Will and Testament — §51

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 51 of 59.

Source (Persian)

ای دوستان حقیقی صمیمی باوفای این مظلوم در نزد کل معلوم و مشهود است که این مظلوم مسجون بعد از صعود نیّر آفاق با نهایت احتراق از فراق در چه مصائب و بلائی از دست ناقضین میثاق افتاد

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O ye the true, the sincere, the faithful friends of this wronged one! Everyone knoweth and believeth what calamities and afflictions have befallen this wronged one, this prisoner, at the hands of those who have broken the Covenant at the time when, after the setting of the Day-Star of the world, his heart was consumed with the flame of his bereavement.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

دوستان

d-w-s-t → “friends”

literal: friend; beloved

حقیقی

ḥ-q-q → “true”

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

صمیمی

ṣ-m-m → “sincere”

literal: sincere, heartfelt, devoted; intimate, innermost

باوفای

w-f-y → “faithfulness”

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “wronged one”

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

در

d-r-r → “at” Distinctive

literal: in; in, at; radiant

نزد

n-z-d

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

کل

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “Everyone knoweth” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

مشهود

sh-h-d → “witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

است

b-w-d

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

مسجون

s-j-n → “this prisoner”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

صعود

ṣ-ʿ-d → “ascend”

literal: ascent; ascension; rising; elevation

نیّر

n-w-r → “Day-Star”

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

آفاق

ʾ-f-q → “of the world”

literal: horizons; regions; quarters; skylines

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “with”

literal: to; with; by

نهایت

n-h-y

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

احتراق

ḥ-r-q → “consumed” Distinctive

literal: to burn; to be consumed by fire; burning

فراق

f-r-q → “bereavement”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

مصائب

ṣ-w-b → “trials” Distinctive

literal: calamity; misfortune; disaster; affliction

بلائی

b-l-w → “afflictions” Distinctive

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

دست

d-s-t → “hands”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

ناقضین

n-q-ḍ → “those who have broken”

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

میثاق

w-th-q → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; testament; bond

افتاد

f-t-d → “have befallen”

literal: to fall, drop, befall, happen, 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 ¶