The Hidden Words — §129

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 129 of 160.

Source (Arabic)

(٥٢) ﴿ ای پسران غفلت و هوی ﴾ دشمن مرا در خانه من راه داده‌ايد و دوست مرا از خود رانده‌ايد چنانچه حبّ غير مرا در دل منزل داده‌ايد * بشنويد بيان دوست را و برضوانش اقبال نمائيد * دوستان ظاهر نظر بمصلحت خود يکديگر را دوست داشته و دارند و لکن دوست معنوی شما را لاجل شما دوست داشته و دارد بلکه مخصوص هدايت شما بلايای لا تحصی قبول فرموده * بچنين دوست جفا مکنيد و بکويش بشتابيد * اينست شمس کلمه صدق و وفا که از افق اصبع مالک اسماء اشراق فرموده * افتحوا آذانکم لاصغاء کلمة اللّه المهيمن القيّوم *

Shoghi Effendi Translation

(52) O CHILDREN OF NEGLIGENCE AND PASSION Ye have suffered My enemy to enter My house and have cast out My friend, for ye have enshrined the love of another than Me in your hearts. Give ear to the sayings of the Friend and turn towards His paradise. Worldly friends, seeking their own good, appear to love one the other, whereas the true Friend hath loved and doth love you for your own sakes; indeed He hath suffered for your guidance countless afflictions. Be not disloyal to such a Friend, nay rather hasten unto Him. Such is the daystar of the word of truth and faithfulness, that hath dawned above the horizon of the pen of the Lord of all names. Open your ears that ye may hearken unto the word of God, the Help in peril, the Self-existent.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

پسران

p-s-r → “CHILDREN”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

غفلت

gh-f-l → “NEGLIGENCE”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

هوی

h-w-y → “PASSION”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

دشمن

d-sh-m-n → “enemy”

literal: enemy; adversary; foe

مرا

m-n → “My” Distinctive

literal: me; to me (Persian object pronoun); man; person; woman; wife

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

خانه

kh-w-n → “disloyalty” Distinctive

literal: house; home; dwelling

راه

r-h → “guide” Distinctive

literal: way; path; road

داده‌ايد

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: give; to give; given

دوست

d-w-s-t → “friend”

literal: friend; beloved; to befriend

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

رانده‌ايد

r-n → “have cast out”

literal: drive away

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

حبّ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

غير

gh-y-r → “of another than Me”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

دل

d-l → “hearts”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

منزل

n-z-l → “have enshrined” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

بشنويد

sh-n-w → “Give ear”

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

بيان

b-y-n → “sayings” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

برضوانش

r-ḍ-w → “Ridván” Distinctive

literal: pleasure; satisfaction; consent; approval; will

نمائيد

n-m-ʾ

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

نظر

n-ẓ-r

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بمصلحت

ṣ-l-ḥ → “betterment” Distinctive

literal: peace; reconciliation

يکديگر

d-y-g-r → “others”

literal: other; another; different

داشته

d-sh-t → “without” Distinctive

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

دارند

d-ʾ-r

literal: to hold, keep, maintain, possess

لکن

l-k-n

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

معنوی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: meaning; sense; significance

شما

sh-m-ʾ → “you”

literal: you (plural); your

لاجل

ʾ-j-l → “to”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

بلکه

b-l-k → “nay rather”

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

مخصوص

kh-ṣ-ṣ

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

هدايت

h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

بلايای

b-l-w → “afflictions”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تحصی

ḥ-ṣ-y → “countless”

literal: unnumbered, innumerable, countless, beyond count; to count; to enumerate; to be reckoned

قبول

q-b-l → “hath suffered” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

فرموده

f-r-m → “He” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

جفا

j-f-w → “unkindly”

literal: cruelty, harshness, wrong

مکنيد

k-n → “Be not”

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

بکويش

k-w → “unto Him”

literal: street

بشتابيد

sh-t-b → “hasten”

literal: to hasten; to hurry; hastily

اينست

h-s-t → “is”

literal: is; be; are

شمس

sh-m-s → “daystar”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

کلمه

k-l-m → “word”

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

صدق

ṣ-d-q → “truth”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

وفا

w-f-y → “faithfulness”

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

اصبع

ṣ-b-ʿ → “Finger”

literal: finger; digit

مالک

m-l-k → “Lord”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

اسماء

s-m-w → “names”

literal: name

اشراق

sh-r-q → “hath dawned” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

افتحوا

f-t-ḥ → “Open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

آذانکم

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

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

لاصغاء

ṣ-gh-y → “that ye may hearken”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

المهيمن

h-m-n → “Help in peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

القيّوم

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

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 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 ¶