A prolific Bahá’í translator and historian who served as director of statistics at the Bahá’í World Centre from 1981 to 1988. His translation are said to whitewash, censor,and obfuscate problematic matters in Bahá’í scripture.
From the chapter titled "Dr Ahang Rabbani: A translator in good faith or a Baha’i whitewasher" in the book Twelve Principles: A Comprehensive Investigation on the Baha'i Teachings...
While investigating how Baha’is censor and hide problematic matters in their scripture which had been inadvertently exposed by Dr Rabbani (the case has been documented in another article here), it was realized that Ahang Rabbani himself had distorted a number of very problematic statements while translating the volumes that he had been working on. In two cases, these distortions are amended by footnotes which state the translations are approximate/not precise, while in fact they are neither but an outright twisting of the truth.
In this article we will analyze the distortions introduced by Dr Rabbani in the work A Lifetime with Abdu'l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalil Shahidi. Also, a single quote from another one of his translations which is worthy of mentioning will be presented.
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Pay attention to the following quote from Abdu’l-Baha:
“If you ask about Tiberius, know that its stones are black, its inhabitants are Jewish and their appearance is basic.” (Ahang Rabbani, A Lifetime with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalíl Shahídí, p. 68)
Dr Rabbani writes a footnote at the end of this statement: “The narrator gives this statement in both original Arabic and translation in Persian. Translation of the final phrase is not precise.” (footnote no. 74)
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The two arrows point to two sentences: one in Arabic and the same sentence again in Farsi:
" وجوههم کالقرد"
" صورتهایشان مانند میمونان است"
The translation of these statements is this:
“their appearance is like monkeys/apes”!
So this is what Abdu’l-Baha had said about the Jews of Tiberius:
“If you ask about Tiberius, know that its stones are black, its inhabitants are Jewish and their appearance is like monkeys/apes.”
This is how it was translated by the professional Baha’i translator who is no longer amongst us:
“If you ask about Tiberius, know that its stones are black, its inhabitants are Jewish and their appearance is basic.”
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According to Ahang Rabbani, this is how Abdu’l-Baha had compared Baha’is with non-Baha’is:
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá said, “The least of the friends is better than the fairest of the nonbelievers.” Moreover, He used to say, “The worst of the friends is better than the best of the nonbelievers.”” (Ahang Rabbani, A Lifetime with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalíl Shahídí*, p. 81)
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The section marked in red that has been uttered by Abdu’l-Baha reads:
“یک کاکاسیاه احباب بهتر از یک حوریه اغیار است”
Which translates to:
“A Baha’i nigger is better than a non-Baha’i nymph”!
Apologies for using the n word! The original Farsi word Abdu’l-Baha used is ‘kaka siah’ (کاکا سیاه) which is the equivalent of ‘nigger’ in English.
Compare with Rabbani’s translation:
“The least of the friends is better than the fairest of the nonbelievers.”
What is more shameful is the fact that the word ‘least’ has been used as an equivalent for ‘nigger’!
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Pay attention to the following quote:
“One of the pillars of the Covenant-breakers was named Muhammad-Javád Qazvíní. When he strolled, he held his neck exceedingly straight, particularly if he came upon the friends or His blessed Temple [‘Abdu’l-Bahá]. ‘Abdul-Bahá would say, “He is like someone with a back injury, and forced to hold his neck straight to ease the pain.” (Ahang Rabbani, A Lifetime with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalíl Shahídí, p. 91)
What was so special about the last sentence that needed to be mentioned in the memoirs: “He is like someone with a back injury, and forced to hold his neck straight to ease the pain.”
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The section underlined in red reads:
“این مثل الاغی می ماند که کمرش زخم شده باشد و از شدت درد گردنش را شق نگه دارد.”
Which translates to:
“He is like a donkey with a back injury, and forced to hold his neck straight to ease the pain.”
Abdu’l-Baha has compared a covenant-breaker with a donkey. This isn’t strange from Abdu’l-Baha. After all he is the son of Baha’u’llah who would refer to his deniers and enemies as donkeys, pigs, and dogs. Now, compare with Dr Rabbani’s translation:
“He is like someone with a back injury, and forced to hold his neck straight to ease the pain.”
Dr Rabbani writes in the footnote that this is “an approximate translation”. Apparently, in the Baha’i teachings, ‘donkey’ is an approximate translation for ‘someone’!
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According to Ahang Rabbani this is how Abdu’l-Baha responded to a Jew he was debating:
“‘Abdu’l-Bahá immediately responded back with the lines,
This faith is true, that a delight!
and yet the mob, an ugly sight,
Protested it with all their might!
I wish I knew which one was right!
However, while He was saying, “and yet the mob, an ugly sight,” He was pointing to him with His blessed hand, meaning, “You are that ugly sight who denies these two Dispensations.” (Ahang Rabbani, A Lifetime with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalíl Shahídí, pp. 23-24)
The original words (see image below) that Dr Rabbani has translated as “yet the mob, an ugly sight” read as:
"و لکن القوم القبیح"
These words translate to: “But the ugly people/race.” This is the first distortion in the translation. The second distortion occurs in the sentence: “You are that ugly sight.” In the original Farsi, the word translated as ‘You’ has been used in the plural form (shoma-ha) which means Abdu’l-Baha was referring to all Jews not just the person he was conversing with. Abdu’l-Baha directly calls the followers of Judaism an “ugly people/race.” This statement has been clearly distorted in the translation.
Ironically, Dr Rabbani states that he has made great effort to translate this work precisely and in the style and manner of the original text:
“Since the account is a primary source document, every effort was made to translate it precisely in the style and manner of the original, in hope that by so doing it would convey a flavor of the original text.” (Ahang Rabbani, A Lifetime with ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: Reminiscences of Khalíl Shahídí, p. 8)
We’ll leave it to the readers to Judge Dr Rabbani on this statement.
