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.

Last week, a friend asked me what I thought about this quote from the Súriy-i-Haykal (Surih of the Temple):

Aid ye your Lord, the God of Mercy, with the sword of understanding. Keener indeed is it, and more finely tempered, than the sword of utterance, were ye but to reflect upon the words of your Lord.

I replied that I understood it to mean that utterance is great, but if it’s not backed by wisdom and understanding it can be dangerous (the tongue is a smoldering fire…), or at the very least, less effective.

Out of curiosity, I then looked up the original passage. The relevant Arabic is:

انصروا ربّكم الرّحمن بسيف التّبيان انّه احدّ من البيان

What caught my eye here is that the Arabic words for “utterance” (البيان), al-bayán, and “understanding” (التّبيان), al-tibyán, come from the same root, that is, B-Y-N.

I proceeded to look up each word in my standard Arabic-English dictionary (The Hans Wehr Dictionary of Modern Written Arabic). I was already familiar with the meaning of bayán, since it is the name given to two of the principle works of the Báb. It is listed as “declaration, announcement, manifestation, explanation, elucidation, illustration, exposé”. I then looked up tibyán, and found four English equivalents: “exposition, demonstration, explanation, illustration.” I was puzzled—the terms seemed to be so similar in meaning, why would Bahá’u'lláh make such a distinction between them?

I left it at that, until a few days later I received the following in my inbox from the bahai-readings@bcca.org mailing list, this one from the Lawḥ-i-Síyyid-i-Mihdíy-i-Dahájí:

O My Name! The Day-Star of utterance, shining resplendent from the dayspring of divine Revelation, hath so illumined the Scrolls and Tablets that the kingdom of utterance and the exalted dominion of understanding vibrate with joy and ecstasy and shine forth with the splendour of His light, yet the generality of mankind comprehend not.

Tablets of Baha’u’llah Revealed After the Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp. 198-199

Of course, I wanted to see if the same terms were used in this tablet, which was revealed partly in Arabic and partly in Persian. Sure enough, the phrase translated as “the kingdom of utterance and the exalted dominion of understanding” is ملکوت بيان وجبروت تبيان (malakút-i-bayán va jabarút-i-tibyán).

I then decided to turn to other resources in an attempt to shed more light on the difference between bayán and tibyán. I was delighted to find a more than satisfactory answer in an amazing 3000+ page Arabic-English lexicon published in 1863 that is now available online (see the Resources list in the sidebar):

This insight makes an even stronger connection between the original verse from the Súriy-i-Haykal and the following from Gleanings, which sprang to my mind the instant I read it:

Whoso ariseth among you to teach the Cause of his Lord, let him, before all else, teach his own self, that his speech may attract the hearts of them that hear him. Unless he teacheth his own self, the words of his mouth will not influence the heart of the seeker.

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá’u’lláh, p. 277

This blog takes its name from an oft-quoted passage from the writings of Bahá’u'lláh, in which he says:

Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths.

The passage appears in the original Arabic at the top of the page.

The use of “immerse” in the English translation is brilliant, as it conveys both literal dipping into water and becoming engrossed or losing oneself in something (see the thesaurus entry below.) I often find that diving into the Writings is a thoroughly engrossing activity, sometimes spending hours without realizing it. For me, the adventure is even more captivating when I take my search to the next level and explore the texts in their original language.

While my Arabic and Persian skills are certainly limited, I know enough to be able to find specific pieces of information and locate the original text from which an English translation was made. I can then compare the original with the translation and (sometimes) gain some further insight into their meaning.

I have started this blog to encourage myself to (hopefully) delve into the Writings more regularly, and to share my findings (however modest) with anyone who is interested. Please read the About page for more information and disclaimers, and please feel free to comment and give your feedback.

At 2am on a Friday night, a blog is born.