Will and Testament — §16

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 16 of 59.

Source (Persian)

ای یاران مهربان بعد از مفقودی این مظلوم باید اغصان و افنان سدرۀ مبارکه و ایادی امر اللّه و احبّای جمال ابهی توجّه بفرع دو سدره که از دو شجرۀ مقدّسۀ مبارکه انبات شده و از اقتران دو فرع دوحۀ رحمانیّه بوجود آمده یعنی شوقی افندی نمایند زیرا آیت اللّه و غصن ممتاز و ولیّ امر اللّه و مرجع جمیع اغصان و افنان و ایادی امر اللّه و احبّآء اللّه است و مبیّن آیات اللّه و من بعده بکراً بعد بکر یعنی در سلالۀ او

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O my loving friends! After the passing away of this wronged one, it is incumbent upon the Aghṣán (Branches), the Afnán (Twigs) of the Sacred Lote-Tree, the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God and the loved ones of the Abhá Beauty to turn unto Shoghi Effendi—the youthful branch branched from the two hallowed and sacred Lote-Trees and the fruit grown from the union of the two offshoots of the Tree of Holiness—as he is the sign of God, the chosen branch, the Guardian of the Cause of God, he unto whom all the Aghṣán, the Afnán, the Hands of the Cause of God and His loved ones must turn. He is the expounder of the words of God and after him will succeed the first-born of his lineal descendants.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

یاران

y-ʾ-r → “friends”

literal: friend; companion; helper; help; aid; grace

مهربان

m-h-r → “shining” Distinctive

literal: kindness, affection, clemency; kind, compassionate

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “After”

literal: after; behind; distance

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

مفقودی

f-q-d → “forgotten” Distinctive

literal: to lose; to miss; lost; missing

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “wronged”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

باید

b-y-d → “incumbent upon”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

اغصان

gh-ṣ-n → “Aghṣán”

literal: branch; twig

افنان

f-n-n → “Afnán”

literal: twigs; branches

سدرۀ

s-d-r → “Sacred Lote-Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

مبارکه

b-r-k → “hallowed” Distinctive

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful; blest; blessed word

ایادی

y-d-y → “Hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

احبّای

ḥ-b-b → “loved”

literal: love; affection

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

ابهی

b-h-w → “Abhá” Distinctive

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

توجّه

w-j-h → “turn”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

بفرع

f-r-ʿ → “offshoots” Distinctive

literal: branch; offshoot; to branch off

دو

d-w → “two”

literal: two; run; running

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

شجرۀ

sh-j-r

literal: tree; trees

مقدّسۀ

q-d-s → “sacred”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

انبات

n-b-t

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

شده

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

اقتران

q-r-n → “centuries” Distinctive

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

دوحۀ

d-w-ḥ → “Tree”

literal: tree; lote-tree

رحمانیّه

r-ḥ-m → “mercy” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بوجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

آمده

ʾ-m-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

یعنی

ʿ-n-y

literal: that is; meaning; i.e.

شوقی

sh-w-q → “longing” Distinctive

literal: to encourage; to incite; yearning; enthusiasm

نمایند

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

زیرا

z-y-r

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

آیت

ʾ-t-y → “came”

literal: came; come; bring

ممتاز

m-y-z → “distinguish”

literal: distinguished; excellent; outstanding

ولیّ

w-l-y → “Guardian”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally

مرجع

r-j-ʿ → “return” Distinctive

literal: return; place of return; pasture

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

مبیّن

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

آیات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

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

من

m-n

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

بکراً

b-k-r → “at morn” Distinctive

literal: repetition; repeatedly; time and again; pulley; virgin; early morning

در

d-r-r → “of” Distinctive

literal: in; in, at; radiant

سلالۀ

s-l-l → “living Fountain” Distinctive

literal: offspring; lineage; descent; progeny

او

h-w-w → “his”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

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 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶