Persian Hidden Word 3
Early on in my exploration of the Hidden Words of Bahá’u'lláh in Persian, I came across one whose literal meaning differed from its translation in a way that I could comprehend. I am referring to Persian Hidden Word 3, which in English says:
O FRIEND! In the garden of thy heart plant naught but the rose of love, and from the nightingale of affection and desire loosen not thy hold. Treasure the companionship of the righteous and eschew all fellowship with the ungodly.
The original Persian reads as follows:
در روضه قلب جز گل عشق مکار و از ذيل بلبل حبّ و شوق دست مدار * مصاحبت ابرار را غنيمت دان و از مرافقت اشرار دست و دل هر دو بردار
The part I will focus on is the very end, “eschew all fellowship with the ungodly,” that is, از مرافقت اشرار دست و دل هر دو بردار (az moráfeqat-e ashrár dast va del har dow bardár)
According to Steingass’s Comprehensive Persian-English Dictionary (see Resources list), the phrase “dast bar-dāshtan” means “To withdraw the hand; to leave, to let alone.” The translation “eschew” gets the point across, but the phrase dast va del har dow bardár literally means “withdraw both your hand and your heart“.
I interpret this as calling for both a physical and a spiritual eschewal. Abstinence from mischief, but also abstinence from desire. Not only staying out of trouble, but striving to rid ourselves of all attachment to anyone save God.
DAN YOU ROCK! But the last word, “the ungodly”, does that refer to ungodly people, or just “anyone save God”? Or even “anything save God”???
NOW I HAVE AN INSATIABLE THIRST FOR KNOWLEDGE!
Mona
September 12, 2009 at 12:12 pm
I think it is referring to ungodly people. The Lane Lexicon says شرّير shirrír is “abounding in evil or wrongdoing; applied to a man: pl. شرّيرون shirrírún or اشرار ashrár”. Project Root List says “sharrun (pl. ashrar) – evil, bad, wicked, vicious ones.” Plus, مرافقة “fellowship, accompaniment, company, association” seems to imply two or more human subjects.
dan
September 12, 2009 at 8:51 pm
Hi Dan,
I’m delighted that you have started up this blog. I have linked to it from mine. Please do keep writing.
I’ve thought a lot about the fact that understanding is more keen than utterance. I think the principle is that the spiritual power of action is what makes action effective (if action is taken without a sound spiritual underpinning, it is wasted energy). Which comes down to the fact that nothing works unless God allows it to by His grace, and grace is attracted only if deeds are done with detachment.
Alison Marshall
Alison Marshall
September 15, 2009 at 11:03 pm
Another side of this equation is what revelation does to language. _In The Essential Qur’an_, Thomas Cleary quotes Seyyid Hussein Nasr:
“The text of the Qur’an reveals human language crushed by the power of the Divine Word…The Qur’an displays human language with all the weakness inherent in it becoming suddenly the recipient of the Divine Word and displaying its frailty before a power which is infinitely greater than man can imagine.”
Frank Stetzer
October 22, 2009 at 8:36 pm