Gleanings — §155

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 155 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

من تأیید روحه المتعالي المتصرّف المنیر ونشهد بأنّه حین إذ أتی في العالم تجلّی علی الممکنات وبه طهّر کلّ أبرص عن دآء الجهل والعمی وبرئ کلّ سقیم عن سقم الغفلة والهوی وفتحت عین کلّ عمی وتزکّت

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We testify that when He came into the world, He shed the splendor of His glory upon all created things. Through Him the leper recovered from the leprosy of perversity and ignorance. Through Him, the unchaste and wayward were healed. Through His power, born of Almighty God, the eyes of the blind were opened, and the soul of the sinner sanctified.

Translation Notes

من

m-n → “from”

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

تأیید

ʾ-y-d → “aid”

literal: confirmation; emphasis; strengthening; to corroborate

روحه

r-w-ḥ

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

المتعالي

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

المتصرّف

ṣ-r-f

literal: to turn; to dispose; to manage affairs

المنیر

n-w-r

literal: light; illumination

ونشهد

sh-h-d → “We testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بأنّه

ʾ-n → “that when He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

حین

ḥ-y-n

literal: time; moment; while; season

إذ

ʾ-dh-dh

literal: when; since

أتی

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

تجلّی

j-l-w → “shed the splendor”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation

الممکنات

m-k-n → “created things”

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

وبه

b-h → “as”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

طهّر

ṭ-h-r → “pure” Distinctive

literal: to purify; to cleanse

کلّ

k-l-l → “leper” Distinctive

literal: for us; to us

أبرص

b-r-ṣ

literal: leper; one afflicted with leprosy

عن

ʿ-n → “from the”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دآء

d-w-ʾ → “pain”

literal: disease; malady; ailment; ills

الجهل

j-h-l → “ignorance”

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

والعمی

ʿ-m-y → “Blind”

literal: blindness; to be blind

وبرئ

b-r-ʾ → “Thy people” Distinctive

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

سقیم

s-q-m

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

الغفلة

gh-f-l → “wayward”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

والهوی

h-w-y → “desires”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion

وفتحت

f-t-ḥ → “open”

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

عین

ʿ-y-n

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

وتزکّت

z-k-w → “Impost” Distinctive

literal: sound; voice; rumor; news; utterance

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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291 ¶

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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.

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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

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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 ¶

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160 ¶

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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 ¶