John Woolman: There Is a Principle...Which in Different Places and Ages Hath Had Different Names
From the Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman (1774)
[Scroll down for the English]
KISWAHILI
“Kuna kanuni iliyo safi, iliyowekwa katika akili ya mwanadamu, ambayo katika mahali tofauti na nyakati tofauti imekuwa na majina tofauti. Hata hivyo, ni safi na hutoka kwa [Muumba wetu]. Ni ya kina na ya ndani, haizingiri na dini yoyote—wala kutengwa na yoyote—ambapo papo moyo unasimama katika unyofu kamili. Panapo kanuni hii inaanza kupata mizizi na kukua ndani ya mtu yeyote, wa taifa lolote, wanakuwa ndugu kwa maana bora ya neno hilo.”
- John Woolman (1720-1772) alikuwa waziri wa Quaker (Jamii ya Marafiki), mleta mabadiliko, na ukomeshaji wa utumwa mwenye ushawishi mkubwa katika makoloni ya Amerika Kaskazini (kabla ya nchi ya Marekani).
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“There is a principle which is pure, placed in the human mind, which in different places and ages hath had different names. It is, however, pure and proceeds from God [the Divine]. It is deep and inward, confined to no forms of religion nor excluded from any, where the heart stands in perfect sincerity. In whomsoever this takes root and grows, of what nation soever, they become brethren in the best sense of the expression.
- John Woolman (1720-1772) was a Quaker (Society of Friends) minister, reformist, and influential abolitionist in the North American colonies (pre-United States).
Chanzo (source): Woolman, John. “A Plea for the Poor—or A Word of Remembrance and Caution to the Rich” in The Journal and Major Essays of John Woolman, edited by Phillips P. Moulton, page 236. Richmond, Indiana: Friends United Press, 1971 (original was published in 1774).