Gleanings — §126

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 126 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

نی و مشرق صفات علیا اگر از برای او شبهی و مثلی باشد کیف یثبت تقدیس ذاته تعالی عن الشّبه و تنزیه کینونته عن المثل فکّر فیما أنزلناه بالحقّ و کن من العارفین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Person of the Manifestation hath ever been the representative and mouthpiece of God. He, in truth, is the Dayspring of God’s most excellent Titles, and the Dawning-Place of His exalted Attributes. If any be set up by His side as peers, if they be regarded as identical with His Person, how can it, then, be maintained that the Divine Being is One and Incomparable, that His Essence is indivisible and peerless? Meditate on that which We have, through the power of truth, revealed unto thee, and be thou of them that comprehend its meaning.

Translation Notes

نی

ʾ-n-n → “thee”

literal: that; indeed/verily; indeed

مشرق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

صفات

w-ṣ-f → “exalted Attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

علیا

ʿ-l-w → “most excellent Titles” Distinctive

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

برای

b-r-y

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

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

شبهی

sh-b-h → “peers”

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

مثلی

m-th-l → “peerless”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

باشد

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

کیف

k-y-f → “how can”

literal: how; in what manner

یثبت

th-b-t → “established” Distinctive

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

تقدیس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ذاته

dh-w-t → “His Essence”

literal: self; essence; being

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

تنزیه

n-z-h → “sanctified”

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

کینونته

k-w-n → “been” Distinctive

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

فکّر

f-k-r → “Meditate”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions

فیما

f-y → “in”

literal: in a day; during a day; one day after another

أنزلناه

n-z-l → “revealed”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “through the power of truth”

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

کن

k-w-n → “be thou”

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

من

m-n → “of”

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

العارفین

ʿ-r-f → “them that comprehend its meaning” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

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 ¶