The Hidden Words — §8

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 8 of 160.

Source (Arabic)

(٧) ﴿ يَا ابْنَ البَشَرِ ﴾ إِنْ تُحِبَّ نَفْسي فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْ نَفْسِكَ، وَإِنْ تُرِدْ رِضائِي فَأَغْمِضْ عَنْ رِضائِكَ، لِتَكُونَ فِيَّ فانِيًا وَأَكُونَ فِيْكَ باقِيًا.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

(7) O SON OF MAN! If thou lovest Me, turn away from thyself; and if thou seekest My pleasure, regard not thine own; that thou mayest die in Me and I may eternally live in thee.

Translation Notes

يَا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

ابْنَ

b-n-y → “SON”

literal: son

البَشَرِ

b-sh-r → “OF MAN”

literal: human; mankind; human nature

إِنْ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُحِبَّ

ḥ-b-b → “lovest”

literal: love; affection

نَفْسي

n-f-s → “Me” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

فَأَعْرِضْ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turn away” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

وَإِنْ

ʾ-n-n → “and if”

literal: that; indeed/verily; indeed

تُرِدْ

r-d-d → “reject” Distinctive

literal: rejected; repudiated

رِضائِي

r-ḍ-y → “My pleasure”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

فَأَغْمِضْ

gh-m-ḍ → “ignore the” Distinctive

literal: overlooking; ignoring; close

لِتَكُونَ

k-w-n → “that thou mayest”

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

فِيَّ

f-y → “in”

literal: so he; thus he; therefore he

فانِيًا

f-n-y → “shall perish” Distinctive

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

باقِيًا.

b-q-y → “eternally live”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

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 ¶