Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §9

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 9 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و بعد از نوح جمال هود از مَشرق ابداع مُشرق شد و قريب هفتصد سنه اَو ازيد به اختلاف اقوال، مردم را به رضوان قرب ذی الجلال دعوت نمود. و چه مقدار بلايا که به مثل غيث هاطل بر آن حضرت باريد تا آنکه کثرت دعوت سبب کثرت اعراض شد و شدّت اهتمام علّت شدّت اغماض گرديد. "وَ لا يَزيدُ الکَافِرينَ کُفْرُهُم إلّا خَسَاراً. "

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And after Noah the light of the countenance of Húd shone forth above the horizon of creation. For well-nigh seven hundred years, according to the sayings of men, He exhorted the people to turn their faces and draw nearer unto the Ridván of the divine presence. What showers of afflictions rained upon Him, until at last His adjurations bore the fruit of increased rebelliousness, and His assiduous endeavours resulted in the wilful blindness of His people. “And their unbelief shall only increase for the unbelievers their own perdition.”

Translation Notes

بعد
b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

از
ʾ-z

literal: from

نوح
n-w-ḥ → “groan”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

جمال
j-m-l → “light of the countenance” Distinctive

literal: beauty; comeliness

هود
h-w-d → “Jews”

literal: cradle; bed; couch; resting place

مَشرق
sh-r-q → “horizon” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

ابداع
b-d-ʿ → “creation”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

شد
sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

قريب
q-r-b → “well-nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

سنه
s-n-h → “years”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

اَو
h-w-w

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

به
b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

اختلاف
kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

اقوال،
q-w-l → “sayings”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

مردم
m-r-d → “men”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

رضوان
r-ḍ-w → “Ridván”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

ذی
dh-w-y

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

الجلال
j-l-l → “glory”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

دعوت
d-ʿ-w → “summoned”

literal: call; invitation; claim

نمود.
n-m-ʾ

literal: do; show; make

چه
ch-h

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

مقدار
q-d-r → “power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

بلايا
b-l-w → “afflictions”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

مثل
m-th-l

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

غيث
gh-y-th → “showers”

literal: to call for help; to cry out; to seek assistance

هاطل
h-ṭ-l → “copious rain”

literal: falling; pouring down; abundant

بر
b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

حضرت
ḥ-ḍ-r → “Him”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

باريد
b-r-d

literal: brother

تا
t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

آنکه
ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

کثرت
k-th-r → “most” Distinctive

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

سبب
s-b-b

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

اعراض
ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

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

شدّت
sh-d-d

literal: become; became; severe

اهتمام
h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

علّت
ʿ-l-l

literal: cause; reason; illness; defect

اغماض
gh-m-ḍ → “ignore the”

literal: closing of the eye; overlooking; disregarding

گرديد.
g-r-d

literal: Persian verb گردیدن (to become/turn), not from Arabic ك-ر-د

"وَ
w-w-w → ““And”

literal: and; quotation mark

لا
l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

يَزيدُ
z-y-d → “increase”

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

الکَافِرينَ
k-f-r → “repudiated” Distinctive

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

کُفْرُهُم
k-f-r → “unbelief”

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

إلّا
ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

خَسَاراً.
kh-s-r → “loss”

literal: loss; ruin; to suffer loss

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 ¶