Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §62

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 62 of 291.

Source (Persian)

حال ای برادر ملاحظه نما اگر در اين عهد چنين اموری ظاهر شود و چنين حکايت بروز نمايد چه خواهند نمود؟ قسم به مربّی وجود و مُنزِل کلمات که در حين، بی تکلّم حکم بر کفر و امر بر قتل نمايند. کجا گوش می دهند که گفته شود که عيسی از نفخه روح القدس ظاهر شده و يا موسی از امر مبرم مأمور گشته. اگر صد هزار خروش بر آری به گوش احدی نرود که بی پدری مبعوث به رسالت گشته و يا قاتلی از شجره نار، إنّی اَنَا اللّه آورده.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And now, take heed, O brother! If such things be revealed in this Dispensation, and such incidents come to pass, at the present time, what would the people do? I swear by Him Who is the true Educator of mankind and the Revealer of the Word of God that the people would instantly and unquestionably pronounce Him an infidel and would sentence Him to death. How far are they from hearkening unto the voice that declareth: Lo! a Jesus hath appeared out of the breath of the Holy Ghost, and a Moses summoned to a divinely-appointed task! Were a myriad voices to be raised, no ear would listen if We said that upon a fatherless Child hath been conferred the mission of Prophethood, or that a murderer hath brought from the flame of the burning Bush the message of “Verily, verily, I am God!”

Translation Notes

حال

literal: state; condition; circumstance

ای

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

برادر

literal: brother

ملاحظه

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

نما
n-m-ʾ “hath” Distinctive

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

اگر

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

در

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اين

literal: this; these

عهد

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

چنين
ch-n-n “likewise” Distinctive

literal: such; thus; in this manner; like this

اموری

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

ظاهر

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

شود

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

حکايت

literal: telling; indicative; narrator; testifier; narrative; story; account; tale; to relate; one who relates; speaking of

بروز

literal: appearance; manifestation; coming forth

چه

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

خواهند

literal: to will; to want; shall; will (future auxiliary)

قسم

literal: oath; division; kind; type

به

literal: by it; by him; with it

مربّی

literal: father; paternal

وجود
w-j-d “of mankind” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

مُنزِل

literal: to descend, to be revealed

کلمات
k-l-m “Word of God” Distinctive

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

که

literal: that; who; who, that

حين،

literal: time; moment; while; season

بی

literal: without; is; to

تکلّم

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

حکم

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

بر
b-r-r “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

کفر
k-f-r “infidel” Distinctive

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

قتل

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

کجا

literal: how; in what manner

گوش

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

می

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

دهند
d-h “imputed” Distinctive

literal: to give; to provide; to yield; to grant; to bestow

گفته

literal: utterance; speech; word; discourse

از

literal: from

نفخه

literal: to blow; to breathe; to inflate; to sound (a trumpet)

روح

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

القدس

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

شده

literal: to become; to be

يا

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

مبرم

literal: to bind firmly; compelling, irresistible, immovable

گشته.

literal: become; became; to become

صد

literal: hundred

هزار

literal: thousand

خروش
kh-r-sh “Daystar” Distinctive

literal: to roar; to cry out; to shriek

آری
r-ʾ-y “Thou seest” Distinctive

literal: Persian form from آراستن (ārāstan) ‘to adorn/invest’, root ا-ر-ا, not ر-ء-ي (to see)

احدی

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

نرود
r-w

literal: to go; to come; to proceed

پدری

literal: father; paternal

مبعوث

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

رسالت
r-s-l “Apostle” Distinctive

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

شجره
sh-j-r “burning Bush” Distinctive

literal: tree

نار،

literal: light; illumination

إنّی
ʾ-n-n “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

اَنَا
ʾ-n “I” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اللّه

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

آورده.
ʾ-w-r “refuse” Distinctive

literal: bring; to bring; to_bring

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 ¶