1. Translation
As to what is meant by Gog and Magog, these were two factions that were in constant strife and spread corruption throughout the world. When Muḥammad (peace be upon Him), the Apostle of God, the true and spiritual Dhu’l-Qarnayn, appeared, He raised between them the barrier of faith and united them in the Cause of God, the All-Merciful, the Most Compassionate. In one sense, we interpret these two words as the various peoples who were enemies of these guided ones on the earth. Thus have we interpreted these two words in their outward sense, while in their inward sense, what is intended by Gog and Magog is the predominance of the hosts of self, passion, and heedlessness, which seize the servant through the affairs of this world and the ephemeral means it containeth, did the people but know it.
2. Arabic text
وَأَمَّا المَقْصُودُ مِنْ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ هُوَ الطَّائِفَتَانِ اللَّتَانِ كَانَتَا تَتَنَازَعَانِ فِي كُلِّ الأَيَّامِ وَتُفْسِدَانِ بَيْنَ العَالَمِ. فَلَمَّا ظَهَرَ مُحَمَّدُ (ص) رَسُولُ اللهِ، ذُو القَرْنَيْنِ الحَقِيقِيُّ المَعْنَوِيُّ، إِذَا رَفَعَ سَدَّ الإِيمَانِ بَيْنَهُمْ وَجَعَلَهُمْ مُتَّحِدِينَ فِي أَمْرِ اللهِ الرَّحْمَنِ الرَّحِيمِ. وَفِي مَقَامٍ نُفَسِّرُهُمَا بِالطَّوَائِفِ المُخْتَلِفَةِ الَّتِي كَانَتْ فِي الأَرْضِ عَدُوًّا لِهَؤُلَاءِ المُهْتَدِينَ. وَقَدْ فَسَّرْنَاهُمَا كَذَلِكَ فِي مَقَامِ الظَّاهِرِ وَأَمَّا فِي مَقَامِ البَاطِنِ، المُرَادُ مِنْ يَأْجُوجَ وَمَأْجُوجَ غَلَبَةُ عَسَاكِرِ النَّفْسِ وَالهَوَى وَالغَفْلَةِ الَّتِي تَأْخُذُ العَبْدَ مِنْ شُؤُونَاتِ الدُّنْيَا وَأَسْبَابِهِ الزَّائِلَةِ فِيهَا لَوْ كَانَ النَّاسُ مِنَ العَارِفِينَ.
3. Supplementary Notes
In Ríyáḍu’l-Lughát, a Persian-language dictionary of terms that appear in the Bahá’í Writings, we read:
According to the Book of Genesis in the Torah, [Ma’júj, meaning Magog] is the son of Japheth, son of Noah. The author of the Persian Bible Dictionary [by James W. Hawkes] writes that the Syrians called the land of the Tatars “Ma’júj,” while the Arabs called the land between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea “Ma’júj” . . . In the New Testament, Gog and Magog are enemies of the Christian faith. The names Ma’júj and Ya’júj [Gog] appear in verses 94 of Surah Al-Kahf and 96 of Surah Al-Anbiya in the Qur’án, meaning “corrupters,” as stated in the divine words: “Indeed, Ya’júj and Ma’júj are corrupters in the earth.”
In the Bahá’í Faith, they also appear with the meaning of those who embody corruption. Among these references, in a metaphorical context, it is stated: “Ya’júj signifieth self and passion” (Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Áthár-i-Qalam-i-A‘lá, vol. 7, p. 136) and “Ya’júj and Ma’júj, who are the two disbelieving souls” (Bahá’u’lláh, quoted in Má’idiy-i-Ásmání, vol. 4, p. 99), alluding to Mírzá Yaḥyá and Siyyid Muḥammad-i-Iṣfahání. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá also states that “Ya’júj denoteth doubts and Ma’júj signifieth hesitation and agitation” (Makátíb-i-Ḥaḍrat-i-‘Abdu’l-Bahá, vol. 5, p. 153).
(See here for the source; translation mine.)
Source link
