Gleanings — §115

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 115 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

حمد مقدّس از عرفان ممکنات و منزّه از ادراک مدرکات مليک عزّ بی مثالی را سزاست که لم يزل مقدّس از ذکر دون خود بوده و لايزال متعالی از وصف ما سوی خواهد بود احدی بسماوات ذکرش کما هو ينبغی ارتقاء نجسته و نفسی بمعارج وصفش علی ما هو عليه عروج ننموده و از هر شأنی از شئونات عزّ احديّتش تجلّيات قدس لا نهايه مشهود گشته و از هر ظهوری از ظهورات عزّ قدرتش انوار لا بدايه ملحوظ آمده چه بلند است بدايع ظهورات عزّ سلطنت او که جميع آنچه در آسمانها و زمين است نزد ادنی تجلّی آن معدوم صرف گشته و چه مقدار مرتفع است شئونات قدرت بالغه او که جميع آنچه خلق شده از اوّل لا اوّل الی آخر لا آخر از عرفان ادنی آيه آن عاجز و قاصر بوده و خواهد بود هياکل اسماء لب تشنه در وادی طلب سرگردان و مظاهر صفات در طور تقديس ربّ ارنی بر لسان موجی از طمطام رحمت بی زوالش جميع ممکنات را بطراز عزّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praise be to God, the All-Possessing, the King of incomparable glory, a praise which is immeasurably above the understanding of all created things, and is exalted beyond the grasp of the minds of men. None else besides Him hath ever been able to sing adequately His praise, nor will any man succeed at any time in describing the full measure of His glory. Who is it that can claim to have attained the heights of His exalted Essence, and what mind can measure the depths of His unfathomable mystery? From each and every revelation emanating from the Source of His glory, holy and never-ending evidences of unimaginable splendor have appeared, and out of every manifestation of His invincible power oceans of eternal light have poured. How immensely exalted are the wondrous testimonies of His almighty sovereignty, a glimmer of which, if it but touched them, would utterly consume all that are in the heavens and in the earth! How indescribably lofty are the tokens of His consummate power, a single sign of which, however inconsiderable, must transcend the comprehension of whatsoever hath, from the beginning that hath no beginning, been brought into being, or will be created in the future till the end that hath no end. All the Embodiments of His Names wander in the wilderness of search, athirst and eager to discover His Essence, and all the Manifestations of His Attributes implore Him, from the Sinai of Holiness, to unravel His mystery.

Translation Notes

حمد

ḥ-m-d → “Praise”

literal: praise; to praise

مقدّس

q-d-s → “immeasurably above” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

عرفان

ʿ-r-f → “understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ممکنات

m-k-n → “all created things”

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

منزّه

n-z-h → “exalted”

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

ادراک

d-r-k → “grasp” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

مدرکات

d-r-k → “comprehend” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

مليک

m-l-k → “King”

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

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “glory”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

بی

b-y → “eternal”

literal: without; is; to

مثالی

m-th-l → “incomparable”

literal: weight; heavy; weighty testimony

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يزل

z-w-l → “hath ever been”

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

ذکر

dh-k-r → “praise”

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

دون

d-w-n → “else besides Him” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

خود

kh-w-d → “His” Distinctive

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

متعالی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وصف

w-ṣ-f → “attributes” Distinctive

literal: to describe, characterize; description

ما

m-ʾ

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

سوی

s-w-y

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

خواهد

kh-w-h → “will”

literal: will; to wish; to want

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “None”

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

بسماوات

s-m-w → “heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

کما

k-m

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

ينبغی

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

ارتقاء

r-q-y → “ascended” Distinctive

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

نجسته

j-s-t

literal: unclean; polluted; sullied; defiled

نفسی

n-f-s → “man” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بمعارج

ʿ-r-j → “ascend” Distinctive

literal: to ascend, climb, mount

عليه

ʿ-l-y

literal: upon; on; exalted

ننموده

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

شأنی

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

احديّتش

ʾ-ḥ-d

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

تجلّيات

j-l-w → “revelation” Distinctive

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

نهايه

n-h-y → “never-ending”

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

مشهود

sh-h-d → “witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

گشته

g-sh-t

literal: become; became; to become

ظهوری

ẓ-h-r → “manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; revelation

قدرتش

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

انوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

بدايه

b-d-ʾ → “beginning”

literal: beginning; source; origin, beginning

ملحوظ

l-ḥ-ẓ

literal: to observe; to consider; to note; observation

آمده

ʾ-m-d → “is come”

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

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

بلند

b-l-n-d → “lofty”

literal: high; lofty; raised; to raise

است

b-w-d → “are”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

بدايع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

سلطنت

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

او

h-w-w

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

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

آنچه

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

زمين

z-m-n → “earth”

literal: time; age; era; period

نزد

n-z-d

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

ادنی

d-n-w → “world” Distinctive

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

معدوم

ʿ-d-m

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

صرف

ṣ-r-f → “Essence”

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

مرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “lofty” Distinctive

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

بالغه

b-l-gh → “consummate”

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

خلق

kh-l-q → “created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

شده

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “beginning”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

الی

ʾ-l-y

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

آخر

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

آيه

ʾ-y-y → “sign”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

عاجز

ʿ-j-z

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms

قاصر

q-ṣ-r

literal: shortcoming; negligence; falling short; to be deficient

هياکل

h-y-k-l → “form” Distinctive

literal: temple; structure; form; body

لب

l-b

literal: core; essence; intellect; hearts (of understanding)

تشنه

t-sh-n → “athirst”

literal: thirsty; languishing; athirst

وادی

w-d-y → “vale”

literal: valley

طلب

ṭ-l-b → “search”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

سرگردان

g-r-d → “become”

literal: become; to become; make

طور

ṭ-w-r → “rustling” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; stages; modes; phases; manner

ربّ

r-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ارنی

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest” Distinctive

literal: see; mirror; to see

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

لسان

l-s-n

literal: tongue; language

موجی

m-w-j

literal: wave; billows; surge

طمطام

ṭ-m-m

literal: abyss; depths; abundance; multitude

رحمت

r-ḥ-m

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بطراز

ṭ-r-z

literal: ornament; adornment; embroidery; stripe

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

Bahá’u’lláh

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 ¶