Aghsán
Term may refer to Bahá'u'lláh's sons or to His male descendants[edit]
"With reference to the specific questions raised in the letter we have received, one concerns the meaning of the designation “Aghṣán”, as found in the Writings. While in some cases, as affirmed by the Guardian, the term applies specifically to Bahá’u’lláh’s sons, at other times it is used more broadly to include His male descendants. For example, in His Will and Testament ‘Abdu’l-Bahá refers to Shoghi Effendi as “the chosen branch”. The reference to Shoghi Effendi as Ghuṣn here—the singular form of Aghṣán—follows the usage of Bahá’u’lláh in relation to the titles He gave His sons, that is, the Most Great Branch, the Greater Branch, and the Purest Branch. A letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi explains that the word Aghṣán “refers to Bahá’u’lláh’s descendants”; another describes Hussein Rabbani, the Guardian’s brother, as “the grandchild of the Master, an Afnán and Aghṣán mentioned in the Will and Testament of the Master.” It is evident, then, that the designation Aghṣán, or Ghuṣn, includes Shoghi Effendi and the other male descendants of Bahá’u’lláh.
"If, at any time, male descendants of Bahá’u’lláh appear who are faithful to the Covenant, it would nevertheless not be possible for any of them to occupy the office of Guardian, for, as already explained, in the absence of appointment by Shoghi Effendi, they cannot claim the station of Guardianship and there is no way for one to be named to it by an act of the House of Justice."
- (Universal House of Justice, A Compilation Prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, February 2021, 76.10)
