Will and Testament — §42

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 42 of 59.

Source (Persian)

سبحان‌اللّه میرزا بدیع‌اللّه بعد از آنکه بخطّ خویش نقض این شخص را اعلان نمود و تحریف کتاب او را اعلان کرد چون ایمان و پیمان و متابعت عهد و میثاق را موافق اجرای هوای نفسانی خویش نیافت پشیمان شد و اظهار ندامت کرد و در سرّ خواست که اوراق مطبوع خویش را جمع نماید و با مرکز نقض سرّاً مؤانست جست و حوادث در خانه و اندرون را یومیاً باو میرساند و در این فسادهای اخیر مدخل کلّی دارد الحمد للّه امور منتظم شده بود و یاران قدری راحت شده بودند از روزیکه دوباره داخل ما شد فساد دوباره از سر گرفت و بعضی اطوار و تحریکات فسادیّۀ او در ورق مخصوص مرقوم میگردد

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Gracious God! After Mírzá Badí‘u’lláh had declared in his own handwriting that this man (Muḥammad-‘Alí) had broken the Covenant and had proclaimed his falsification of the Holy Text, he realized that to return to the True Faith and pay allegiance to the Covenant and Testament would in no wise promote his selfish desires. He thus repented and regretted the thing he had done and attempted privily to gather in his printed confessions, plotted darkly with the Centre of Sedition against me and informed him daily of all the happenings within my household. He hath even taken a leading part in the mischievous deeds that have of late been committed. Praise be to God, affairs recovered their former stability and the loved ones obtained partial peace. But ever since the day he entered again into our midst, he began afresh to sow the seeds of sore sedition. Some of his machinations and intrigues will be recorded in a separate leaflet.

Translation Notes

سبحان‌اللّه

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious God”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

بدیع‌اللّه

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “After”

literal: after; behind; distance

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

آنکه

ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; indeed; that, to

بخطّ

kh-ṭ-ṭ → “own handwriting”

literal: line; writing; path; course

خویش

kh-w-sh → “his” Distinctive

literal: self; own; personal

نقض

n-q-ḍ → “broken” Distinctive

literal: breaker; violator; one who breaks (covenant); covenant-breaker

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

شخص

sh-kh-ṣ → “man (Muḥammad-‘Alí)”

literal: person, individual, self; movement, stirring

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اعلان

ʿ-l-n → “committed” Distinctive

literal: proclamation; announcement; declaration; ensign; standard

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

تحریف

ḥ-r-f → “deviation” Distinctive

literal: letter; character; edge

کتاب

k-t-b → “Holy Text” Distinctive

literal: book; scripture; writing

او

h-w-w → “his”

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

کرد

k-r-d → “hath”

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

چون

ch-w-n → “As”

literal: since; when; as

ایمان

ʾ-m-n → “Faith”

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

پیمان

p-y-m → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; bond; pledge; testament; to measure; to traverse; to pass

متابعت

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

عهد

ʿ-h-d → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

میثاق

w-th-q → “Testament”

literal: covenant; testament; bond

موافق

w-f-q → “aid” Distinctive

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

اجرای

j-r-y → “flowed” Distinctive

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

هوای

h-w-y → “his selfish desires”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

نفسانی

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche

نیافت

y-ʾ-f → “found”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

پشیمان

p-sh-y-m → “repented”

literal: regretful; repentant; sorry; ashamed

اظهار

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

ندامت

n-d-m → “regretted”

literal: regret; repentance; remorse; lamentation

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

خواست

kh-w-ʾ-s-t → “purpose”

literal: to wish, to desire, to want, to ask, to request; wish, desire, will

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

اوراق

w-r-q → “leaf” Distinctive

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

مطبوع

ṭ-b-ʿ

literal: nature; disposition; to seal; to imprint

جمع

j-m-ʿ → “gather in” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “with”

literal: to; with; by

مرکز

r-k-z → “Centre”

literal: center; focal point; axis

سرّاً

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

مؤانست

ʾ-n-s

literal: human; human, man; perceived

جست

j-s-t

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

حوادث

ḥ-d-th → “traditions” Distinctive

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

خانه

kh-w-n → “disloyalty” Distinctive

literal: house; home; dwelling

اندرون

d-r-w-n → “inmost” Distinctive

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

یومیاً

y-w-m → “days”

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

باو

ʾ-w-w → “informed him”

literal: sale; to sell; to swear allegiance; to pledge; to make covenant

میرساند

r-s-n

literal: to deliver, to convey; cause-to-reach; inflict

فسادهای

f-s-d → “mischief” Distinctive

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

اخیر

ʾ-kh-r → “end” Distinctive

literal: end; hereafter; other

مدخل

d-kh-l → “enter” Distinctive

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

کلّی

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

دارد

d-ʾ-r

literal: to have; to hold; to possess; to maintain

الحمد

ḥ-m-d → “Praise be”

literal: praise; to praise

للّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

امور

ʾ-m-r → “affairs”

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

منتظم

n-ẓ-m → “order” Distinctive

literal: order; organized; order, system

شده

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

بود

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

یاران

y-ʾ-r → “friends”

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

قدری

q-d-r → “power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

راحت

r-w-ḥ → “peace” Distinctive

literal: rest; comfort; ease; relief

روزیکه

r-w-z → “day”

literal: day; today; that-day

دوباره

d-w → “two” Distinctive

literal: twice, again, a second time

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

گرفت

g-r-f

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp; to hold

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “Some”

literal: part; some; portion

اطوار

ṭ-w-r → “rustling”

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

تحریکات

ḥ-r-k → “move” Distinctive

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

مخصوص

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled out” Distinctive

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

مرقوم

r-q-m → “recorded”

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

میگردد

g-r-d

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

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 ¶