Will and Testament — §3

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 3 of 59.

Source (Persian)

ای احبّای الهی اعظم امور محافظۀ دین اللّه است و صیانت شریعت اللّه و حمایت امر اللّه و خدمت کلمة اللّه در این سبیل هزاران نفس خون مطهّر را سبیل نمودند و جان عزیز را فدا کردند رقص‌کنان بقربانگاه شتافتند و علم دین اللّه افراشتند و بخون خویش آیات توحید نگاشتند سینۀ مبارک حضرت اعلی روحی له الفدآء هدف هزار تیر بلا شد و قدوم مبارک جمال ابهی روحی لأحبّائه الفدآء از ضرب چوب در مازندران زخم و مجروح گردید و گردن مقدّس و پای مبارک در زندان طهران اسیر کند و زنجیر گشت و مدّت پنجاه سال در هر ساعتی بلا و آفتی رسید و ابتلا و مصیبتی رخ داد از جمله بعد از صدمات شدیده از وطن آواره و مبتلای آلام و محن شد و در عراق نیّر آفاق معرض کسوف از اهل نفاق بود و عاقبت سرگون بمدینۀ کبیره گشت و از آن شهر بارض سرّ نفی گردید و از خطّۀ بلغار در نهایت مظلومیّت بسجن اعظم ارسال گشت آن مظلوم آفاق روحی لأحبّائه الفدآء چهار مرتبه از شهری بشهری سرگون گردید تا در این زندان بحبس مؤبّد استقرار یافت و در سجن قاتلان و سارقان و قطّاع طریق مسجون و مظلوم گردید این یک بلا از بلایای واردۀ بر جمال مبارک بود بلایای دیگر را بر این قیاس نمائید

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O ye beloved of the Lord! The greatest of all things is the protection of the True Faith of God, the preservation of His Law, the safeguarding of His Cause and service unto His Word. Ten thousand souls have shed streams of their sacred blood in this path, their precious lives they offered in sacrifice unto Him, hastened wrapt in holy ecstasy unto the glorious field of martyrdom, upraised the Standard of God’s Faith and writ with their life-blood upon the Tablet of the world the verses of His Divine Unity. The sacred breast of His Holiness the Exalted One (may my life be a sacrifice unto Him) was made a target to many a dart of woe, and in Mázindarán, the blessed feet of the Abhá Beauty (may my life be offered up for His loved ones) were so grievously scourged as to bleed and be sore wounded. His neck also was put into captive chains and His feet made fast in the stocks. In every hour, for a period of fifty years, a new trial and calamity befell Him and fresh afflictions and cares beset Him. One of them: After having suffered intense vicissitudes, He was made homeless and a wanderer and fell a victim to still new vexations and troubles. In ‘Iráq, the Day-Star of the world was so exposed to the wiles of the people of malice as to be eclipsed in splendour. Later on He was sent an exile to the Great City (Constantinople) and thence to the Land of Mystery (Adrianople), whence, grievously wronged, He was eventually transferred to the Most Great Prison (‘Akká). He Whom the world hath wronged (may my life be offered up for His loved ones) was four times banished from city to city, till at last, condemned to perpetual confinement, He was incarcerated in this prison, the prison of highway robbers, of brigands and of manslayers. All this is but one of the trials that have afflicted the Blessed Beauty, the rest being even as grievous as this.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

احبّای

ḥ-b-b → “ye beloved of the Lord”

literal: love; affection

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “greatest” Distinctive

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

امور

ʾ-m-r → “all things”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

محافظۀ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protection”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

دین

d-y-n → “True Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

صیانت

ṣ-w-n → “insure the protection”

literal: preservation; safeguarding; protection

شریعت

sh-r-ʿ → “His Law”

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

حمایت

ḥ-m-y → “fanaticism” Distinctive

literal: to protect; to guard; to preserve; to defend

خدمت

kh-d-m → “service”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

کلمة

k-l-m → “His Word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

سبیل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

هزاران

h-z-r → “Ten thousand”

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

نفس

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

خون

kh-w-n → “blood”

literal: blood

مطهّر

ṭ-h-r → “sacred”

literal: to purify; to cleanse

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

نمودند

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

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

جان

j-ʾ-n → “precious lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

عزیز

ʿ-z-z

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

فدا

f-d-y → “in sacrifice”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem; to sacrifice oneself for

کردند

k-r-d → “made” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; deed; action; conduct; behavior

رقص‌کنان

r-q-ṣ → “hastened wrapt in holy ecstasy”

literal: to dance; dancing

بقربانگاه

q-r-b → “unto the glorious field”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

شتافتند

sh-t-f

literal: to hasten; to rush

علم

ʿ-l-m → “Standard” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

افراشتند

ʾ-f-r → “creation” Distinctive

literal: to raise; to spread; to erect

خویش

kh-w-sh → “His” Distinctive

literal: self; own; personal

آیات

ʾ-y-y → “verses”

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

توحید

w-ḥ-d → “Divine Unity”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

نگاشتند

n-g-sh → “writ”

literal: written, inscribed; write

سینۀ

s-n-h → “years”

literal: tooth; years; future; breast; chest; bosom

مبارک

b-r-k → “blessed”

literal: blessed; auspicious; fruitful

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “His Holiness” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “Exalted One” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

روحی

r-w-ḥ → “my life”

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

له

h-w → “is”

literal: for them both; to both of them (dual pronoun)

هدف

h-d-f → “target”

literal: target; goal; aim

تیر

t-y-r → “obscured”

literal: arrow; dark; gloomy

بلا

b-l-w → “of woe”

literal: no; not; negation particle

شد

sh-d → “was made”

literal: to become; to be

قدوم

q-d-m → “feet” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

جمال

j-m-l → “Abhá Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

ابهی

b-h-w → “All-Glorious”

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

ضرب

ḍ-r-b → “tremble” Distinctive

literal: to strike; to beat; to afflict

چوب

ch-w-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

زخم

z-kh-m → “wounds”

literal: wound; injury; sore

مجروح

j-r-ḥ → “members” Distinctive

literal: wounded; injured

گردید

g-r-d → “were”

literal: Persian verb گردیدن (to become/turn), not from Arabic ك-ر-د

گردن

g-r-d-n → “necks”

literal: neck

مقدّس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

پای

p-ʾ-y → “feet”

literal: foot; basis; foundation; end; with negation: endless, infinite, boundless

زندان

z-n-d → “life” Distinctive

literal: prison; jail

اسیر

ʾ-s-r → “captives”

literal: captive; exile; captives

زنجیر

z-n-j-r

literal: chain

گشت

g-sh-t → “have been” Distinctive

literal: to become; to turn; to be

مدّت

m-d-d → “period”

literal: hopeful; hope; hoping

پنجاه

p-n-j → “fifty”

literal: fifty

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

ساعتی

s-w-ʿ → “hour”

literal: hour; moment; time

آفتی

ʾ-f-t → “Daystar” Distinctive

literal: sun; calamity; calamity, misfortune

رسید

r-s-d → “reached”

literal: Persian verb رسیدن (to arrive/reach), not Arabic ر-س-د

مصیبتی

ṣ-w-b → “trials” Distinctive

literal: calamity; misfortune; disaster; affliction

رخ

r-kh

literal: face

داد

d-ʾ-d → “of equity”

literal: to give; to grant; to present; justice; judgment; to see; sight; eye; seen

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “After”

literal: after; behind; distance

صدمات

ṣ-d-m → “such slight injuries” Distinctive

literal: shock; collision; blow; impact

شدیده

sh-d-d → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

وطن

w-ṭ-n → “and”

literal: homeland; native country; dwelling place

آواره

w-r-h → “homeless”

literal: wandering; vagabond; homeless

آلام

ʾ-l-m → “vexations”

literal: mother

محن

m-ḥ-n → “trials” Distinctive

literal: trial; tribulation; affliction; test

عراق

ʿ-r-q → “vein”

literal: Iraq; sweat

نیّر

n-w-r → “Day-Star”

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

آفاق

ʾ-f-q → “world”

literal: horizons; regions; quarters; skylines

معرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

کسوف

k-s-f → “eclipsed”

literal: eclipse; obscuring; darkening

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

نفاق

n-f-q → “malice”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

عاقبت

ʿ-q-b → “retribution” Distinctive

literal: behind; heels; height

سرگون

s-r-g-w-n → “sent”

literal: cypress (tree); call, voice; joy

بمدینۀ

m-d-n

literal: city; cities; civilization

کبیره

k-b-r → “Great City”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

آن

ʾ-n → “that have”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

بارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “Land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

سرّ

s-r-r → “Mystery”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

نفی

n-f-y → “denial”

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

خطّۀ

kh-ṭ-ṭ

literal: handwriting; line; script

نهایت

n-h-y → “utmost”

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

مظلومیّت

ẓ-l-m → “wronged”

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

بسجن

s-j-n → “Most Great Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

ارسال

r-s-l → “Apostle” Distinctive

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

چهار

ch-h-r → “noon-tide” Distinctive

literal: four; fourth

مرتبه

r-t-b → “times”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

شهری

sh-h-r → “city”

literal: city; month; fame, renown

تا

t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

بحبس

ḥ-b-s → “cast Him into prison” Distinctive

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

مؤبّد

ʾ-b-d → “everlasting” Distinctive

literal: everlasting; prosperous/populated; ever

استقرار

q-r-r

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

یافت

y-f-t → “have kept both” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

قاتلان

q-t-l → “manslayers”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

سارقان

s-r-q → “stolen” Distinctive

literal: thief; robber; stealer

قطّاع

q-ṭ-ʿ

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

طریق

ṭ-r-q → “mystic” Distinctive

literal: path; way; road; method

یک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

واردۀ

w-r-d → “afflicted” Distinctive

literal: entering; come; arrive

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: on; on, upon; upon

دیگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

قیاس

q-y-s → “as grievous as this”

literal: to measure; to compare; analogy, comparison, measure, standard

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

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 ¶