The Hidden Words — §57

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 57 of 160.

Source (Arabic)

(٥٦) ﴿ يَا ابْنَ الإِنْسانِ ﴾ أَنْتَ تُريدُ الذَّهَبَ وَأَنا أُريدُ تَنْزيهَكَ عَنْهُ، وَأَنْتَ عَرَفْتَ غَنَاءَ نَفْسِكَ فِيهِ، وَأَنَا عَرَفْتُ الْغَناءَ فِي تَقْدِيسِكَ عَنْهُ. وَعَمْري هَذا عِلْمِي وَذلِكَ ظَنُّكَ؛ كَيْفَ يَجْتَمِعُ أَمْرِي مَعَ أَمْرِكَ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

(56) O SON OF MAN! Thou dost wish for gold and I desire thy freedom from it. Thou thinkest thyself rich in its possession, and I recognize thy wealth in thy sanctity therefrom. By My life! This is My knowledge, and that is thy fancy; how can My way accord with thine?

Translation Notes

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ابْنَ

b-n-y → “SON”

literal: son

الإِنْسانِ

ʾ-n-s → “OF MAN”

literal: familiar; intimate; companionship; to be acquainted with; companion; intimate friend; to be intimate with; to keep company; to console

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

تُريدُ

r-y-d → “dost wish for”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

الذَّهَبَ

dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

وَأَنا

ʾ-n → “and I” Distinctive

literal: I; ego; self; myself

تَنْزيهَكَ

n-z-h → “sanctified” Distinctive

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

عَنْهُ،

ʿ-n → “from it”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

عَرَفْتَ

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: knowledge; know; knower

غَنَاءَ

gh-n-y → “rich in its possession” Distinctive

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

نَفْسِكَ

n-f-s → “thyself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

تَقْدِيسِكَ

q-d-s → “thy sanctity”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

وَعَمْري

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

هَذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; that

عِلْمِي

ʿ-l-m → “is My knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وَذلِكَ

dh-l-k → “and that” Distinctive

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

ظَنُّكَ؛

ẓ-n-n → “is thy fancy”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

كَيْفَ

k-y-f → “how”

literal: how; in what manner

يَجْتَمِعُ

j-m-ʿ → “all” Distinctive

literal: to gather, assemble, come together

أَمْرِي

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

مَعَ

m-ʿ → “with thine” Distinctive

literal: with; together with; alongside

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 ¶