Tablet of Aḥmad — §12

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 12 of 17.

Source (Arabic)

فَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللهِ رَبِّكَ وَرَبِّ آبَائِكَ ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ لِأَنَّ ٱلْنَّاسَ يَمْشُوْنَ فِي سُبُلِ ٱلْوَهْمِ وَلَيْسَ لَهُمْ مِنْ بَصَرٍ لِيَعْرِفُوْا اللهَ بِعُيُوْنِهِمْ أَوْ يَسْمَعُوْا نَغَمَاتِهِ بِآذَانِهِمْ وَكَذَلِكَ أَشْهَدْنَاهُمْ إِنْ أَنْتَ مِنَ ٱلْشَّاهِدِينَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Rely upon God, thy God and the Lord of thy fathers. For the people are wandering in the paths of delusion, bereft of discernment to see God with their own eyes, or hear His Melody with their own ears. Thus have We found them, as thou also dost witness.

Translation Notes

فَتَوَكَّلْ

w-k-l → “ministers” Distinctive

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اللهِ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

رَبِّكَ

r-b-b → “thy God” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

آبَائِكَ

ʾ-b-w → “of thy fathers”

literal: father; ancestry; forefathers

ٱلْأَوَّلِينَ

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

لِأَنَّ

ʾ-n → “For” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ٱلْنَّاسَ

n-ʾ-s → “people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

يَمْشُوْنَ

m-sh-y → “walking”

literal: walk; walking; walks

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سُبُلِ

s-b-l → “paths”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

ٱلْوَهْمِ

w-h-m → “vain imaginings”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

وَلَيْسَ

l-y-s → “is not” Distinctive

literal: is not; to be not

لَهُمْ

l-h-m

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

مِنْ

m-n → “of”

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

بَصَرٍ

b-ṣ-r → “discernment” Distinctive

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

لِيَعْرِفُوْا

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

بِعُيُوْنِهِمْ

ʿ-y-n → “with their own eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

أَوْ

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

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

يَسْمَعُوْا

s-m-ʿ → “hear”

literal: hear; hearing; heard

نَغَمَاتِهِ

n-gh-m → “His Melody” Distinctive

literal: melody; tone; note

بِآذَانِهِمْ

ʾ-dh-n → “with their own ears”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow

وَكَذَلِكَ

k-dh-l → “Thus”

literal: that; thus; likewise

أَشْهَدْنَاهُمْ

sh-h-d → “have We found them”

literal: witness; observation; witnessed

إِنْ

ʾ-n → “as” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

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

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

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 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

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 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 ¶