Endnotes

Wherever possible, translations made by Shoghi Effendi have been incorporated in the present volume. These passages account for approximately one third of the text. The committees and individuals appointed to prepare the translations faced the challenge of rendering the balance of the Text in a manner at once faithful to the meaning of the original and consistent with the exalted English style established by the Guardian for the translation of Bahá'u'lláh's matchless utterance.

In the translation of the Lawḥ-i-Sulṭán the translators benefited from consulting the earlier, pioneering translation of the English orientalist E. G. Browne as it appeared in ‘Abdu'l-Bahá's A Traveller's Narrative, first published by Cambridge University Press in 1891.

Abbreviation of Sources

ESW Bahá'u'lláh. Epistle to the Son of the Wolf. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1988.

GWB Bahá'u'lláh. Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1976.

KI Bahá'u'lláh. The Kitáb-i-Íqán. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1994.

HW Bahá'u'lláh. The Hidden Words. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1994. (PHW are from the Persian Hidden Words.)

PDC Shoghi Effendi. The Promised Day Is Come. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, rev. ed., 1996.

WOB Shoghi Effendi. The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected Letters. Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1991.

[*] Mírzá Yaḥyá.

[†] The Báb.

[‡] Peter.

[§] The Sulṭán of Turkey.

[**] ‘Akká.

[††] Mecca.

[‡‡] The Súriy-i-Mulúk.

[§§] The Sulṭán of Turkey.

[***] Muḥammad.

[†††] Ṭihrán.

[‡‡‡] Baghdád.

[§§§] Mecca.

[****] Adrianople.

[††††] Muḥammad Sháh.

[‡‡‡‡] Anís.

[§§§§] Adrianople.

[*****] Mírzá ‘Alí-Akbar-i-Naráqí.

[†††††] ‘Álí Páshá.

[‡‡‡‡‡] Sulṭán ‘Abdu'l-‘Azíz.

[§§§§§] The Báb.

[******] Jesus.

[††††††] Sulṭán ‘Abdu'l-‘Azíz.

[‡‡‡‡‡‡] Adrianople.

[§§§§§§] The Báb.

[*******] Imám Ḥusayn.

[†††††††] The Muslims.

[‡‡‡‡‡‡‡] Náṣiri'd-Dín Sháh.

[§§§§§§§] Baghdád.

[1] cf. Qur'án 2:30-34; 38:71-75.

[2] Ustád Muḥammad-‘Alíy-i-Salmání. See God Passes By, pp. 166-168, for an account of the events referred to by Bahá'u'lláh in this and following paragraphs.

[3] The word Haykal (Temple) is composed in Arabic of the four letters Há', Yá', Káf and Lám (HYKL). Its first letter is taken to symbolize the word Huvíyyah (Essence of Divinity); its second letter the word Qadír (Almighty), of which Yá' is the third letter; its third letter the word Karím (All-Bountiful); and its fourth letter the word Faḍl (Grace), of which Lám is the third letter.

[4] cf. Qur'án 21:30; 24:45; 25:54.

[5] That is, the letter "E". In all such instances in the Writings where the letters "B" and "E" are mentioned, the Arabic letters are Káf and Nún, the two consonants of the Arabic word Kun, which is the imperative meaning "Be".

[6] "The tree beyond which there is no passing", a reference to the station of the Manifestation of God.

[7] These are examples of the types of questions put to the Báb. According to the teachings of Shí‘ite Islám, leadership of the Islamic community belonged of right, after the passing of the Prophet Muḥammad, to a line of twelve successors, descendants of His daughter Fáṭimih, known as "Imáms". This line being eventually severed through the "occultation" of the last Imám, communication with the latter was for a time maintained through a succession of four intermediaries known as "Gates".

[8] One of a trio of Arabian goddesses whose worship was abolished by the Prophet Muḥammad.

[9] A small rock situated low in the eastern corner of the Kaaba.

[10] cf. Matthew 5:29; Mark 9:47.

[11] This is Bahá'u'lláh's second Tablet addressed to the French Emperor. An earlier Tablet was revealed in Adrianople.

[12] The Crimean War (1853-1856).

[13] Within the year Napoleon III was defeated at the Battle of Sedan (1870) and sent into exile.

[14] cf. Qur'án 77:20; 32:8.

[15] The two Most Great Festivals are the Festival of Riḍván, during which Bahá'u'lláh first proclaimed His Mission, and the Declaration of the Báb. The "twin days" refer to the Birthdays of the Báb and Bahá'u'lláh. cf. Kitáb-i-Aqdas, ¶110.

[16] cf. Qur'án 17:78.

[17] Mírzá Buzurg Khán, the Persian Consul-General in Baghdád.

[18] The Mu'taminu'l-Mulk, Mírzá Sa‘íd Khán-i-Anṣárí, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

[19] Bahá'u'lláh here refers to His and His companions' application for Ottoman citizenship.

[20] Áqá Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Ṭabáṭabá'íy-i-Isfáhání, known as "Mujáhid".

[21] The second Russo-Persian War of 1825-28.

[22] Qur'án 2:94; 62:6.

[23] cf. Persian Hidden Words, nos. 24, 25, 28 and 30.

[24] Qur'án 49:6.

[25] Qur'án 5:59.

[26] A Tradition ascribed to the eleventh Imám, Abú Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-‘Askarí.

[27] Traditions ascribed to the sixth Imám, Abú ‘Abdu'lláh Ja‘far aṣ-Ṣádiq.

[28] Shaykh Murtaḍáy-i-Anṣárí, a prominent mujtahid.

[29] Qur'án 2:179.

[30] Qur'án 6:164; 17:15; 35:18; 39:7; 53:38.

[31] cf. Qur'án 3:40; 14:27; 22:18.

[32] cf. Qur'án 5:1.

[33] cf. Qur'án 5:64.

[34] Qur'án 40:5.

[35] Qur'án 36:30.

[36] Qur'án 8:30.

[37] Qur'án 6:35.

[38] cf. Matthew 24:35; Mark 13:31; Luke 21:33.

[39] John 14:28.

[40] cf. John 14:16; 14:26; 15:26; 16:7.

[41] See, for example, Qur'án 4:46; 5:13; 5:41; and 2:75, and the discussion in the Kitáb-i-Íqán, p. 84 ff.

[42] ‘Alí Ibn Ḥusayn, known as "Zaynu'l-‘Ábidín", the second of the Imám Ḥusayn's sons, who became the fourth Imám.

[43] The Kharijites, a faction opposed to both the Imáms and the Umayyad state.

[44] Allusions to the ‘Abbásid and Umayyad dynasties, respectively.

[45] Qur'án 57:16.

[46] cf. Luke 19:21.

[47] cf. Qur'án 55:26.

[48] cf. Qur'án 12:31.

[49] This Tablet was revealed in Arabic in honour of Ḥájí Muḥammad Ismá‘íl-i-Káshání, entitled Dhabíḥ (Sacrifice) and Anís (Companion) by Bahá'u'lláh, and addresses ‘Álí Páshá, the Ottoman Prime Minister, referred to here as Ra'ís (Chief or Ruler).

[50] Sulṭán ‘Abdu'l-‘Azíz lost both his throne and his life in 1876. During the subsequent war with Russia (1877-1878), Adrianople was occupied by the enemy and the Turks experienced a violent bloodbath.

[51] Literally, "the Mount of Figs" and "the Mount of Olives", cf. Qur'án 95:1.

[52] Chosroes II, the Sasanian monarch who reigned in Persia during the lifetime of Muḥammad.

[53] Ḥájí Ja‘far-i-Tabrízí; he was prevented in time from ending his life.

[54] Siyyid Ismá‘íl of Zavárih.

[55] This second Tablet of Bahá'u'lláh addressing ‘Álí Páshá was revealed in Persian shortly after Bahá'u'lláh's arrival and confinement in ‘Akká.

[56] For an account of this incident see God Passes By, p. 182.

[57] A probable reference to the fire of Hocapaşa, which destroyed a large part of the city of Constantinople in 1865.

[58] The Lawḥ-i-Fu'ád was addressed to Shaykh Káẓim-i-Samandar of Qazvín, one of the apostles of Bahá'u'lláh. Its subject, the former Ottoman statesman Fu'ád Páshá, died in France in 1869. The letter names Káf and Ẓá refer to the K and Ẓ of Káẓim.

[59] cf. Qur'án 38:3.

[60] cf. Qur'án 13:13.

[61] cf. Qur'án 40:32.

[62] cf. Qur'án 38:12, 89:10.

[63] "heart" translates fu'ád, the given name of the Ottoman minister.

[64] Mírzá Mihdíy-i-Rashtí, a judge in Constantinople and supporter of Mírzá Yaḥyá.

[65] John 14:28.

[66] John 16:13.

[67] John 1:13.

[68] The French Ambassador in Constantinople.

[69] The Persian Ambassador in Constantinople.

[70] Qur'án 51:55.

[71] Qur'án 49:6.

[72] Qur'án 12:53.

[73] Qur'án 15:88.

[74] cf. Qur'án 77:20; 32:8.

[75] Qur'án 40:28.

[76] Qur'án 4:94.

[77] Qur'án 6:52.

[78] Qur'án 6:44.

[79] The Persian Consul-General in Baghdád.

[80] Qur'án 20:55.

[81] Al-Muqanna‘ of Khurásán (eighth century A.D.).

[82] Qur'án 4:94.