# Literary Style — Translation

*Exported from [Holy-Writings.com](https://www.holy-writings.com/) on 2026-06-19 — 1 clipping.*

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> Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: Universal House of Justice, Research Department, Literary Style — Translation, bahai-library.com.
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> 
> LITERARY STYLE—TRANSLATION *
> 
> prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
> 
> Regarding the translation of the Books and Tablets of the Blessed Beauty, ere long will
> translations be made into every tongue, with power, clarity and grace. At such time as they are
> translated, conformably to the originals, and with power and grace of style, the splendours of
> their inner meanings will be shed abroad, and will illumine the eyes of all mankind. Do thy very
> best to ensure that the translation is in conformity with the original.
> (“Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá”, number 31.13)
> 
> From the writings of Shoghi Effendi and letters written on his behalf
> 
> This is one more attempt to introduce to the West, in language however inadequate, this
> book of unsurpassed pre-eminence among the writings of the Author of the Bahá’í Revelation.
> The hope is that it may assist others in their efforts to approach what must always be regarded as
> the unattainable goal—a befitting rendering of Bahá’u’lláh’s matchless utterance.
> (Shoghi Effendi, Foreword to “The Kitáb-i-Iqán” (Wilmette: Bahá’í Publishing Trust,
> 1985)
> 
> It must have been very distasteful to you to read some of the off-hand and ungrammatical
> translations that more out of necessity than choice won circulation and were even published.
> Furthermore, it was always the expressed wish and desire of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to have proper and
> adequate translations that would not only convey the true spirit of the original but also possess
> some literary merit. And for this he emphasized the necessity of a board of translators. Such a
> board it has unfortunately been impossible to form as yet.
> (28 March 1926 to an individual believer)
> 
> Shoghi Effendi hopes that before long we will obtain a group of competent English and
> Persian scholars who would devote their whole time and energy to the translation of the Words
> and bring out things that are really deserving. For whatever we have at present, even the very
> 
> *
> This compilation was first posted in plain-text at http://worldlanguageprocess.org/essays/uhj_on_gender.htm
> (2002). It was formatted and reposted at https://bahai-library.com/compilation_literary_style_translation (2021).
> best, is only a mediocre rendering of the Persian or Arabic beauty of style and fertility of
> language that we find in the original.
> (4 July 1929 to an individual believer)
> 
> Shoghi Effendi wishes me also to express his deep-felt appreciation of your intention to
> study the Qur’án. The knowledge of this revealed holy Book is, indeed, indispensable to every
> Bahá’í who wishes to adequately understand the writings of Bahá’u’lláh. And in view of that the
> Guardian has been invariably encouraging the friends to make as thorough a study of this Book
> as possible, particularly in their Summer Schools. Sale’s translation is the most scholarly we
> have, but Rodwell’s version is more literary, and hence easier for reading.
> (23 November 1934 to an individual believer)
> 
> He feels the highest literary standard possible should be maintained in any future
> translations of Bahá’í writings into Spanish, and for this reason he heartily welcomes the
> suggestion to refer such work to Spanish professors....
> (14 December 1938 to an individual believer)
> 
> There is no objection to using, in translations of the Master’s words, a uniform style such
> as “he does” or “he doeth”. It certainly creates a ridiculous impression to use both. One or the
> other may be chosen.
> 
> In Persian it is impolite not to use the word “Hadrát” before the name of the Prophet, so
> that strictly speaking a proper translation should always have “His Holiness Moses” etc.;
> however, as this seems peculiar in English, and not in the best usage of our language, he feels it
> can be dispensed with. Pronouns referring to the Manifestation, or the Master, should, however,
> invariably be capitalized.
> (8 November 1948 to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> Shoghi Effendi himself uses the King James version of the Bible, both because it is an
> authoritative one and in beautiful English.
> (28 October 1949 to an individual believer)
> 
> He is interested in accomplishing two things—he would like in the European languages
> to have as much uniformity with the English translations as possible; he does not wish the Bahá’í
> translations to be in any way a flagrant violation of the rules of the language into which our
> literature is being translated.
> Your Committee must conscientiously study this question, and then do the best you can
> to have the Bahá’í literature in French meet the high standards of the French language and
> grammar.
> 
> If the possessive and demonstrative adjectives and pronouns in French are never
> capitalized where they stand for “God”, then this should not be done in the Bahá’í literature. If
> there is a precedent for doing so in the French language, however, they should be. The same is
> true of the attributes of God.
> (15 February 1957 to the National Translation and Publication Committee of France)
> 
> From letters written by the Universal House of Justice
> 
> We realise that translation is a very difficult task and that however good a translation is
> there are always differences of opinion, both as to accuracy and style. However, in translating
> Bahá’í Scripture it is important to remember that the style in the original is an exalted one and
> this aspect should not be lost when it is translated into other languages. It can be noted, for
> example, that when the beloved Guardian was making his translations into English he used a
> style that is far from being that of modern English usage but is admirably suited to the richness
> and imagery of the original.
> (12 August 1973 to a National Spiritual Assembly)
> 
> A translation should of course be as true as possible to the original while being in the best
> possible style of the language into which it is being translated. However, you should realize that
> it will not be possible to translate the Tablets adequately into easy, modern Dutch. Many of the
> original Writings of Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá are written in very exalted and poetic Persian
> and Arabic and therefore a similar flavour should be attempted in the language into which it is
> translated. You will see, for example, that in translating the Tablets of Bahá’u’lláh into English
> the beloved Guardian has created a very beautiful and poetic style in English using many words
> which might be considered archaic and are reminiscent of the English used by the translators of
> the King James version of the Bible.
> 
> As you point out, a literal translation is often a bad one because it can produce a
> phraseology or imagery that would convey the wrong impression, thus a translator is at times
> compelled to convey the meaning of the original by means of a form of words suited to the
> language. However, a person translating the Bahá’í Writings must always bear in mind that he or
> she is dealing with the Word of God, and, when striving to convey the meaning of the original,
> he should exert his utmost to make his rendering both faithful and befitting.
> (29 October 1973 to an individual believer)
> From letters written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice
> 
> Those who are entrusted with the task of translating the Sacred Writings from the original
> into English should study the original very closely, and then attempt to express as accurately and
> as beautifully as possible in English that which the original conveys. To do this they frequently
> have to use various different synonyms in English to give the best translation of the same Arabic
> or Persian word when it appears in different contexts. Conversely, they may have to use the same
> English word in different contexts to translate various different words in the original. In doing
> this they attempt to follow the example set by Shoghi Effendi in his magnificent translations.
> (31 May 1981 to a National Translation and Revision Committee of a National Spiritual
> Assembly)
> 
> Translation is a very difficult art—an art in which absolute perfection is unattainable.
> However good a translation, there will always be those who would have preferred it otherwise,
> for taste, which is undefinable, plays such a large part in such judgements.
> (20 September 1982 to an individual believer)
> 
> From memoranda prepared by the Research Department at the instruction of the
> Universal House of Justice
> 
> The question of which style of Swedish should be used for the translation of Bahá’í
> Writings is one that, we feel, must be decided by the National Assembly of Sweden after
> considering the views of those who are expert both in translation and in Swedish literary style.
> While it is not obligatory for them to follow the practice that the beloved Guardian adopted in
> English, it would be useful for them to bear in mind certain aspects of the problem which have
> been solved in English by Shoghi Effendi.
> 
> The originals of the Bahá’í Writings are not only in three different languages (Arabic,
> Persian and a few in Turkish), which have very different characteristics, but are also in a number
> of different styles. Some are highly poetic and metaphorical, others more precise and specific. In
> English-speaking countries, as in most others, religion and spirituality are in a phase of eclipse;
> therefore the vocabulary used to convey many profound religious concepts has fallen into disuse.
> To attempt to express the highly poetic and allusive terminology of the Bahá’í Writings in plain,
> modern English would either be banal or would make the passages sound very strange and
> foreign. The Guardian’s use of a style of English that is slightly archaic, a style in which there is
> an abundance of spiritual and poetic terminology, acts as a bridge between the English of today
> and the style of the Persian and Arabic Writings of the Founders of the Faith.
> (1 July 1985 to the House of Justice from the Research Department for the Swedish
> Publishing Trust)
> 
> Those devoted believers who are currently engaged in translation work have a difficult
> task, for the originals of the Bahá’í Writings are not only in three different languages (Arabic,
> Persian, and a few in Turkish) but are also composed in a number of different styles. Some are
> highly poetic and metaphorical, others more precise and specific. The translators must study the
> original closely in order to attempt an accurate and beautiful rendition in English suitable for the
> style and language of the original text.
> (27 May 1987 to an individual believer)
> 
> From “The Priceless Pearl”
> THE WRITINGS OF THE GUARDIAN
> 
> In an age when people play football with words, kicking them right and left
> indiscriminately with no respect for either their meaning or correct usage, the style of Shoghi
> Effendi stands out in dazzling beauty. His joy in words was one of his strongest personal
> characteristics, whether he wrote in English—the language he had given his heart to—or in the
> mixture of Persian and Arabic he used in his general letters to the East. Although he was so simple
> in his personal tastes he had an innate love of richness which is manifest in the way he arranged
> and decorated various Bahá’í Holy Places, in the style of the Shrine of the Báb, in his preferences
> in architecture, and in his choice and combination of words. Of him it could be said, in the words
> of another great writer, Macaulay, that “he wrote in language ... precise and luminous.” Unlike so
> many people Shoghi Effendi wrote what he meant and meant exactly what he wrote. It is
> impossible to eliminate any word from one of his sentences without sacrificing part of the
> meaning, so concise, so pithy is his style....
> 
> The language in which Shoghi Effendi wrote, whether for the Bahá’ís of the West or of the
> East, has set a standard which should effectively prevent them from descending to the level of
> illiterate literates which often so sadly characterizes the present generation as far as the use and
> appreciation of words are concerned. He never compromised with the ignorance of his readers but
> expected them, in their thirst for knowledge, to overcome their ignorance. Shoghi Effendi chose,
> to the best of his great ability, the right vehicle for his thought and it made no difference to him
> whether the average person was going to know the word he used or not. After all, what one does
> not know one can find out. Although he had such a brilliant command of language he frequently
> reinforced his knowledge by certainty through looking up the word he planned to use in Webster’s
> big dictionary. Often one of my functions was to hand it to him and it was a weighty tome indeed!
> Not infrequently his choice would be the third or fourth usage of the word, sometimes bordering
> on the archaic, but it was the exact word that conveyed his meaning and so he used it. I remember
> my mother once saying that to become a Bahá’í was like entering a university, only one never
> finished learning, never graduated. In his translations of the Bahá’í writings, and above all in his
> own compositions, Shoghi Effendi set a standard that educates and raises the cultural level of the
> reader at the same time that it feeds his mind and soul with thoughts and truth....
> 
> The supreme importance of Shoghi Effendi’s English translations and communications
> can never be sufficiently stressed because of his function as sole and authoritative interpreter of
> the Sacred Writings, appointed as such by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in His Will. There are many instances
> when, owing to the looseness of construction in Persian sentences, there could be an ambiguity
> in the mind of the reader regarding the meaning. Careful and correct English, not lending itself to
> ambiguity in the first place, became, when coupled with Shoghi Effendi’s brilliant mind and his
> power as interpreter of the Holy Word, what we might well call the crystallizing vehicle of the
> teachings. Often by referring to Shoghi Effendi’s translation into English the original meaning of
> the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh, or ‘Abdu’l-Bahá becomes clear and is thus safeguarded against
> misinterpretation in the future. He was meticulous in translating and made absolutely sure that
> the words he was using in English conveyed and did not depart from the original thought or the
> original words. One would have to have a mastery of Persian and Arabic to correctly understand
> what he did....
> 
> The Guardian was exceedingly cautious in everything that concerned the original Word
> and would never explain or comment on a text submitted to him in English (when it was not his
> own translation) until he had verified it with the original.
> (Rúhíyyih Rabbani, The Priceless Pearl (London: Bahá’í Publishing Trust, 1969), pp.
> 196–204)
>
> — *Literary Style — Translation (Used by permission of the curator)*