The Hidden Words
Bahá’u’lláh
Revealed by Bahá’u’lláh around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad, consisting of 71 Arabic and 82 Persian aphorisms. Originally designated the ‘Hidden Book of Fáṭimih.’ Shoghi Effendi’s translation was among his earliest, completed between 1925–1929 with editorial assistance from George Townshend. In God Passes By, Shoghi Effendi described it as ‘that marvelous collection of gem-like utterances’ occupying ‘a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Author of the Bahá’í Dispensation’ and ‘a dynamic spiritual leaven cast into the life of the world for the reorientation of the minds of men, the edification of their souls and the rectification of their conduct.’
Each paragraph below pairs the original Arabic text with Shoghi Effendi’s English rendering. Click any passage to view the full parallel text.