Bahá’í World/Volume 34/New Translations of Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings
New Translations of Bahá’u’lláh’s Writings[edit]
"The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require."
Bahá’u’lláh’s writings elucidate virtually every aspect of existence, including subjects as varied as science, philosophy, laws of human conduct, the spiritual nature of existence, and the future of humanity. These divinely inspired writings are the foundation of the Bahá’í Faith, but their intended application is universal. Bahá’u’lláh wrote not to a select group of followers, but to the whole of humanity. The texts are the charter for a new world, and no soul is beyond the rejuvenating influence of Bahá’u’lláh’s revelation.
In 2006, a volume of newly translated writings by Bahá’u’lláh, entitled The Tabernacle of Unity, was published in English. This latest volume from World Centre Publications contains five letters or "Tablets" written by Bahá’u’lláh to individuals of Zoroastrian background during the 1870s and 1880s. The volume provides important new insights into the fundamental Bahá’í principles of the unity of religion and the relativity of religious truth.
The two Tablets comprising the centerpiece of the volume were both revealed in answer to questions posed to Bahá’u’lláh by Mánikchí Şahib, an ambassador of Parsee background who became
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well-known for his diplomatic and humanitarian work on behalf of the Persian Zoroastrian community. Mánikchí Sáhib, who had met Bahá’u’lláh in person and who was both a friend and admirer, posed a series of nine questions to Bahá’u’lláh covering topics as wide-ranging as the nature of the relationship between God and creation, the apparently irreconcilable differences between the religions of the world, and the role of reason in the formulation of religious law.
"I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight." -BAHÁ’U’LLÁH, TABLET TO MÁNIKCHÍ ṢÁHIB
The translation of the volume was prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice on the basis of authentic manuscripts held in the International Bahá’í Archives. It is the result of the combined efforts of a number of translators and follows the style established by Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith and its authorized interpreter from 1921 until his death in 1957. Readers familiar with the writings of Bahá’u’lláh will recognize several well-known passages translated by Shoghi Effendi and appearing for the first time in their original setting, including the popular quotation "Ye are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch."
At the time of The Tabernacle of Unity's publication, Steven Phelps, a translator working in the Research Department, commented:
The nominal thread that unites these five Tablets is that they were all revealed over a century ago to individuals of Zoroastrian background. However, too much of a focus on this angle might make the volume seem backward looking and irrelevant when in fact its message is very much for the here and now. While restating some of the central tenets of the Faith, such as the organic unity of the human race, the progressive character of divine revelation, and the world-embracing nature of Bahá’u’lláh’s prophetic claim, the volume also opens new vistas to the Bahá’í teachings with its
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discussion of the boundary between the absolute and the relative in religious truth. Perhaps most importantly of all, the volume speaks eloquently to the urgent need for religion to reclaim its place as a world-unifying, world-transforming force.
NOTES[edit]
Bahá’u’lláh, The Tabernacle of Unity (Haifa: World Centre Publications, 2006), section 1.4.
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They that are endued with sincerity
and faithfulness should associate
with all the peoples and kindreds
of the earth with joy and radiance,
inasmuch as consorting with people
hath promoted and will continue
to promote unity and concord,
which in turn are conducive to the
maintenance of order in the world
and to the regeneration of nations.
-Bahá’u’lláh