Gleanings — §152

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 152 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

أعلاکم أسفلکم وأسفلکم أعلاکم" و مضمون این فقره در اکثر کتب الهیّه و بیانات انبیا و اصفیا بوده براستی میگویم امر بشأنی عظیم است که پدر از پسر و پسر از پدر فرار مینماید در حضرت نوح و کنعان مشاهده کنید انشآءالله باید در این ایّام روحانی از نسایم سبحانی و فیوضات ربیع رحمانی محروم نمانید باسم معلوم منقطعًا عن العلوم برخیزید و ندا فرمائید قسم بآفتاب افق امر در آن حین فرات علوم الهیّه را از قلب جاری مشاهده نمائید و انوار حکمت ربّانیّه را بی‌پرده بیابید اگر حلاوت بیان رحمن را بیابی از جان

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Verily I say, such is the greatness of this Cause that the father flieth from his son, and the son flieth from his father. Call ye to mind the story of Noah and Canaan. God grant that, in these days of heavenly delight, ye may not deprive yourselves of the sweet savors of the All-Glorious God, and may partake, in this spiritual Springtime, of the outpourings of His grace. Arise in the name of Him Who is the Object of all knowledge, and, with absolute detachment from the learning of men, lift up your voices and proclaim His Cause. I swear by the Daystar of Divine Revelation! The very moment ye arise, ye will witness how a flood of Divine knowledge will gush out of your hearts, and will behold the wonders of His heavenly wisdom manifested in all their glory before you. Were ye to taste of the sweetness of the sayings of the All-Merciful, ye would unhesitatingly forsake your selves, and would lay down your lives for the Well-Beloved.

Translation Notes

أعلاکم

ʿ-l-w

literal: proclamation; announcement; declaration; ensign; standard

أسفلکم

s-f-l

literal: to lower; abase; the lower part

مضمون

ḍ-m-n

literal: content; substance; to contain; to imply

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

فقره

f-q-r

literal: poor; needy; the poor one; pauper

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اکثر

k-th-r

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

کتب

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بیانات

b-y-n → “before” Distinctive

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

انبیا

n-b-ʾ

literal: prophet; prophets

اصفیا

ṣ-f-w

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere

براستی

r-s-t → “Verily I say”

literal: truth; verily; truly

میگویم

g-w-y → “Verily I say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

امر

ʾ-m-r → “this Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بشأنی

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

عظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

پدر

ʾ-b-w → “father”

literal: father; paternal

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

پسر

b-s-r → “his son”

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

فرار

f-r-r → “flee”

literal: to flee, escape, run away

مینماید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Him”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

نوح

n-w-ḥ → “groan”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “Call ye to mind” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

کنید

k-r-d → “Call ye to mind” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do, make

انشآءالله

sh-y-ʾ → “God grant”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

باید

b-y-d → “must”

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

ایّام

y-w-m

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

روحانی

r-w-ḥ → “spirit”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

نسایم

n-s-m → “sweet savors” Distinctive

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

سبحانی

s-b-ḥ → “All-Glorious”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

فیوضات

f-y-ḍ → “outpourings”

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

ربیع

r-b-ʿ → “Springtime”

literal: four; quarter; group of four

محروم

ḥ-r-m

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

نمانید

m-n

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

باسم

s-m-w → “in the name”

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

منقطعًا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “with absolute detachment” Distinctive

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from the learning of men, lift up your voices and”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ندا

n-d-w → “Voice”

literal: call; voice; proclamation; forty; forty years

فرمائید

f-r-m → “proclaim” Distinctive

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

قسم

q-s-m → “swear”

literal: oath; division; kind; type

بآفتاب

sh-m-s → “Daystar”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

افق

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

آن

ʾ-n → “very moment” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حین

ḥ-y-n

literal: time; moment; while; season

فرات

f-r-t → “living waters”

literal: sweet water; river; the Euphrates

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

قلب

q-l-b → “your hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

جاری

j-r-y → “flow”

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

انوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

حکمت

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

ربّانیّه

r-b-b → “heavenly” Distinctive

literal: divine; of God; lordly

بی‌پرده

p-r-d

literal: veil; have devoted; occupy

بیابید

y-ʾ-f-t

literal: find; to find, obtain; found

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

حلاوت

ḥ-l-w → “sweetness”

literal: sweetest; most sweet; most pleasant

رحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بیابی

y-ʾ-b → “they may find” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

جان

j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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 ¶

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50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶