Will and Testament — §45

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 45 of 59.

Source (Persian)

الهی الهی اشهدک و انبیائک و رسلک و اولیائک و اصفیائک بأنّی اتممت الحجّة علی احبّائک و بیّنت لهم کلّ شیء حتّی یحافظوا علی دینک و الطّریقة المستقیمة و شریعتک النّورآء انّک انت المطّلع العلیم ع ع

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O God, my God! I call Thee, Thy Prophets and Thy Messengers, Thy Saints and Thy Holy Ones, to witness that I have declared conclusively Thy Proofs unto Thy loved ones and set forth clearly all things unto them, that they may watch over Thy Faith, guard Thy Straight Path and protect Thy Resplendent Law. Thou art, verily, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise!

Translation Notes

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “O God”

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

اشهدک

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

انبیائک

n-b-ʾ → “Thy Prophets”

literal: prophet; prophets

رسلک

r-s-l → “Thy Messengers”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

اولیائک

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

اصفیائک

ṣ-f-w → “Thy Holy Ones” Distinctive

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere

بأنّی

ʾ-n-n → “to witness that”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

اتممت

t-m-m → “all” Distinctive

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

الحجّة

ḥ-j-j → “Thy Proofs”

literal: path, way; clear path

علی

ʿ-l-w → “unto”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

احبّائک

ḥ-b-b → “Thy loved ones”

literal: love; affection

بیّنت

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

لهم

l-h-m → “inspiration” Distinctive

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

شیء

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

حتّی

ḥ-t-y → “even”

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

یحافظوا

ḥ-f-ẓ → “watch over”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

دینک

d-y-n → “Thy Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

الطّریقة

ṭ-r-q → “mystic” Distinctive

literal: path; way; road; method

المستقیمة

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

شریعتک

sh-r-ʿ → “Thy Resplendent Law”

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

النّورآء

n-w-r

literal: light; illumination

انّک

ʾ-n-n → “Thou art, verily”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

انت

ʾ-n-t

literal: you (masculine singular)

المطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

العلیم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Fire Tablet

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶