Gleanings — §124

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 124 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بیت گردند تا باینمقام و رتبه که در حقایق ایشان مستودع است مشرّف و فائز شوند اینست که در جمیع اعهاد و ازمان انبیا و اولیا با قوّت ربّانی و قدرت صمدانی در میان ناس ظاهر گشته و عقل سلیم هرگز راضی نشود که نظر ببعضی کلمات که معانی آن را ادراک ننموده این باب هدایت را مسدود انگارد و از برای این شموس و انوار ابتدا و انتهائی تعقّل نماید زیرا فیضی اعظم از این فیض کلّیّه نبوده و رحمتی اکبر از این رحمت منبسطهٴ الهیّه نخواهد بود و شکّی نیست که اگر در یک آن عنایت و فیض او از عالم منقطع شود البتّه معدوم گردد لهذا لم‌یزل ابواب رحمت حقّ بر وجه کون و امکان مفتوح بوده و لایزال امطار عنایت و مکرمت از غمام حقیقت بر اراضی قابلیّات و حقایق و اعیان متراکم و مفیض خواهد بود اینست سنّت خدا من الأزل الی الأبد

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Can one of sane mind ever seriously imagine that, in view of certain words the meaning of which he cannot comprehend, the portal of God’s infinite guidance can ever be closed in the face of men? Can he ever conceive for these Divine Luminaries, these resplendent Lights either a beginning or an end? What outpouring flood can compare with the stream of His all-embracing grace, and what blessing can excel the evidences of so great and pervasive a mercy? There can be no doubt whatever that if for one moment the tide of His mercy and grace were to be withheld from the world, it would completely perish. For this reason, from the beginning that hath no beginning the portals of Divine mercy have been flung open to the face of all created things, and the clouds of Truth will continue to the end that hath no end to rain on the soil of human capacity, reality and personality their favors and bounties. Such hath been God’s method continued from everlasting to everlasting.

Translation Notes

بیت

b-y-t

literal: house; household; family; verse

گردند

g-r-d → “were” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to come to pass

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

باینمقام

q-w-m

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

رتبه

r-t-b

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ایشان

ʾ-y-sh

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

مستودع

w-d-ʿ

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

مشرّف

sh-r-f

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

فائز

f-w-z

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

شوند

sh-w-d

literal: to not become; to not be

اینست

h-s-t → “hath” Distinctive

literal: is; be; are

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اعهاد

ʿ-h-d → “Covenant” Distinctive

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

ازمان

z-m-n

literal: time; age; era; period

انبیا

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets”

literal: prophet; prophets

اولیا

w-l-y

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

قوّت

q-w-t

literal: strength; power; might

ربّانی

r-b-b → “Divine”

literal: education; upbringing; training; cultivation

قدرت

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

صمدانی

ṣ-m-d → “everlasting”

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

میان

m-y-n → “midst”

literal: between; among; amid; in the midst of

ناس

n-ʾ-s

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

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

گشته

g-sh-t → “have been” Distinctive

literal: become; became; to become

عقل

ʿ-q-l → “sane mind”

literal: intellect; wise persons; to understand

سلیم

s-l-m → “resignation” Distinctive

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

هرگز

h-r-g → “never”

literal: never; at no time; never ever

راضی

r-ḍ-y

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

نظر

n-ẓ-r

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

ببعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “certain”

literal: part; some; portion

کلمات

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

معانی

ʿ-n-y → “meaning”

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

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ادراک

d-r-k

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

ننموده

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

این

ʾ-y-n → “the”

literal: this; these

باب

b-w-b → “door”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

هدایت

h-d-y

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

مسدود

s-d-d → “closed”

literal: threshold; barrier; seat of authority

انگارد

n-g-r → “imagine”

literal: to deem; to regard; to consider; to hold

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

برای

b-r-y → “for”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

شموس

sh-m-s → “Luminaries”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

انوار

n-w-r → “Lights”

literal: light; illumination

ابتدا

b-d-ʾ → “begin”

literal: beginning; primacy; originality; origin; principle; starting point; commencement; start; inception; creation

انتهائی

n-h-y → “end”

literal: end; ended; utmost

زیرا

z-y-r

literal: because; since; for; inasmuch as

فیضی

f-y-ḍ → “grace” Distinctive

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

کلّیّه

k-l-l → “all-embracing”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

رحمتی

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

اکبر

k-b-r → “grandeur” Distinctive

literal: liver; soul; essence

منبسطهٴ

b-s-ṭ → “court” Distinctive

literal: carpet; extended; expansion

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

شکّی

sh-k-k → “It is evident”

literal: complaint; lamentation; protestation

نیست

b-w-d → “no”

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

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

یک

y-k → “one moment”

literal: one; a single

او

h-w-w → “His”

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

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

منقطع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “withheld” Distinctive

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

البتّه

b-t-t → “assuredly”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

معدوم

ʿ-d-m → “perish”

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

لهذا

l-dh-ʾ → “For this reason”

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

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

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

وجه

w-j-h → “face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

کون

k-w-n → “be”

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

امکان

m-k-n

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

مفتوح

f-t-ḥ → “open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

لایزال

z-w-l → “at all times” Distinctive

literal: to cease, to pass away; (with negation) to never cease, to remain eternally

امطار

m-ṭ-r → “rain”

literal: rain

مکرمت

k-r-m → “bounty”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

غمام

gh-m-m → “clouds”

literal: cloud; clouds

اراضی

ʾ-r-ḍ → “soil” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

قابلیّات

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: before; acceptance; approach

اعیان

ʿ-y-n → “eyes” Distinctive

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

متراکم

r-k-m

literal: accumulated

خواهد

kh-w-h → “will”

literal: will; to wish; to want

سنّت

s-n-n → “method”

literal: year; years; spear

خدا

kh-d-ʾ → “God”

literal: God; the Divine

من

m-n → “from”

literal: from; out of; than (preposition and particle)

الأزل

ʾ-z-l → “everlasting” Distinctive

literal: eternity; pre-eternity; without beginning; eternal; everlasting; from eternity

الی

ʾ-l-y → “to”

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

الأبد

ʾ-b-d → “ever”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

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

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 ¶