Gleanings — §106

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 106 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

آن نحو از عبوديّت در امکان ظاهر شود اينست که از آن جواهر وجود در مقام استغراق در بحار قدس صمدی و ارتقاء بمعارج معانی سلطان حقيقی اذکار ربوبيّه و الوهيّه ظاهر شد اگر درست ملاحظه شود در همين رتبه منتهای نيستی و فنا در خود مشاهده نموده‌اند در مقابل هستی مطلق و بقای صرف که گويا خود را معدوم صرف دانسته‌اند و ذکر خود را در آن ساحت شرک شمرده‌اند زيرا که مطلق ذکر در اين مقام دليل هستی و وجود است و اين نزد واصلان بس خطا چه جای آنکه ذکر غير شود و قلب و لسان و دل و جان بغير ذکر جانان مشغول گردد و يا چشم غير جمال او ملاحظه نمايد و يا گوش غير نغمه او شنود و يا رجل در غير سبيل او مشی نمايد ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Were the eye of discernment to be opened, it would recognize that in this very state, they have considered themselves utterly effaced and nonexistent in the face of Him Who is the All-Pervading, the Incorruptible. Methinks, they have regarded themselves as utter nothingness, and deemed their mention in that Court an act of blasphemy. For the slightest whispering of self within such a Court is an evidence of self-assertion and independent existence. In the eyes of them that have attained unto that Court, such a suggestion is itself a grievous transgression. How much more grievous would it be, were aught else to be mentioned in that Presence, were man’s heart, his tongue, his mind, or his soul, to be busied with anyone but the Well-Beloved, were his eyes to behold any countenance other than His beauty, were his ear to be inclined to any melody but His Voice, and were his feet to tread any way but His way.…

Translation Notes

آن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

نحو

n-ḥ-w

literal: manner; way; direction; towards

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

عبوديّت

ʿ-b-d

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

امکان

m-k-n

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

شود

sh-w-d → “would” Distinctive

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

اينست

h-s-t → “have” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

جواهر

j-w-h-r

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

وجود

w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

مقام

q-w-m → “Court” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

استغراق

gh-r-q

literal: to drown; drowned

بحار

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

قدس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

صمدی

ṣ-m-d

literal: eternal, self-sufficient, divine, the Eternal

ارتقاء

r-q-y

literal: raise them; promote them; heal them; ascension; elevation; rise

بمعارج

ʿ-r-j

literal: to ascend, climb, mount

معانی

ʿ-n-y

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

سلطان

s-l-ṭ

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

حقيقی

ḥ-q-q

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

ربوبيّه

r-b-b

literal: divine; of God; lordly

الوهيّه

ʾ-l-h

literal: to preserve, guard, protect

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

اگر

ʾ-g-r

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

درست

d-r-s

literal: correctness; straightness; uprightness; rectitude

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “recognize” Distinctive

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

همين

h-m-n → “Help in Peril” Distinctive

literal: the same; that very

رتبه

r-t-b → “state”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

منتهای

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: ultimate; extreme; end; utmost

نيستی

n-y-s-t → “is not” Distinctive

literal: nonexistence; nothingness; nullity; to rest; to settle; to lay to rest

فنا

f-n-y

literal: to annihilate; to disappear; annihilation

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “have considered” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نموده‌اند

n-m-w → “have considered”

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

مقابل

q-b-l → “face”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

مطلق

ṭ-l-q → “applied” Distinctive

literal: divorce; release; freeing

بقای

b-q-y → “Incorruptible”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

صرف

ṣ-r-f → “treatment” Distinctive

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

گويا

g-w-y → “Methinks”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

معدوم

ʿ-d-m → “nothingness”

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

دانسته‌اند

d-ʾ-n → “considered”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

ساحت

s-w-ḥ → “Court”

literal: court; presence; domain; vicinity

شرک

sh-r-k → “infidels” Distinctive

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

شمرده‌اند

sh-m-r → “regard”

literal: to count; to regard; to esteem; to consider

زيرا

z-y-r → “For”

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

دليل

d-l-l → “evidence”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

نزد

n-z-d → “unto”

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

واصلان

w-ṣ-l → “Presence” Distinctive

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

بس

b-s

literal: very

خطا

kh-ṭ-ʾ → “sins”

literal: line; writing; path; course

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

جای

j-y-ʾ

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

غير

gh-y-r → “else” Distinctive

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

قلب

q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

لسان

l-s-n → “tongue”

literal: tongue; language

دل

d-l → “heart”

literal: heart; beloved; sad

جان

j-ʾ-n → “soul”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

مشغول

sh-gh-l → “to be busied”

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

گردد

g-r-d → “Were” Distinctive

literal: become; to become; make

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

چشم

ch-sh-m → “eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

جمال

j-m-l → “beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

او

h-w-w → “His”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

نمايد

n-m-ʾ → “to behold” Distinctive

literal: do; show; make

گوش

g-w-sh → “ear”

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

نغمه

n-gh-m → “melody”

literal: melody; tone; note

شنود

sh-n-w → “heard”

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

رجل

r-j-l → “feet”

literal: man; men; person

سبيل

s-b-l → “way”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

مشی

m-sh-y → “to tread”

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Bahá’u’lláh

The last outstanding Tablet revealed by Bahá’u’lláh, written around 1891 and addressed to Shaykh Muḥammad-Taqí of Iṣfahán. It calls upon that rapacious priest to repent, quotes the most celebrated passages from Bahá’u’lláh’s own writings, and adduces proofs establishing the validity of His Cause.

268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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Revealed in late 1871 during a period of severe hardship in ‘Akká, this Tablet takes the form of an anguished dialogue between Bahá’u’lláh and God. Questions about the sufferings of the faithful are answered with divine assurances, building to a crescendo of triumph over tribulation.

50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

The Book of the Covenant — Bahá’u’lláh’s Will and Testament, written entirely in His own hand and unsealed on the ninth day after His ascension. It designates ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as His successor and establishes what Shoghi Effendi called the mightiest Covenant in all religious history.

16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

The principal doctrinal work of the Faith, revealed in Baghdad within the space of two days and two nights in response to questions from the Báb’s maternal uncle. Shoghi Effendi described it as occupying a position unequalled by any work except the Kitáb-i-Aqdas — a model of Persian prose, at once original, chaste, vigorous, and remarkably lucid.

291 ¶

Prayers and Meditations

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Published in 1938, this companion volume to Gleanings contains 184 prayers and meditations selected by Shoghi Effendi from Bahá’u’lláh’s devotional writings revealed across successive exiles from Baghdad to ‘Akká. Shoghi Effendi described it as a volume whose perusal would deepen the spirit of devotion and faith.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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Revealed in Adrianople and addressed to a believer named Aḥmad, this Tablet has been invested by Bahá’u’lláh with a special potency and significance. Its central imagery draws on the metaphor of fire and water: “Be thou as a flame of fire to My enemies and a river of life eternal to My loved ones.”

17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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Revealed during a visit to Mount Carmel, this Tablet addresses the mountain directly and prophesies its future as the world spiritual and administrative center of the Faith. Shoghi Effendi designated it one of three foundational Charters. Its imagery of the Ark and the dwellers therein prefigures the Universal House of Justice.

5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

Chanted aloud in the outskirts of Baghdad just weeks before the Declaration in the Garden of Riḍván, its gloomy prognostications aroused the grave apprehensions of all who heard it. Only the Arabic portion has an authorized translation; the Persian portion remains untranslated.

57 ¶

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

Seventy-one Arabic and eighty-two Persian aphorisms revealed around 1858 while walking along the banks of the Tigris in Baghdad. Originally designated the “Hidden Book of Fáṭimih,” Shoghi Effendi described it as a marvelous collection of gem-like utterances occupying a position of unsurpassed preeminence among the ethical writings of the Faith.

160 ¶

Will and Testament

‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Written by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in three parts between 1901 and 1908, opened and read after His passing on 28 November 1921. Shoghi Effendi designated it the Charter of the New World Order — the mightiest instrument forged to ensure the continuity of the three ages of the Bahá’í Dispensation.

59 ¶