The Hidden Words — §14

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 14 of 160.

Source (Arabic)

(١٣) ﴿ يَا ابْنَ الرُّوحِ ﴾ خَلَقْتُكَ غَنِيًّا كَيْفَ تَفْتَقِرُ، وَصَنَعْتُكَ عَزِيزًا بِمَ تَسْتَذِلُّ، وَمِنْ جَوْهَرِ العِلْمِ أَظْهَرْتُكَ لِمَ تَسْتَعْلِمُ عَنْ دُونِي، وَمِنْ طينِ الْحُبِّ عَجَنْتُكَ كَيْفَ تَشْتَغِلُ بِغَيْري؛ فَأَرْجِعِ الْبَصَرَ إِلَيْكَ لِتَجِدَني فِيكَ قائِمًا قادِرًا مُقْتَدِرًا قَيُّومًا.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

(13) O SON OF SPIRIT! I created thee rich, why dost thou bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I made thee, wherewith dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone beside Me? Out of the clay of love I molded thee, how dost thou busy thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.

Translation Notes

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ابْنَ

b-n-y → “SON”

literal: son

الرُّوحِ

r-w-ḥ → “SPIRIT”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

خَلَقْتُكَ

kh-l-q → “I created thee”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

غَنِيًّا

gh-n-y → “rich”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with

كَيْفَ

k-y-f → “why” Distinctive

literal: how; in what manner

تَفْتَقِرُ،

f-q-r → “poverty”

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

وَصَنَعْتُكَ

ṣ-n-ʿ → “handiwork” Distinctive

literal: fashioning; making; creation; artifice

عَزِيزًا

ʿ-z-z → “glory” Distinctive

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

بِمَ

b-m-m → “wherewith”

literal: wherefore

تَسْتَذِلُّ،

dh-l-l → “abasement” Distinctive

literal: humiliation; abasement; abasement, humiliation

وَمِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

جَوْهَرِ

j-w-h-r → “essence”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

العِلْمِ

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

أَظْهَرْتُكَ

ẓ-h-r → “I gave thee being”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

لِمَ

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from anyone beside”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دُونِي،

d-w-n → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

طينِ

ṭ-y-n → “clay”

literal: clay; mire; mud

الْحُبِّ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

عَجَنْتُكَ

ʿ-j-n → “kneaded” Distinctive

literal: kneaded; knead

تَشْتَغِلُ

sh-gh-l → “dost thou busy thyself”

literal: occupied; busy; occupy

بِغَيْري؛

gh-y-r → “with another” Distinctive

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

فَأَرْجِعِ

r-j-ʿ → “return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

الْبَصَرَ

b-ṣ-r

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

لِتَجِدَني

w-j-d → “that thou mayest find”

literal: existence; find; existent

فِيكَ

f-y → “within thee”

literal: so he; thus he; therefore he

قائِمًا

q-w-m → “standing”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

قادِرًا

q-d-r → “powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶