Skip to main content

Kitáb-i-Íqán — §11

Persian source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 11 of 291.

Source (Persian)

و بعد جمال خليل کشف نقاب نمود و عَلَم هُدی مرتفع شد و اهل ارض را به نور تقی دعوت فرمود. هر چه مبالغه در نصيحت فرمود جز حسد ثمری نياورد و غير غفلت حاصلی نبخشيد إلّا الّذينَ هُم انقَطعُوا بکُلِّهِم إلی اللّه و عَرَجُوا بِجَنَاحی الإيقان إلی مَقامٍ جَعَلهُ اللّه عن الاِدراکِ مَرفوعاً. و تفصيل آن حضرت مشهور است که چه مقدار اعداء احاطه نمودند تا آنکه نار حسد و اعراض افروخته شد. و بعد از حکايت نار، آن سراج الهی را از بلد اخراج نمودند چنانچه در همه رسائل و کتب مذکور است.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Later, the beauty of the countenance of the Friend of God appeared from behind the veil, and another standard of divine guidance was hoisted. He invited the people of the earth to the light of righteousness. The more passionately He exhorted them, the fiercer waxed the envy and waywardness of the people, except those who wholly detached themselves from all save God, and ascended on the wings of certainty to the station which God hath exalted beyond the comprehension of men. It is well known what a host of enemies besieged Him, until at last the fires of envy and rebellion were kindled against Him. And after the episode of the fire came to pass, He, the lamp of God amongst men, was, as recorded in all books and chronicles, expelled from His city.

Translation Notes

کشف
kshf k-sh-f

literal: unveiling

SE rendered جمال (jmál)خليل (khlíl)کشف (kshf)نقاب (nqáb)نمود (nmúd)عَلَم (ʿalam)هُدی (hudí)مرتفع (mrtfʿ) as “beauty, Friend, veil, appeared, standard, divine guidance, hoisted”

made 11% conceal 11% pierce 11% removal 11% unfolding 11% rend 11% rent 11% unveiled 11% unfoldeth 11%
جز
jz j-z

literal: except

SE rendered هر (hr)چه (chh)مبالغه (mbálghh)نصيحت (nṣíḥt)فرمود (frmúd)جز (jz)حسد (ḥsd)ثمری (thmrí)نياورد (níáwrd)غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt) as “The more, passionately, exhorted, envy, waywardness”

apart 50% besides 50%
ثمری
thmrí th-m-r

literal: fruit; fruits; bore fruit

SE rendered مبالغه (mbálghh)نصيحت (nṣíḥt)فرمود (frmúd)جز (jz)حسد (ḥsd)ثمری (thmrí)نياورد (níáwrd)غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt) as “passionately, exhorted, envy, waywardness”

fruit 60% glory 20% fruits 20%
نياورد
níáwrd ʾ-w-r

literal: bring; to bring; to_bring

SE rendered نصيحت (nṣíḥt)فرمود (frmúd)جز (jz)حسد (ḥsd)ثمری (thmrí)نياورد (níáwrd)غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt)حاصلی (ḥáṣlí)نبخشيد (nbkhshíd) as “exhorted, envy, waywardness”

refuse 14% fail 14% breathe 14% hath 14% performed 14% brought 14% gather 14%
غير
ghír gh-y-r

literal: other; other than

SE rendered حسد (ḥsd)ثمری (thmrí)نياورد (níáwrd)غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt)حاصلی (ḥáṣlí)نبخشيد (nbkhshíd)الّذينَ (adh-dhín) as “envy, waywardness, those”

other 28% without 11% another 11% none 11% any 8% others 8% different 6% unseemly 6% else 6% anyone 6%
حاصلی
ḥáṣlí ḥ-ṣ-l

literal: result

SE rendered حسد (ḥsd)ثمری (thmrí)نياورد (níáwrd)غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt)حاصلی (ḥáṣlí)نبخشيد (nbkhshíd)الّذينَ (adh-dhín)انقَطعُوا (inqaṭʿúá) as “envy, waywardness, those, detached”

failed 50% result 50%
نبخشيد
nbkhshíd b-kh-sh

literal: grant; bestow; give

SE rendered غير (ghír)غفلت (ghflt)حاصلی (ḥáṣlí)نبخشيد (nbkhshíd)الّذينَ (adh-dhín)انقَطعُوا (inqaṭʿúá) as “waywardness, those, detached”

have 33% yielded 33% fruitless 33%
مقدار
mqdár q-d-r

literal: power; powerful; amount

SE rendered حضرت (ḥḍrt)مشهور (mshhúr)چه (chh)مقدار (mqdár)اعداء (iʿdáʾ)احاطه (iḥáṭh)نمودند (nmúdnd)آنکه (ánkh) as “Him, well known, what, enemies, besieged, at last”

نمودند
nmúdnd n-m-ود

literal: do; to do; do/make

SE rendered چه (chh)مقدار (mqdár)اعداء (iʿdáʾ)احاطه (iḥáṭh)نمودند (nmúdnd)آنکه (ánkh)نار (nár)حسد (ḥsd)اعراض (iʿráḍ) as “what, enemies, besieged, at last, fires, envy, rebellion”

افروخته
ifrúkhth f-r-kh “raised” Distinctive

literal: to kindle; raise; raise, hoist

This form usually rendered as “kindled” (1 occurrences)

raised 40% kindled 20% have 20% waving 20%
چنانچه
chnánchh ch-n-n “as”

literal: likewise; as; just as

SE rendered الهی (al-hí)از (iz)بلد (bld)اخراج (ikhráj)نمودند (nmúdnd)چنانچه (chnánchh)همه (hmh)رسائل (rsáʾl)کتب (ktb)مذکور (mdhkúr) as “God, from, city, expelled, as, all, chronicles, books, recorded”

even 50% thus 17% thou 8% truth 8% when 8% since 8%

Source: Bahá'u'lláh, Kitáb-i-Íqán

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶

Prayers and Meditations cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶

Will and Testament cover

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶