Will and Testament — §8

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 8 of 59.

Source (Persian)

و حال آنکه بنصوص الهیّه ما ممنوع از فسادیم و مأمور بصلح و صلاح و مجبور براستی و درستی و آشتی بجمیع اقوام و امم آفاق و اطاعت و خیرخواهی حکومات خیانت بسلطنت عادله خیانت بحقّست و بدخواهی حکومت تمرّد از امر اللّه با وجود این نصوص قاطعه چگونه این مسجونان چنین تصوّر باطلی کنند و با وجود مسجونی در این زندان چنین خیانتی توانند ولی چه فائده که هیئت تفتیش تصدیق این مفتریات اخوی و بدخواهان نمود و تقدیم حضور پادشاهی کرد حال این مسجون در طوفان اعظم گرفتار تا ارادۀ حضرت سلطان ایّده اللّه علی العدل صادر گردد امّا لی و امّا علیّ در هر حال عبدالبهآء در نهایت سکون و قرار بجانفشانی مهیّا و در نهایت تسلیم و رضا حال چه انحرافی اشنع و افظع و اقبح از این

Shoghi Effendi Translation

According to the direct and sacred command of God we are forbidden to utter slander, are commanded to show forth peace and amity, are exhorted to rectitude of conduct, straightforwardness and harmony with all the kindreds and peoples of the world. We must obey and be the well-wishers of the governments of the land, regard disloyalty unto a just king as disloyalty to God Himself and wishing evil to the government a transgression of the Cause of God. With these final and decisive words, how can it be that these imprisoned ones should indulge in such vain fancies; incarcerated, how could they show forth such disloyalty? But alas! The Committee of Investigation hath approved and confirmed these calumnies of my brother and ill-wishers and submitted them to the presence of His Majesty the Sovereign. Now at this moment a fierce storm is raging around this prisoner who awaiteth, be it favourable or unfavourable, the gracious will of His Majesty, may the Lord aid him by His grace to be just. In whatsoever condition he may be, with absolute calm and quietness, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá is ready for self-sacrifice and is wholly resigned and submitted to His Will. What transgression can be more abominable, more odious, more wicked than this!

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

آنکه

ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; indeed; that, to

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ممنوع

m-n-ʿ → “forbidden”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

از

ʾ-z → “to” Distinctive

literal: from

فسادیم

f-s-d → “mischief” Distinctive

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

مأمور

ʾ-m-r → “commanded” Distinctive

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

بصلح

ṣ-l-ḥ → “betterment” Distinctive

literal: peace; reconciliation

مجبور

j-b-r → “dominion” Distinctive

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

براستی

r-s-t → “Verily”

literal: truth; verily; truly

درستی

d-r-s-t → “straightforwardness”

literal: correctness; straightness; uprightness; rectitude

آشتی

ʾ-sh-t → “harmony”

literal: peace; reconciliation; amity

بجمیع

j-m-ʿ → “with all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اقوام

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

امم

ʾ-m-m → “peoples”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

آفاق

ʾ-f-q → “of the world”

literal: horizons; regions; quarters; skylines

اطاعت

ṭ-w-ʿ → “obey”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

خیرخواهی

kh-y-r → “good”

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

حکومات

ḥ-k-m → “of the governments”

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

خیانت

kh-w-n → “disloyalty”

literal: blood

بسلطنت

s-l-ṭ → “unto a just king” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

بحقّست

ḥ-q-q → “to God Himself”

literal: truth; true; right

بدخواهی

b-د / خ-w-h → “wishing evil”

literal: ill-wisher; malevolent; one with bad intentions

حکومت

ḥ-k-m → “to the government”

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

تمرّد

m-r-d → “people” Distinctive

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “With”

literal: to; with; by

وجود

w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

نصوص

n-ṣ-ṣ → “explicit text”

literal: explicit text; clear statement

قاطعه

q-ṭ-ʿ

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

چگونه

ch-g-n → “how”

literal: how; in what manner

مسجونان

s-j-n → “imprisoned ones”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

چنین

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: such; thus; in this manner; like this

تصوّر

ṣ-w-r → “trumpet-call” Distinctive

literal: to imagine; to conceive; to suppose

باطلی

b-ṭ-l → “vain”

literal: falsehood, false; vain, null

کنند

k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

زندان

z-n-d

literal: prison; jail

توانند

t-w-ʾ-n → “unto Thy weak creatures” Distinctive

literal: to be able, can; power, strength

ولی

w-l-y → “But” Distinctive

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

چه

ch-h

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

فائده

f-y-d → “profit”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

هیئت

h-y-ʾ → “Committee”

literal: every; each; any; whoever; form; figure; state; condition; prepared, ready, suitable

تفتیش

f-t-sh → “Investigation”

literal: examination; investigation; search; inquiry

تصدیق

ṣ-d-q → “truth”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

مفتریات

f-r-y → “calumnies”

literal: slander; calumny; fabrication; false accusation

اخوی

ʾ-kh-w → “brother”

literal: brother; اخواني (my brethren) is from أ-خ-و (brother), not خ-و-ن (blood/treachery)

بدخواهان

b-d → “most hideously” Distinctive

literal: bad; be/was; is

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

تقدیم

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days” Distinctive

literal: ancient; step; eternity

حضور

ḥ-ḍ-r → “to the presence”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

پادشاهی

p-ʾ-d-sh-ʾ-h → “Sháh” Distinctive

literal: king; monarch; shah

طوفان

ṭ-w-f → “circle” Distinctive

literal: flood, deluge, tempest

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

گرفتار

g-r-f-t-ʾ-r → “oppressed”

literal: captive, afflicted, troubled, caught; affliction, trouble

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

ارادۀ

r-w-d → “gracious will”

literal: will; want; desire

ایّده

ʾ-y-d → “may the Lord aid” Distinctive

literal: come; support; may aid

علی

ʿ-l-w → “him” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

العدل

ʿ-d-l → “to be just”

literal: justice; equity

صادر

ṣ-d-r

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

گردد

g-r-d

literal: become; to become; make

امّا

ʾ-m-m → “nations” Distinctive

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

لی

ʿ-l-y

literal: for us; to us

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

عبدالبهآء

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

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

سکون

s-k-n

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

قرار

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

بجانفشانی

f-sh-n → “Sow” Distinctive

literal: self-sacrifice, devoting one’s life

تسلیم

s-l-m → “resignation”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

رضا

r-ḍ-y → “Thy pleasure” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

انحرافی

ḥ-r-f → “transgression”

literal: letter; character; edge

اشنع

sh-n-ʿ → “wretched” Distinctive

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

افظع

f-ẓ-ʿ → “odious”

literal: more horrible; more hideous

اقبح

q-b-ḥ → “more contemptible”

literal: most ugly, most base, most unseemly

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 ¶