What are 'Provisional' Translations of the Baháʼí Writings?
“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.” - Baháʼu'lláh
The size and scope of the Baháʼí Writings is truly monumental and stands out as unparalleled in world religious history. Between Baháʼu'lláh and the Báb, the core writings of the Baháʼí Faith, written directly in their hand or dictated to their scribes, are estimated to comprise over 10 million words, leaving humanity with a vast heritage that will undoubtedly stimulate centuries of fruitful study, personal inspiration, and social transformation.1
The original languages of the sacred scripture of the Baháʼí Faith are Arabic and Persian. This means that to “rise up to exalt the Word of God and to spread abroad His sweet savours” (‘Abdu’l-Bahá) extensive efforts are needed to translate the original text of the Writings into the many languages of the world.
To my knowledge, the Baháʼí scripture is the only religious scripture in world history to directly offer its own set of principles and guidance for translation, a veritable epistemological foundation for understanding language, and a distinctive ethos and standard that informs Baháʼí approaches to translation. Consider, for instance, how Bahá’u’lláh refers in numerous cases to the utter inability of language to ultimately contain divine truths:
“How great the multitude of truths which the garment of words can never contain! How vast the number of such verities as no expression can adequately describe, whose significance can never be unfolded, and to which not even the remotest allusions can be made!”
Gleanings From the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, pages 175-177
Other fundamental principles, whether metaphysical, social, scientific, or ethical, all inform how we approach the translation of the Writings, a topic we will explore in greater depth in future posts.
Authoritative and Provisional Translations
In the Baháʼí Faith we distinguish between two different categories of translations. First and most important are authoritative or official translations. These are translations produced for widespread publication, used by Baháʼí communities as the official translations for devotional and study purposes and all other community needs. They are produced by collaborations of experts in the original languages under the guidance of the leadership of the Faith at the Baháʼí World Centre. A steady stream of translations have been published over the years and are translated according to standards and ethics found in the Writings, and gradually organized into meaningful collections & volumes in accordance with directions from the Founders of the Baháʼí Faith themselves. Besides widely available printed versions, they may be found freely available digitally at the official website of the worldwide Baha’i community.
Secondary to these are provisional translations. These are translations produced by one or more individuals (whether Baháʼí or not), usually of texts that are not yet available in the respective language, and often to spur on personal study or reflect on specific topics underrepresented in the already translated works. In the Baháʼí Faith there are no clergy nor are there theologians empowered to authoritatively interpret the Writings. As individual efforts provisional translations carry no deliberate authority in the Baháʼí Faith. They reflect the (hopefully) careful and considerate linguistic expertise of those individuals and their impressions of how the original language can be conveyed, but nothing more. Baháʼí’s are free to use, refer to, and share these provisional texts as they wish so long as they are aware that they don’t carry the same status as official translations.
Due to the vast and ‘oceanic’ character of the Writings of the Baháʼí Faith, provisional translations play a valuable role in exploring these depths as official translations are worked on. A number of skilled Baháʼí translators share their personal efforts in a variety of places, whether in scholarly publications or on personal websites, a few of which I will highlight below.
Periodically provisional translations by myself or other invited guests will be shared here. They will always be marked as provisional and attributed to the translator as such, and when sensible will be shared with the original language for comparison and evaluation. If possible, they will be reviewed by others skilled in the original language and marked as such. Because they hold less weight than authorized translations they should always be ‘taken with a grain of salt’, hence the name ‘provisional’. All the same, it is hoped they provide a stimulus for further study and a profound personal benefit.
Some notable sources for provisional translations:
Hurqalya is the scholarly website and project in Biblical, Qur'anic and Bábí-Báha'i Studies by scholar and researcher Stephen Lambden. It is a treasure trove of explorations into less charted segments of the Writings of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh with countless invaluable provisional translations and extensive background material on the social, historical and theological context of the Bábi-Báha'i Revelations.
Gate of the Heart by Nader Saiedi is as an indispensable overview of the Writings the Báb with dozens of high quality provisional translations and a comprehensive overview of key themes from across the entire works of the Báb. It remains one of the best resources for exploring the inimitable and challenging works of the Báb
The personal website of skilled and active translator Adib Masumian who regularly posts new translation efforts covering a range of sources and topics.
The provisional translations section of Bahai Library Online, the personal project of Jonah Winters provides a wide range of provisional translations both recent and older.
Select Quotes on the Word of God and Translations
"It is clear and evident, therefore, that the first bestowal of God is the Word, and its discoverer and recipient is the power of understanding. This Word is the foremost instructor in the school of existence and the revealer of Him Who is the Almighty. All that is seen is visible only through the light of its wisdom. All that is manifest is but a token of its knowledge. All names are but its name, and the beginning and end of all matters must needs depend upon it." -Baha'u'llah, Tabernacle of Unity, §1 ¶1
"It is the concern of the True One to reveal, and the concern of men to spread what hath been revealed. He will, verily, promulgate His Cause by the hands of His scattering and well-favoured angels. Spiritual souls will assuredly emerge from behind the veil of Divine protection who will gather together the tokens and Verses of God and put them into the most excellent order. This is His sure and irrevocable decree." -From a Tablet of Baha'u'llah, Lights of Guidance no. 327)
“…Perfect translation will be made at a time when a committee of translators is organized. The members of that committee must be composed of several Persians and several Americans, all of whom must have the utmost proficiency in both the Persian and English languages. Then the Tablets will be translated through this committee. For the present the organization of such a committee is not possible. Therefore, whenever the publication of a Tablet becomes necessary, have a proficient person translate it, then circulate it and the end will be attained. Concerning the Book of Akdas2: Undoubtedly it must be translated by a scientific committee of translators. The translation of one person is not sufficient.” -Tablets of Abdu'l-Bahá vol. 2, p. 466-7
“Individual believers [Baháʼís] are free to translate into English any of the Holy Writings for their own use. Such translations may also be issued electronically, and may be published in circulars or journals without review by anyone other than the editors of the publications, but they must, in all cases, be clearly labeled as “provisional translations.” -Research Department at the Baha’i World Centre, Compilation on Translation and provisional translations
For estimates on the works of the Baha’i Writings cf. Steven Phelps “The Writings of Baha’u’llah”. Chapter 5 in “The World of the Baha’i Faith” (London: Routledge, 2022) and Wilmette Institute Webinar “Overview of the Writings of the Báb”. As a matter of comparison, the complete works of Shakespeare and the entire corpus of the Bible each comprise fewer than a million words, respectively. The Qur’an is comparatively briefer still, containing fewer than 100,000 words across 6,000+ verses. The Mahabhrata, likely the longest ‘single’ piece of religious scripture/epic in world history, is 1.8 million words.
‘Book of Akdas’ is the ‘Kitab-i-Aqdas’, Baháʼu'lláh pre-eminent work on religion and laws for society and personal life. At the time it had not yet been authoritatively translated.