Vocabulary
Honorifics[edit]
Use of "His Holiness"/"Hadrat" can be dispensed with in English[edit]
"In Persian it is impolite not to use the word Hadrat 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."
- (From a letter written on behalf of the Guardian to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States and Canada, November 8, 1948: Bahá'í News, No. 216, p. 1, February 1949, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1700)
The generic "Man" is used in Persian, Arabic (and Hebrew), not excluding "Women"[edit]
"The truth is that all mankind are the creatures and servants of one God, and in His estimate all are human. Man is a generic term applying to all humanity. The biblical statement "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" does not mean that woman was not created. The image and likeness of God apply to her as well. In Persian and Arabic there are two distinct words translated into English as man: one meaning man and woman collectively, the other distinguishing man as male from woman the female. The first word and its pronoun are generic, collective; the other is restricted to the male. This is the same in Hebrew."
"Son of" is a collective noun meaning mankind[edit]
"As to your second question concerning those passages in the 'Hidden Words' in which Bahá'u'lláh refers to man as 'Son of Spirit', 'Son of existence', 'Son of humanity' etc., the word 'son' used in this connection is a kind of collective noun, meaning mankind and has, therefore, no connotation of any sex differentiation between man and woman whatever."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, January 19, 1935, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1634)
See also[edit]
- Syntax#Gender or number
- Esperanto (re: gender)
"Lord" and "God" Refer to the Creator in Bahá’í Writings[edit]
"In the Bahá’í Writings Lord and God refer to the Creator, not the Manifestations of God; in a few passages the word 'Lord' refers to the Manifestation, but usually it means 'God'!"
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, October 4, 1950, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1579)
"Dayspring" Defined[edit]
"I have asked the Guardian concerning the exact meaning of the word 'Dayspring'. Literally it means 'Dawn'. It is sometimes used in the sense of 'Horizon' or 'Rising point', and taken figuratively it is equivalent to fountain or source. It can also be used as referring to a Manifestation of God, as in the following expression 'Dayspring of Truth'."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 19, 1935, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1582)
"Abhá Kingdom"[edit]
"With reference to your question as to the meaning of the term 'Abhá Kingdom', it is another term for the spiritual world beyond the grave."
- (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, April 21, 1939, in Lights of Guidance, no. 1595)
