Gleanings — §107

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 107 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

... باری نظر باين مقام ذکر ربوبيّه و امثال ذلک از ايشان ظاهر شده و در مقام رسالت اظهار رسالت فرمودند و همچنين در هر مقام باقتضای آن ذکری فرمودند و همه را نسبت بخود داده‌اند از عالم امر الی عالم خلق و از عوالم ربوبيّه الی عوالم ملکيّه اينست که آنچه بفرمايند و هر چه ذکر نمايند از الوهيّت و ربوبيّت و نبوّت و رسالت و ولايت و امامت و عبوديّت همه حق است و شبهه در آن نيست پس بايد تفکّر در اين بيانات که استدلال شده نمود تا ديگر از اختلافات اقوال مظاهر غيبيّه و مطالع قدسيّه احدی را اضطراب و تزلزل دست ندهد ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

By virtue of this station they have claimed for themselves the Voice of Divinity and the like, whilst by virtue of their station of Messengership, they have declared themselves the Messengers of God. In every instance they have voiced an utterance that would conform to the requirements of the occasion, and have ascribed all these declarations to Themselves, declarations ranging from the realm of Divine Revelation to the realm of creation, and from the domain of Divinity even unto the domain of earthly existence. Thus it is that whatsoever be their utterance, whether it pertain to the realm of Divinity, Lordship, Prophethood, Messengership, Guardianship, Apostleship, or Servitude, all is true, beyond the shadow of a doubt. Therefore these sayings which We have quoted in support of Our argument must be attentively considered, that the divergent utterances of the Manifestations of the Unseen and Daysprings of Holiness may cease to agitate the soul and perplex the mind.

Translation Notes

باری

b-r-y → “We”

literal: well; cistern; pit

نظر

n-ẓ-r → “Consider”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

باين

b-y-n → “this” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ربوبيّه

r-b-b → “Voice of Divinity”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

امثال

m-th-l → “like”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

ذلک

dh-l-k

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

ايشان

ʾ-y-sh → “Prophets”

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “have claimed” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

شده

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

رسالت

r-s-l → “of Messengership”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

فرمودند

f-r-m → “they have voiced”

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

همچنين

ch-n-n → “likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

باقتضای

q-ḍ-y → “decree” Distinctive

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

آن

ʾ-n → “occasion” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ذکری

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

همه

h-m-h → “all these”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

نسبت

n-s-b → “have ascribed”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

بخود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

داده‌اند

d-ʾ-d

literal: give; grant; bestow; award

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “realm” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Divine Revelation”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

الی

ʾ-l-y → “to”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

خلق

kh-l-q → “creation”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

ملکيّه

m-l-k → “earthly existence”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

اينست

h-s-t → “Thus it is that” Distinctive

literal: is; be; are

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

چه

ch-h

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

نمايند

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

الوهيّت

ʾ-l-h → “Divinity”

literal: to preserve, guard, protect

نبوّت

n-b-w → “Prophethood”

literal: prophethood; prophets

ولايت

w-l-y → “Guardianship”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

امامت

ʾ-m-m

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

عبوديّت

ʿ-b-d

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

حق

ḥ-q-q → “true” Distinctive

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

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

شبهه

sh-b-h → “doubt”

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

پس

p-s → “From”

literal: then; then, therefore; therefore

بايد

b-y-d → “must”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

تفکّر

f-k-r → “be attentively considered” Distinctive

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

بيانات

b-y-n → “sayings” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

استدلال

d-l-l → “proof” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

تا

t-y-y → “that”

literal: so that/until

ديگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

اختلافات

kh-l-f → “contrary” Distinctive

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

اقوال

q-w-l → “utterances”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

غيبيّه

gh-y-b → “Unseen”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

مطالع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Daysprings”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

قدسيّه

q-d-s → “Holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “of God”

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

اضطراب

ḍ-ṭ-r-b → “dismayed” Distinctive

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

تزلزل

z-l-z-l → “dismayed” Distinctive

literal: to shake; to quake; to be shaken; to be moved

دست

d-s-t

literal: hand; control, power, authority

ندهد

d-h

literal: to give; to grant; not to give

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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 ¶