعت و قيامت است ادراک نما. اين است که می فرمايد: "إذَا السَّمَاءُ انفَطَرَتْ." مقصود سماء اديان است که در هر ظهور مرتفع میشود و به ظهور بعد شکافته می گردد، يعنی باطل و منسوخ می شود.قسم به خدا که اگر درست ملاحظه شود تفطّر اين سماء اعظم است از تفطّر سماء ظاهری. قدری تأمّل فرمائيد. دينی که سال ها مرتفع شده باشد و جميع در ظلّ آن نشو و نما نموده باشند و به احکام مشرقه آن مدّت ها تربيت يافته و از آباء و اجداد جز ذکر آن را نشنيده، به قسمی که چشم ها جز نفوذ امرش را ادراک نکرده و گوش ها جز احکامش را استماع ننموده، بعد نفسی ظاهر شود و جميع اينها را به قوّت و قدرت الهی تفريق نمايد و فصل کند بلکه همه را نفی فرمايد . حال فکر نما که اين اعظم است يا آنچه اين همج رعاع گمان نمودهاند از تفطّر سماء؟

Shoghi Effendi Translation

In like manner, strive thou to comprehend from these lucid, these powerful, conclusive, and unequivocal statements the meaning of the “cleaving of the heaven”—one of the signs that must needs herald the coming of the last Hour, the Day of Resurrection. As He hath said: “When the heaven shall be cloven asunder.” By “heaven” is meant the heaven of divine Revelation, which is elevated with every Manifestation, and rent asunder with every subsequent one. By “cloven asunder” is meant that the former Dispensation is superseded and annulled. I swear by God! That this heaven being cloven asunder is, to the discerning, an act mightier than the cleaving of the skies! Ponder a while. That a divine Revelation which for years hath been securely established; beneath whose shadow all who have embraced it have been reared and nurtured; by the light of whose law generations of men have been disciplined; the excellency of whose word men have heard recounted by their fathers; in such wise that human eye hath beheld naught but the pervading influence of its grace, and mortal ear hath heard naught but the resounding majesty of its command—what act is mightier than that such a Revelation should, by the power of God, be “cloven asunder” and be abolished at the appearance of one soul? Reflect, is this a mightier act than that which these abject and foolish men have imagined the “cleaving of the heaven” to mean?

Translation Notes

غير
ghír gh-y-r

literal: other; other than

SE rendered بيانات (bíánát), واضحه (wáḍḥh), محکمه (mḥkmh), متقنه (mtqnh), غير (ghír), متشابه (mtshábh), تفطّر (tfṭṭr), سماء (smáʾ), از (iz) as “statements, lucid, conclusive, powerful, unequivocal, “cleaving, heaven”—one, of”

others 19% other 19% without 10% all 10% except 10% unseemly 9% another 7% different 5% any 5% infinite 5%
شکافته
shkáfth sh-k-f → “hath” Distinctive

literal: bloom; split

This form usually rendered as “rent” (1 occurrences)

hath 33% rent 33% spring 33%
درست
drst d-r-s

literal: school; schools; correct, right, properly

SE rendered منسوخ (mnsúkh), می (mí), شود.قسم (shúd.qsm), خدا (khdá), درست (drst), ملاحظه (mláḥẓh), تفطّر (tfṭṭr), سماء (smáʾ) as “annulled, I swear, God, cloven asunder, heaven”

schools 43% any 29% school 14% unschooled 14%
ملاحظه
mláḥẓh l-ḥ-ẓ

literal: observation; observe; observation, consideration

SE rendered شود.قسم (shúd.qsm), خدا (khdá), درست (drst), ملاحظه (mláḥẓh), تفطّر (tfṭṭr), سماء (smáʾ), اعظم (iʿẓm) as “I swear, God, cloven asunder, heaven, mightier”

باشند
báshnd búdn

literal: be; to be

SE rendered ظلّ (ẓll), نشو (nshú), نما (nmá), نموده (nmúdh), باشند (báshnd), احکام (iḥkám), مشرقه (mshrqh) as “shadow, reared, nurtured, hath, law, light”

will 20% behoveth 20% let 20% have 20% shall 20%
مدّت
mddt m-d-d

literal: period

SE rendered احکام (iḥkám), مشرقه (mshrqh), مدّت (mddt), ها (há), تربيت (trbít), يافته (yáfth), از (iz), آباء (ábáʾ) as “law, light, disciplined, of, fathers”

period 29% remoteness 14% space 14% all 14% generations 14% throughout 14%
يافته
yáfth yáftn

literal: found

SE rendered احکام (iḥkám), مشرقه (mshrqh), مدّت (mddt), ها (há), تربيت (trbít), يافته (yáfth), از (iz), آباء (ábáʾ), اجداد (ijdád), جز (jz) as “law, light, disciplined, of, fathers, naught”

اجداد
ijdád j-d-d

literal: new; renew; renewal

SE rendered تربيت (trbít), يافته (yáfth), از (iz), آباء (ábáʾ), اجداد (ijdád), جز (jz), ذکر (dhkr), نشنيده، (nshnídh،), قسمی (qsmí) as “disciplined, of, fathers, naught, recounted, such wise”

new 58% fresh 10% renew 7% again 5% renewed 5% particular 3% put 3% rebirth 3% present 3% supplant 2%
ذکر
dhkr dh-k-r

literal: mention; remembrance; mentioned

SE rendered از (iz), آباء (ábáʾ), اجداد (ijdád), جز (jz), ذکر (dhkr), نشنيده، (nshnídh،), قسمی (qsmí), چشم (chshm) as “of, fathers, naught, recounted, such wise, eye”

نفوذ
nfúdh n-f-dh

literal: penetration; penetrating

SE rendered نشنيده، (nshnídh،), قسمی (qsmí), چشم (chshm), ها (há), جز (jz), نفوذ (nfúdh), امرش (imrsh), ادراک (idrák), نکرده (nkrdh), گوش (gúsh) as “recounted, such wise, eye, naught, influence, beheld, hath, ear”

فصل
fṣl f-ṣ-l

literal: separate; separated

SE rendered قوّت (qúqt), قدرت (qdrt), الهی (al-hí), تفريق (tfríq), نمايد (nmáyd), فصل (fṣl), کند (knd), بلکه (blkh), همه (hmh), نفی (nfí) as “power, God, cloven asunder, every, abolished”

separation 22% thou 22% sundered 11% separated 11% hath 11% settled 11% decisive 11%
حال
ḥál ḥ-w-l

literal: now; state

SE rendered همه (hmh), نفی (nfí), فرمايد (frmáyd), حال (ḥál), فکر (fkr), نما (nmá), اعظم (iʿẓm) as “every, abolished, Reflect, mightier”

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶