Will and Testament — §57

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 57 of 59.

Source (Persian)

ای یاران باوفای عبدالبهآء باید فرع دو شجرۀ مبارکه و ثمرۀ دو سدرۀ رحمانیّه شوقی افندی را نهایت مواظبت نمائید که غبار کدر و حزنی بر خاطر نورانیش ننشیند و روز بروز فرح و سرور و روحانیّتش زیاده گردد تا شجرۀ بارور شود

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O ye the faithful loved ones of ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá! It is incumbent upon you to take the greatest care of Shoghi Effendi, the twig that hath branched from and the fruit given forth by the two hallowed and Divine Lote-Trees, that no dust of despondency and sorrow may stain his radiant nature, that day by day he may wax greater in happiness, in joy and spirituality, and may grow to become even as a fruitful tree.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

یاران

y-ʾ-r → “friends”

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

باوفای

w-f-y

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

عبدالبهآء

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

باید

b-y-d → “It is incumbent upon”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

فرع

f-r-ʿ → “offshoots”

literal: branch; offshoot; to branch off

دو

d-w → “two”

literal: two; run; running

شجرۀ

sh-j-r → “Lote-Trees”

literal: tree; trees

مبارکه

b-r-k → “hallowed” Distinctive

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

ثمرۀ

th-m-r → “fruit given forth”

literal: fruit; the fruit

سدرۀ

s-d-r

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

رحمانیّه

r-ḥ-m → “Divine”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

شوقی

sh-w-q → “longing” Distinctive

literal: to encourage; to incite; yearning; enthusiasm

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

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

مواظبت

w-ẓ-b → “care”

literal: care; watchfulness; supervision

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

غبار

gh-b-r → “dust”

literal: dust; particles

کدر

k-d-r → “angry” Distinctive

literal: turbidity; turbidness; cloudiness; murkiness

حزنی

ḥ-z-n → “sorrow”

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

خاطر

kh-ṭ-r → “momentous” Distinctive

literal: danger; peril; risk; to cross the mind

نورانیش

n-w-r → “radiant”

literal: light; illumination

ننشیند

n-sh-s → “find no” Distinctive

literal: to sit; to alight; to settle

روز

r-w-z → “day”

literal: day; today; that-day

بروز

b-r-z → “revelation”

literal: appearance; manifestation; coming forth

فرح

f-r-ḥ → “joy”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

سرور

s-r-r → “joy”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

روحانیّتش

r-w-ḥ → “spirituality”

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

زیاده

z-y-d → “increase” Distinctive

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

گردد

g-r-d → “become”

literal: become; to become; make

تا

t-y-y → “so that”

literal: so that/until

بارور

b-r-ور → “fruitful”

literal: outside; out; forth

شود

sh-w-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

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

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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

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

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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

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

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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

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 ¶