Gleanings — §148

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 148 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

تفکّر فرمائید که سبب چه بوده که در ازمنهٔ ظهور مظاهر رحمن اهل امکان دوری میجستند و بر اعراض و اعتراض قیام مینمودند اگر ناس در این فقره که از قلم امر جاری شده تفکّر نمایند جمیع بشریعهٴ باقیهٴ الهیّه بشتابند و شهادت دهند بر آنچه او شهادت داده ولکن حجبات اوهام انام را در ایّام ظهور مظاهر احدیّه و مطالع عزّ صمدانیّه منع نموده و مینماید چه که در آن ایّام حقّ بآنچه خود اراده فرموده ظاهر میشود نه بارادهٴ ناس چنانچه فرموده: ﴿أَفَکُلَّمَا جَآءَکُم رَسُولٌ بِمَا لَا تَهْوَی أَنْفُسُکُم اسْتَکْبَرْتُم فَفَرِیْقًا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Ponder awhile. What is it that prompted, in every Dispensation, the peoples of the earth to shun the Manifestation of the All-Merciful? What could have impelled them to turn away from Him and to challenge His authority? Were men to meditate on these words which have flowed from the Pen of the Divine Ordainer, they would, one and all, hasten to embrace the truth of this God-given, and ever-enduring Revelation, and would testify to that which He Himself hath solemnly affirmed. It is the veil of idle imaginations which, in the days of the Manifestations of the Unity of God and the Daysprings of His everlasting glory, hath intervened, and will continue to intervene, between them and the rest of mankind. For in those days, He Who is the Eternal Truth manifesteth Himself in conformity with that which He Himself hath purposed, and not according to the desires and expectations of men. Even as He hath revealed: “So oft, then, as an Apostle cometh to you with that which your souls desire not, do ye swell with pride, and treat some as impostors, and slay others.”

Translation Notes

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Ponder”

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

فرمائید

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

چه

ch-h → “For”

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

بوده

b-w-d

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ازمنهٔ

z-m-n → “earth” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

رحمن

r-ḥ-m → “of the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

امکان

m-k-n → “all created things”

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

دوری

d-w-r

literal: cycle; dispensation; age; turn; round

میجستند

j-s-t → “have clung” Distinctive

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

بر

b-r-r → “to”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

اعراض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turn away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

قیام

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

مینمودند

n-m-w → “What could have impelled”

literal: to appear; to show; to display; to exhibit

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “men”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

فقره

f-q-r

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Divine Ordainer” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

جاری

j-r-y → “flowed” Distinctive

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

شده

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

نمایند

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “one and all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بشریعهٴ

sh-r-ʿ → “Law” Distinctive

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

باقیهٴ

b-q-y → “everlasting” Distinctive

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “this God-given”

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

بشتابند

sh-t-b → “hasten”

literal: to hasten; to hurry; hastily

شهادت

sh-h-d → “testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

دهند

d-h

literal: to give; to provide; to yield; to grant; to bestow

آنچه

ʾ-n → “that which”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

او

h-w-w → “He Himself” Distinctive

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

داده

d-ʾ-d

literal: below; lower than; beneath

ولکن

l-k-n

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

حجبات

ḥ-j-b → “veil”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

اوهام

w-h-m → “idle imaginations” Distinctive

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

انام

ʾ-n-m → “of all men”

literal: to sleep; to slumber

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ایّام

y-w-m → “days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

احدیّه

ʾ-ḥ-d → “of the Unity of God”

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

مطالع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Daysprings”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “everlasting glory”

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

صمدانیّه

ṣ-m-d → “of His” Distinctive

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

منع

m-n-ʿ → “hath intervened” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

نموده

n-m-ود → “they” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do/make

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “Eternal Truth”

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

بآنچه

b-ch-h → “that which”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

خود

kh-w-d → “He Himself”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

اراده

r-w-d → “hath purposed” Distinctive

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

میشود

sh-w-d

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

نه

n-h-y → “not” Distinctive

literal: end; ended; utmost

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “Even as”

literal: thus; in such manner; as

﴿أَفَکُلَّمَا

k-l-m → “words” Distinctive

literal: word; words; speech

جَآءَکُم

j-y-ʾ → “cometh”

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

رَسُولٌ

r-s-l → “Apostle”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

بِمَا

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

لَا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَهْوَی

h-w-y → “desire”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

أَنْفُسُکُم

n-f-s → “your souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche

اسْتَکْبَرْتُم

k-b-r → “do ye swell with pride”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

فَفَرِیْقًا

f-r-q → “treat some”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

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 ¶