The Hidden Words — §108

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 108 of 160.

Source (Arabic)

(٣٣) ﴿ ای برادر من ﴾ از لسان شکرينم کلمات نازنينم شنو و از لب نمکينم سلسبيل قدس معنوی بياشام * يعنی تخمهای حکمت لدنّيم را در ارض طاهر قلب بيفشان و بآب يقين آبش ده تا سنبلات علم و حکمت من سر سبز از بلده طيّبه انبات نمايد *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

(33) O MY BROTHER! Hearken to the delightsome words of My honeyed tongue, and quaff the stream of mystic holiness from My sugar-shedding lips. Sow the seeds of My divine wisdom in the pure soil of thy heart, and water them with the water of certitude, that the hyacinths of My knowledge and wisdom may spring up fresh and green in the sacred city of thy heart.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

برادر

b-r-d → “BROTHER”

literal: brother

من

m-n → “MY” Distinctive

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

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

لسان

l-s-n → “tongue”

literal: tongue; language

شکرينم

sh-k-r → “render thanks” Distinctive

literal: thankfulness, gratitude; to give thanks, be grateful; manifest; evident; apparent; clear

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

نازنينم

n-z-n → “delightsome”

literal: delightsome; delicate; tender

شنو

sh-n-w → “Hearken”

literal: to hear; listens

لب

l-b → “lips”

literal: core; essence; intellect; hearts (of understanding)

نمکينم

n-m-k → “sugar-shedding”

literal: salt-shedding; sugar-shedding

سلسبيل

s-l-s → “chains” Distinctive

literal: Salsabil; a spring in Paradise; easy to drink

قدس

q-d-s → “holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

معنوی

ʿ-n-y → “mystic”

literal: meaning; sense; significance

بياشام

sh-r-b → “quaff”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

يعنی

ʿ-n-y

literal: meaning; sense; significance

تخمهای

t-kh-m → “seeds”

literal: wine; intoxicating drink

حکمت

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

لدنّيم

l-d-n → “divine”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “soil” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

طاهر

ṭ-h-r → “pure”

literal: to purify; to cleanse

قلب

q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

بيفشان

f-sh-n → “Sow”

literal: to grow, to spring forth, to produce; plant, growth

بآب

b-w-b → “door”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

يقين

y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction

آبش

m-w-h → “water”

literal: to give drink; to water, irrigate; to water

ده

d-ʾ-d

literal: میدهند is Persian verb from دادن (to give), not Arabic د-و-ن

تا

t-y-y → “that”

literal: so that/until

سنبلات

s-n-b-l → “hyacinths”

literal: spike of grain; ear of corn; hyacinth

علم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

سر

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

سبز

s-b-z → “green”

literal: green; verdant; flourishing

بلده

b-l-d → “city”

literal: city; land; country

طيّبه

ṭ-y-b → “goodly”

literal: good; pure; sweet; fragrant; virtuous

انبات

n-b-t

literal: to grow, to spring forth, to produce; plant, growth

نمايد

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

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 ¶

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 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 ¶

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 ¶