Will and Testament — §2

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 2 of 59.

Source (Persian)

و التّحیّة و الثّنآء و الصّلاة و البهآء علی اوّل غصن مبارک خَضِلٍ نَضِرٍ ریّانٍ من السّدرة المقدّسة الرّحمانیّة منشعب من کلتی الشّجرتین الرّبّانیّتین و ابدع جوهرة فریدة عصمآء تتلألأ من خلال البحرین المتلاطمین و علی فروع دوحة القدس و افنان سدرة الحقّ الّذین ثبتوا علی المیثاق فی یوم الطّلاق و علی ایادی امر اللّه الّذین نشروا نفحات اللّه و نطقوا بحجج اللّه و بلّغوا دین اللّه و روّجوا شریعة اللّه و انقطعوا عن غیر اللّه و زهدوا فی الدّنیا و اجّجوا نیران محبّة اللّه بین الضّلوع و الأحشآء من عباد اللّه و علی الّذین آمنوا و اطمأنّوا و ثبتوا علی میثاق اللّه و اتّبعوا النّور الّذی یلوح و یضیء من فجر الهدی من بعدی الا و هو فرع مقدّس مبارک منشعب من الشّجرتین المبارکتین طوبی لمن استظلّ فی ظلّه الممدود علی العالمین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Salutation and praise, blessing and glory rest upon that primal branch of the Divine and Sacred Lote-Tree, grown out, blest, tender, verdant and flourishing from the Twin Holy Trees; the most wondrous, unique and priceless pearl that doth gleam from out the Twin surging seas; upon the offshoots of the Tree of Holiness, the twigs of the Celestial Tree, they that in the Day of the Great Dividing have stood fast and firm in the Covenant; upon the Hands (pillars) of the Cause of God that have diffused widely the Divine Fragrances, declared His Proofs, proclaimed His Faith, published abroad His Law, detached themselves from all things but Him, stood for righteousness in the world, and kindled the fire of the love of God in the very hearts and souls of His servants; upon them that have believed, rested assured, stood steadfast in His Covenant and followed the Light that after my passing shineth from the Dayspring of Divine Guidance—for behold! he is the blest and sacred bough that hath branched out from the Twin Holy Trees. Well is it with him that seeketh the shelter of his shade that shadoweth all mankind.

Translation Notes

التّحیّة

ḥ-y-y → “life” Distinctive

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

الثّنآء

th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

الصّلاة

ṣ-l-w → “blessing”

literal: prayer; blessing; benediction

البهآء

b-h-w → “glory”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “primal” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

غصن

gh-ṣ-n → “branch”

literal: branch; twig

مبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

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

خَضِلٍ

kh-ḍ-l → “tender”

literal: moist; tender; fresh

نَضِرٍ

n-ḍ-r → “brightness”

literal: verdant; fresh; flourishing; to look

ریّانٍ

r-w-y → “traditions” Distinctive

literal: to be fresh, verdant, flourishing; to drink abundantly

من

m-n → “from”

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

السّدرة

s-d-r → “Lote-Tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

المقدّسة

q-d-s → “Sacred” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

الرّحمانیّة

r-ḥ-m → “Divine”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

منشعب

sh-ʿ-b → “grown out”

literal: branching off, issuing forth, emanating from

کلتی

k-l-l → “all” Distinctive

literal: both; dual; two; protection; fortification; guardianship; guarding

الشّجرتین

sh-j-r → “Trees”

literal: tree

الرّبّانیّتین

r-b-b → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: divine; of God; lordly

ابدع

b-d-ʿ → “most wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

جوهرة

j-w-h-r → “Essences”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

فریدة

f-r-d → “Thy oneness” Distinctive

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

عصمآء

ʿ-ṣ-m → “protection” Distinctive

literal: immaculate; protected; infallible

تتلألأ

l-ʾ-l-ʾ → “goodly pearls” Distinctive

literal: to shine; to glitter; to sparkle

خلال

kh-l-l

literal: friend; midst; defect

البحرین

b-ḥ-r → “ocean” Distinctive

literal: sea; ocean

المتلاطمین

l-ṭ-m → “blow” Distinctive

literal: surging; dashing; tumultuous

فروع

f-r-ʿ → “offshoots”

literal: branch; offshoot; to branch off

دوحة

d-w-ḥ → “Tree”

literal: tree

افنان

f-n-n → “twigs”

literal: twigs; branches

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

الّذین

l-dh-y → “they that”

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

ثبتوا

th-b-t → “stood fast and firm”

literal: established; establish; affirmation

المیثاق

w-th-q → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; compact; pact; agreement

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

یوم

y-w-m → “Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

الطّلاق

ṭ-l-q → “applied” Distinctive

literal: divorce; release; freeing

ایادی

y-d-y → “Hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

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

نشروا

n-sh-r → “diffused”

literal: to scatter; to spread; to unfold; to disseminate

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “Fragrances”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

نطقوا

n-ṭ-q → “spoken”

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

بحجج

ḥ-j-j → “Proofs”

literal: path, way; clear path

بلّغوا

b-l-gh → “proclaimed”

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

دین

d-y-n → “Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

روّجوا

r-w-j → “promulgate” Distinctive

literal: to hope; to aspire; to expect

شریعة

sh-r-ʿ → “Law”

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

انقطعوا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detached”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

غیر

gh-y-r → “other”

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

زهدوا

z-h-d → “most righteous” Distinctive

literal: to renounce; to abstain; to have no taste for

الدّنیا

d-n-w → “world”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

اجّجوا

ʾ-j-j → “kindled”

literal: bitter; kindled

نیران

n-y-r → “fire”

literal: fires; blazes; luminary; celestial body; light-giver

محبّة

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

بین

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

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

الضّلوع

ḍ-l-ʿ → “hearts”

literal: rib

الأحشآء

ḥ-sh-w → “Far be it from” Distinctive

literal: far be it; internal organs, entrails; entrails

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

آمنوا

ʾ-m-n → “believed”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

اطمأنّوا

ṭ-m-n → “rested assured”

literal: tranquility; confidence; tranquil

اتّبعوا

t-b-ʿ → “followed”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

النّور

n-w-r → “Light”

literal: light; illumination

یلوح

l-w-ḥ

literal: tablet; tablets; allusion

یضیء

ḍ-y-ʾ → “illumination” Distinctive

literal: illumination; shines

فجر

f-j-r → “Dayspring”

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

الهدی

h-d-y → “Guidance—for”

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

بعدی

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

الا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

هو

h-w → “he”

literal: He; He is

المبارکتین

b-r-k → “Holy”

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

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Well is it”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

استظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shelter”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

الممدود

m-d-d → “ink” Distinctive

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “all mankind” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

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 ¶