Lonemedic

Regarding the Hidden Word below:

My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.

Whenever I read this, I am confused to the meaning, "...that thine may be a sovereignty ancient..."

Is this saying that our "hearts" become the sovereignty ancient?
Or that we obtain the sovereignty ancient?

I would greatly appreciate hearing someone else's understanding about the last half of this Hidden Word.

Thanks in advance!

arthra

Hey there Lonemedic! Good to see your post.

First I'd suggest looking at the full text a minute:

"My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting".

What happens when we have a

"...a pure, kindly and radiant heart.."?

Well when the heart is burnished it can better reflect more of the attributes of God..See the passage below on polishing the mirrors of our hearts.

Now look at the later section of the quote:

"...that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting."

It's suggesting in my humble opinion you will tune to the divine Wifi and be connected to

"....a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting"

Also see:

The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light. One heart may possess the capacity of the polished mirror; another be covered and obscured by the dust and dross of this world.

Although the same Sun is shining upon both, in the mirror which is polished, pure and sanctified you may behold the Sun in all its fullness, glory and power revealing its majesty and effulgence, but in the mirror which is rusted and obscured there is no capacity for reflection although so far as the Sun itself is concerned it is shining thereon and is neither lessened nor deprived.

Therefore our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 218

Sen McGlinn

It might help to see what other translators have made of the phrase

Haddad: "for therein is the Kingdom, Eternal, Unpassing, Ancient."
Kheiralla "a continual, everlasting, unceasing and ancient Kingdom"
Fareed "a Kingdom eternal, immortal, ancient, and without end"
Stannard "an everlasting, ancient and eternal Kingdom"
Dreyfus: "Aies un coeur noble, éclairé afin d'avoir aussi des biens durables, perpétuels, éternels de tout temps."
Shogh Effendi 1923 "a sovereignty, heavenly, ancient, imperishable and everlasting"
Shoghi Effendi 1929 "a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting."

The word of "a sovereignty" is mulkan, which can be translated as dominion (often earthly dominion) or sovereignty or kingdom, or The Kingdom. The difference is in the connotation. To have dominion, one must have dominion over something or someone, to be sovereign means not to be subject or dependent on something or someone. Of these, I think sovereignty is the best translation here.

Lonemedic

Thank you both so much! That was vey helpful.

Funny how it now seems so clear, after years of struggle.