Kitáb-i-Íqán — §90

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 90 of 291.

Source (Persian)

سبحان اللّه، با وجود اقرار به اين حديث، علمائی که در مسائل شرعيّه هنوز در ظنّ و شکّ اند چگونه در غوامض مسائل اصول الهيّه و جواهر اسرار کلمات قدسيّه اظهار علم می نمايند و می گويند فلان حديث که از علائم ظهور قائم است هنوز ظاهر نشده با اينکه رائحه معانی احاديث را ابداً ادراک ننمودهاند و غافل از اينکه جميع علامات ظاهر شد و صراط امر کشيده گشت و المُؤمِنُونَ کَالبَرقِ عَلَيه يَمرُّون و هُم لِظُهُورِ العلامَةِ يَنتَظِرون، قُلْ يا مَلأ الجُهّالِ فَانتَظِرُوا کما کانَ الّذينَ مِنْ قَبلِکُم لَمِنَ المُنتَظرينَ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Great God! Notwithstanding their acceptance of the truth of this tradition, these divines who are still doubtful of, and dispute about, the theological obscurities of their faith, yet claim to be the exponents of the subtleties of the law of God, and the expounders of the essential mysteries of His holy Word. They confidently assert that such traditions as indicate the advent of the expected Qá’im have not yet been fulfilled, whilst they themselves have failed to inhale the fragrance of the meaning of these traditions, and are still oblivious of the fact that all the signs foretold have come to pass, that the way of God’s holy Cause hath been revealed, and the concourse of the faithful, swift as lightning, are, even now, passing upon that way, whilst these foolish divines wait expecting to witness the signs foretold. Say, O ye foolish ones! Wait ye even as those before you are waiting!

Translation Notes

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Glorified”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

اللّه،

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “have clung”

literal: to; with; by

وجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

اقرار

q-r-r → “acceptance” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

حديث،

ḥ-d-th → “tradition”

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

علمائی

ʿ-l-m → “divines”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مسائل

s-ʾ-l → “I implore Thee” Distinctive

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

شرعيّه

sh-r-ʿ → “Law” Distinctive

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

هنوز

h-n-w → “still”

literal: still; yet; hitherto

ظنّ

ẓ-n-n → “doubtful”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

شکّ

sh-k-k → “doubt”

literal: doubt; doubting

اند

b-w-d → “are”

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

چگونه

ch-g-n → “how”

literal: how; in what manner

غوامض

gh-m-ḍ → “ignore the” Distinctive

literal: closing of the eye; overlooking; disregarding

اصول

ʾ-ṣ-l

literal: principles; foundations; rules; origins

جواهر

j-w-h-r → “Essences”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

اسرار

s-r-r → “mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

کلمات

k-l-m → “Word”

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

قدسيّه

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

اظهار

ẓ-h-r → “assert” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

می

m-y-y

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

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

گويند

g-w-y

literal: say; to say; as-if

فلان

f-l-n → “man”

literal: so-and-so; a certain (indefinite marker)

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

قائم

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

نشده

sh-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to occur

رائحه

r-w-ḥ → “fragrance”

literal: banner; standard; flag; sign; banner, standard, flag, ensign

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “meaning”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ابداً

ʾ-b-d

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

ادراک

d-r-k → “comprehend”

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

غافل

gh-f-l → “oblivious”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

صراط

ṣ-r-ṭ → “way” Distinctive

literal: path, way, straight path

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

کشيده

k-sh-d → “been brought”

literal: to draw; to pull; to drag; to extend

گشت

g-sh-t → “have been” Distinctive

literal: to become; to turn; to be

المُؤمِنُونَ

ʾ-m-n → “faithful”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

کَالبَرقِ

b-r-q → “swift as lightning”

literal: lightning; to flash; swiftness

عَلَيه

ʿ-l-y → “upon that way”

literal: upon; on; exalted

يَمرُّون

m-r-r → “At one time” Distinctive

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

هُم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

يَنتَظِرون،

n-ẓ-r → “wait expecting”

literal: look; looking; view

قُلْ

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

مَلأ

m-l-ʾ → “concourse”

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

الجُهّالِ

j-h-l → “foolish ones”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

کما

k-m → “as”

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

کانَ

k-w-n

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

الّذينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

مِنْ

m-n

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

قَبلِکُم

q-b-l → “before”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

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

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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 ¶