Will and Testament — §6

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 6 of 59.

Source (Persian)

چه انحرافی اعظم از نقض میثاق اللّهست چه انحرافی اعظم از تحریف آیات و اسقاط آیات و کلماتست در اعلان میرزا بدیع‌اللّه دقّت نمائید چه انحرافی اعظم از افترای بر مرکز پیمانست چه انحرافی اکبر از نشر اراجیف در حقّ هیکل عهد است چه انحرافی اشدّ از فتوای بر قتل محور میثاقست که مستدلّ بآیۀ من یدّعی قبل الألف شده و حال آنکه خود حیا ننموده در ایّام مبارک ادّعا نموده و جمال مبارک ردّ ادّعای او فرمودند بعنوانی که از پیش گذشت و الآن ادّعای او بخطّ و ختم او موجود چه انحرافی اتمّ از کذب و بهتان بر احبّاء اللّهست چه انحرافی اسوء از سبب شدن حبس و سجن احبّای ربّانیست چه انحرافی اصعب از تسلیم آیات و کلمات و مکاتیب بحکومت است که بر قتل این مظلوم قیام نمایند چه انحرافی اشدّ از تضییع امر اللّه و تصنیع و تزویر مکاتیب و مراسلات افترائیّه است که سبب وحشت و دهشت حکومت شود و نتیجه سفک دم این مظلوم گردد و آن مکاتیب در نزد حکومت است چه انحرافی اشنع از ظلم و طغیانست چه انحرافی ارذل از تشتیت شمل فرقۀ ناجیه است چه انحرافی افضح از القاء شبهات است چه انحرافی افظع از تأویلات رکیکۀ اهل ارتیابست چه انحرافی اخبث از اتّفاق با اعدای الهی و بیگانگانست

Shoghi Effendi Translation

What deviation can be greater than breaking the Covenant of God! What deviation can be greater than interpolating and falsifying the words and verses of the Sacred Text, even as testified and declared by Mírzá Badí‘u’lláh! What deviation can be greater than calumniating the Centre of the Covenant himself! What deviation can be more glaring than spreading broadcast false and foolish reports touching the Temple of God’s Testament! What deviation can be more grievous than decreeing the death of the Centre of the Covenant, supported by the holy verse “He that layeth a claim ere the passing of a thousand years…”, whilst he (Muḥammad-‘Alí) without shame in the days of the Blessed Beauty had advanced such a claim as this and been confuted by Him in the aforementioned manner, the text of his claim being still extant in his own handwriting and bearing his own seal. What deviation can be more complete than falsely accusing the loved ones of God! What deviation can be more evil than causing their imprisonment and incarceration! What deviation can be more severe than delivering into the hands of the government the Holy Writings and Epistles, that haply they (the government) might arise intent upon the death of this wronged one! What deviation can be more violent than threatening the ruin of the Cause of God, forging and slanderously falsifying letters and documents so that this might perturb and alarm the government and lead to the shedding of the blood of this wronged one, such letters and documents being now in the possession of the government! What deviation can be more odious than his iniquity and rebellion! What deviation can be more shameful than dispersing the gathering of the people of salvation! What deviation can be more infamous than the vain and feeble interpretations of the people of doubt! What deviation can be more wicked than joining hands with strangers and with the enemies of God!

Translation Notes

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

انحرافی

ḥ-r-f → “deviation”

literal: letter; character; edge

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “greater”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

نقض

n-q-ḍ → “breaking”

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

میثاق

w-th-q → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; testament; bond

اللّهست

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

آیات

ʾ-y-y → “verses”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

اسقاط

s-q-ṭ

literal: dropping; omitting; falsifying; interpolating

کلماتست

k-l-m → “words”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اعلان

ʿ-l-n → “committed” Distinctive

literal: proclamation; announcement; declaration; ensign; standard

بدیع‌اللّه

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

دقّت

d-q-q

literal: attention; heed; care; precision

نمائید

n-m-ʾ

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

افترای

f-r-y → “calumniating”

literal: slander; calumny; fabrication; false accusation

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

مرکز

r-k-z → “Centre”

literal: center; focal point; axis

پیمانست

n-th-q → “Covenant”

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

اکبر

k-b-r → “grandeur” Distinctive

literal: liver; soul; essence

نشر

n-sh-r → “spreading”

literal: to scatter; to spread; to unfold; to disseminate

اراجیف

r-j-f → “shall be made to tremble” Distinctive

literal: falsehoods; baseless tales; rumours

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

هیکل

h-y-k-l → “Temple”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

عهد

ʿ-h-d → “God’s Testament” Distinctive

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

است

b-w-d

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

اشدّ

sh-d-d → “grievous” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

فتوای

f-t-y → “pronounce” Distinctive

literal: fatwa; legal decision; pronouncement

قتل

q-t-l → “death”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

محور

ḥ-w-r → “Maid of Heaven” Distinctive

literal: to efface; to obliterate; to blot out; to cause to disappear

که

k-h → “that haply they (the government) might”

literal: that; who; who, that

مستدلّ

d-l-l → “proof” Distinctive

literal: proof; indicating; evidence

من

m-n → “from”

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

یدّعی

d-ʿ-y → “claims” Distinctive

literal: to claim; to allege; claim; assertion; to assert

قبل

q-b-l → “ere the passing”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

الألف

ʾ-l-f → “a thousand”

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

شده

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

آنکه

ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

حیا

ḥ-y-y → “shame”

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

ایّام

y-w-m → “days”

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

مبارک

b-r-k → “Blessed”

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

ادّعا

d-ʿ-w → “such a claim” Distinctive

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

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

جمال

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

ردّ

r-d-d → “reject”

literal: rejected; repudiated

او

h-w-w → “his”

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

فرمودند

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

بعنوانی

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: title; heading; address; pretext

پیش

p-y-sh

literal: before; in front; ago; forward; leader; guide; one who precedes

گذشت

g-dh-r

literal: to leave; to pass; to abandon

الآن

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; indeed/verily; indeed

بخطّ

kh-ṭ-ṭ → “in his own handwriting”

literal: line; writing; path; course

ختم

kh-t-m → “bearing his own seal”

literal: to seal; to conclude; to end; seal

موجود

w-j-d → “being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

اتمّ

t-m-m → “complete” Distinctive

literal: mother

کذب

k-dh-b → “falsely accusing” Distinctive

literal: denial; belying; falsification; rejection; liar; lying; false

بهتان

b-h-t

literal: slander; calumny; false accusation

احبّاء

ḥ-b-b → “loved ones”

literal: love; affection

اسوء

s-w-ʾ → “evil”

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

سبب

s-b-b → “causing” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

شدن

sh-w-d → “been”

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

حبس

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

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

سجن

s-j-n → “Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

ربّانیست

r-b-b

literal: Lord; lord; divine

اصعب

ṣ-ʿ-b → “greater” Distinctive

literal: difficult; very difficult; difficult/hard

تسلیم

s-l-m → “resignation”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

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

مکاتیب

k-t-b → “Book” Distinctive

literal: book; books; write

بحکومت

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom” Distinctive

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “this wronged”

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

قیام

q-w-m → “arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

تضییع

ḍ-y-ʿ → “extermination”

literal: wasting; squandering; loss; harm

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

تصنیع

ṣ-n-ʿ → “handiwork” Distinctive

literal: handiwork; crafts; maker

تزویر

z-w-r → “visit” Distinctive

literal: visitation; visit; Zawra

مراسلات

r-s-l → “Apostle”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

افترائیّه

f-r-y

literal: slander; calumny; fabrication; false accusation

وحشت

w-ḥ-sh → “consternation”

literal: terror; consternation; terror/bewilderment

دهشت

d-h-sh

literal: terror; dread; fear

نتیجه

n-t-j → “ultimate Purpose”

literal: result; consequence; outcome; fruit

سفک

s-f-k → “shedding”

literal: to shed; to spill; bloodshed; to shed (blood)

دم

d-m-m → “blood”

literal: breath; moment; instant

گردد

g-r-d → “become”

literal: become; to become; make

نزد

n-z-d → “unto”

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

اشنع

sh-n-ʿ → “wretched” Distinctive

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

طغیانست

ṭ-gh-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: transgression; rebellion; tyranny; insolence

ارذل

r-dh-l → “meanest” Distinctive

literal: lowest; basest; most vile; worst

تشتیت

sh-t-t → “make a breach”

literal: dispersion; scattering; division

شمل

sh-m-l → “gathering”

literal: to comprehend; to include; whole; all

فرقۀ

f-r-q → “separation” Distinctive

literal: faction; sect; group; company

ناجیه

n-j-y → “people of salvation”

literal: saved; rescued; surviving; supplication; intimate communion; private prayer; invocation

افضح

f-ḍ-ḥ → “infamous”

literal: to expose; to disgrace; to reveal openly

القاء

l-q-y

literal: suggestion; instilling; casting; throwing

شبهات

sh-b-h → “doubt”

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

افظع

f-ẓ-ʿ

literal: more horrible; more hideous

تأویلات

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

رکیکۀ

r-k-k → “vain and feeble”

literal: feeble

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

ارتیابست

r-y-b

literal: doubt, suspicion, uncertainty; doubt; suspicion

اخبث

kh-b-th → “bad” Distinctive

literal: evil, wicked, vile, filthy; worst, vilest

اتّفاق

w-f-q → “aid” Distinctive

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “with”

literal: to; with; by

اعدای

ʿ-d-w → “enemies”

literal: hostility, aggression, enmity, transgression

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 ¶