September 23. On this date in 2015, an individual emailed the Universal House of Justice expressing "concern that lack of translations of Arabic Bahá'í Writings into Persian may be preventing Iranians who are not proficient in Arabic from understanding the Arabic Writings, such as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas."
9 April 2018
Dear Bahá’í Friend,
The Universal House of Justice has received your email letter of 23 September 2015 expressing your concern that lack of translations of Arabic Bahá'í Writings into Persian may be preventing Iranians who are not proficient in Arabic from understanding the Arabic Writings, such as the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. We have been instructed to write to you as follows. The delay in our reply is very much regretted.
Your seeking the advice of the House of Justice is warmly acknowledged. As you know, the Arabic Bahá'í Writings are not translated into the Persian language based on guidance of the beloved Guardian. There are no authorized Persian translations of any of the Arabic Writings, including the Kitáb-i-Aqdas and the obligatory prayers, and publication of any Persian translation of the full text of an Arabic Sacred Text is not permitted. Latitude has been given, however, to using a personal translation or a gist of a passage in Persian for the purpose of enhancing understanding of the Writings, and these may be shared for this purpose with a few others—for instance, in the context of a study group. Moreover, the House of Justice has previously indicated that adding diacriticals to the Arabic words and explaining the meaning of difficult words are also acceptable means of assisting the friends to gain a better understanding of the Writings in Arabic.
Your concern about the ability of Iranians to study the Bahá'í Writings is appreciated. The House of Justice has indicated that care should be taken that limitations in understanding the Arabic Writings of the Twin Manifestations of God do not become an obstacle to reaching the masses of Persian-speaking peoples, who appear to be among the most receptive populations at present. It is hoped that the measures outlined above will prove to be adequate.
Be assured of the prayers of the House of Justice in the Holy Shrines that your services to the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh may be blessed and confirmed.
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
Department of the Secretariat
To summarize rules of Bahá'í translations...
Arabic works cannot be translated into Persian.
Persian works cannot be translated into Arabic.
Persian and Arabic works can be translated "into Oriental languages such as Turkish and Urdu."
Persian and Arabic works can be translated into English.
Persian and Arabic works cannot be translated into non-English "European languages."
English works can be translated into non-English "European languages."
For further reading, please see "Persian, Arabic, and Provisional Translations", "Translation and provisional translations", "Unveiling the Hidden Words, by Diana Malouf: Commentary on "Translating the Hidden Words,' review by Franklin Lewis", a letter dated June 27, 1933 from Shoghi Effendi to Adelbert Mühlschlegel about Bahá'í orthography, a letter dated June 30, 1999 from the Universal House of Justice outlining its procedures for approving provisional as opposed to authorized translations, and a letter dated February 15, 1957 from Shoghi Effendi to French Bahá'ís.
On September 20, 1973, the UHJ wrote an NSA "when the Sacred Writings are published the standard English translation should be used, but there would be no objection to printing alongside it the translation into simple English which should be described as a paraphrase of the Holy Word."
"The Universal House of Justice, in response to your letter of 20 April concerning translations into French or Creole using simpler words than the original text, has requested us to send the following three quotations. These make it clear that a quotation in English may be rendered into simple English in order to facilitate its translation into another language or dialect. However, it is not permissible to publish simplifications and paraphrased extracts of Bahá'í Writings as Bahá'í Scripture.
'We have noticed a tendency in a number of countries to attempt to translate Bahá'í literature into the current, easy, everyday language of the country. This, however, should not be an overriding consideration. Many of the Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh and Abdu'l-Bahá are in exalted and highly poetic language in the original Persian and Arabic and you will see, for example, that when translating Bahá'u'lláh's Writings into English the beloved Guardian did not use present-day colloquial English but evolved a highly poetic and beautiful style, using numbers of archaic expressions reminiscent of the translations of the Bible.' (From a letter dated 7 October 1973 written by the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly)
'Obviously teaching literature and books about the Faith can be written in simple English. However, we feel that when the Sacred Writings are published the standard English translation should be used, but there would be no objection to printing alongside it the translation into simple English which should be described as a paraphrase of the Holy Word. Thus, for the people of ... who have difficulty in comprehending standard English, the simple English version would be in the nature of an explanation of the Writings which they could understand. In the case of teaching literature in which quotations from the Writings appear, these could either be paraphrased or a simple English version could be used with the standard version printed as a footnote. This method would also provide a means whereby the people of ... could improve their knowledge and understanding of the English language.' (From a letter dated 20 September 1973 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly)
'It is, of course, permissible to translate Bahá'í Writings into other languages and dialects of languages. It is also possible to simplify or paraphrase the Bahá'í Writings in order to facilitate their translation into languages and dialects having small vocabularies. However, it is not permissible to publish simplifications and paraphrases of Bahá'í Writings as Bahá'í Scripture.'" (From a letter dated 13 March 1969 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to a National Spiritual Assembly)
(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the Spiritual Assembly of Guadeloupe, May 13, 1986)
On September 16, 1992, the Universal House of Justice wrote that Shoghi Effendi's English translation "of a Text should form the 'basis' for translations into other European languages" but "translations into Oriental languages such as Turkish and Urdu could be made directly from the original texts."
The Universal House of Justice
Bahá'í World Centre
Department of the Secretariat
16 September 1992
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
The questions contained in your letter to ... about the language of Revelation and the status of Shoghi Effendi's translations were referred to the Universal House of Justice. We are instructed to convey the following response.
With respect to your inquiry about whether, in the Bahá'í context, English might possibly be regarded as a language of Revelation, the House of Justice asks us to explain that, while Shoghi Effendi's translations of the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh into English carry with them a large measure of interpretation of the intent and purpose of the Author of the text -- an interpretation which he, as Interpreter of the Sacred Text, could alone authoritatively provide -- one should not conclude that the English language into which the Writings were translated could, therefore, be considered as a language of Revelation.
As to the special status of Shoghi Effendi's translations, the beloved Guardian in a letter dated 15 November 1956 written on his behalf specified that "this English translation" of a Text should form the "basis" for translations into other European languages. The Universal House of Justice, in a letter of 8 September 1964 underlined the uniqueness of the translations of Shoghi Effendi and provided the following elucidation:
...the beloved Guardian was not only a translator but the inspired Interpreter of the Holy Writings; thus, where a passage in Persian or Arabic could give rise to two different expressions in English he would know which one to convey. Similarly he would be much better equipped than an average translator to know which metaphor to employ in English to express a Persian metaphor which might be meaningless in literal translation.
Thus, in general, speakers of other European tongues will obtain a more accurate translation by following the Guardian's English translation than by attempting at this stage in Bahá'í history to translate directly from the original.
This does not mean, however, that the translators should not also check their translation with the original texts if they are familiar with Persian or Arabic. There may be many instances where the exact meaning of the English text is unclear to them and this can be made evident by comparison with the original....
The Universal House of Justice has also clarified that while the English translations of the Guardian might serve as a useful resource, translations into Oriental languages such as Turkish and Urdu could be made directly from the original texts.
We are asked to assure you of the prayers of the Universal House of Justice for the confirmation of your services to the Cause of God.
With loving Bahá'í greetings,
For Department of the Secretariat, ...
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