Publishing the Writings

From Lights of Guidance

Capitalizing Pronouns in English

"The Guardian wishes your Committee to capitalize all pronouns when referring to Bahá'u'lláh, the Bab and the Master, even though the newspapers do not use them."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'í News Service Committee, February 5, 1938, in Lights of Guidance, no. 364)

"In regard to your question about capitalizing the pronouns: The Guardian realizes this looks a little strange to non-Bahá'ís, but he feels we, being believers, and having the full sense of the Stations of the Central figures of our Faith, should do this as a sign of respect under all circumstances."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, November 22, 1949, in Lights of Guidance, no. 364)

Capitalizing Pronouns in Other Languages

"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."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Translation and Publication Committee of France, February 15, 1957, in Lights of Guidance, no. 365)

Quotation Marks--Must Uphold Rigid Standard Inculcated by the Cause

"Also the Guardian feels it is absolutely essential that in all releases issued by your Committee quotation marks be used when passages from Bahá'í Sacred Writings are quoted. The friends should be careful to uphold under all circumstances the rigid standard inculcated by the Cause, and not to compromise easily with the common and accepted standards of the time."

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'í News Service Committee, February 5, 1938, in Lights of Guidance, no. 366)

Usage in Spanish Texts of Accents on Persian and Arabic Words

"The question as to whether or not the accents on the word Bahá'í (and indeed on other words transliterated from the Persian and Arabic) should be used when the word is printed entirely in capital letters is one that should be uniform in usage throughout the Spanish-speaking world unless usage varies significantly from country to country. It is suggested, therefore, that you refer this question to the two Bahá'í Publishing Trusts in Spain and Argentina for their comments. The guiding consideration should not be the usage in relation to accents on Spanish words, but the usage in Spanish texts of accents on capital letters on foreign words appearing in Spanish texts, such as the German umlaut, etc. It should be borne in mind that, whereas the accent in Spanish indicates merely a presence of stress, in the transliteration of Persian words it indicates a difference in articulation of the vowel. For example, the words 'VAHID' and 'VAHID' are two words with different meanings and different pronunciations."

(From a letter written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Mexico, July 22, 1984, in Lights of Guidance, no. 361)

See also

• Transliteration
• Syntax