Gleanings — §168

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 168 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ای پسر انصاف در لیل جمال هیکل بقا از عقبهٴ زمرّدی وفا بسدرهٴ منتهی رجوع نمود و گریست گریستنی که جمیع ملأ عالین و کرّوبین از نالهٴ او گریستند و بعد از سبب نوحه و ندبه استفسار شد مذکور داشت که حسب الأمر در عقبهٴ وفا منتظر ماندم و رائحهٔ وفا از اهل ارض نیافتم و بعد آهنگ رجوع نمودم ملحوظ افتاد که حمامات قدسی چند در دست کلاب ارض مبتلا شده‌اند در این وقت حوریّهٔ الهی از قصر روحانی بی ستر و حجاب دوید و سؤال از اسامی ایشان نمود و جمیع مذکور شد الّا اسمی از اسماء و چون اصرار رفت حرف اوّل اسم از لسان جاری شد اهل غرفات از مکامن عزّ خود بیرون دویدند و چون بحرف دوم رسید جمیع بر تراب ریختند در آن وقت ندا از مکمن قرب رسید زیاده بر این جایز نه إنّا کنّا شهدآء علی ما فعلوا وحینئذٍ کانوا یفعلون...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Son of Justice! In the night season the beauty of the immortal Being hath repaired from the emerald height of fidelity unto the Sadratu’l-Muntahá, and wept with such a weeping that the Concourse on high and the dwellers of the realms above wailed at His lamenting. Whereupon there was asked, Why the wailing and weeping? He made reply: As bidden I waited expectant upon the hill of faithfulness, yet inhaled not from them that dwell on earth the fragrance of fidelity. Then summoned to return I beheld, and lo! certain doves of holiness were sore tried within the claws of the dogs of earth. Thereupon the Maid of Heaven hastened forth unveiled and resplendent from Her mystic mansion, and asked of their names, and all were told but one. And when urged, the first letter thereof was uttered, whereupon the dwellers of the celestial chambers rushed forth out of their habitation of glory. And whilst the second letter was pronounced they fell down, one and all, upon the dust. At that moment a voice was heard from the inmost shrine: “Thus far and no farther.” Verily, We bear witness unto that which they have done, and now are doing.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

پسر

b-s-r → “Son”

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

انصاف

n-ṣ-f → “of Justice”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

در

d-r-r → “In”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

لیل

l-y-l → “night season”

literal: night; darkness

جمال

j-m-l → “beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

هیکل

h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

بقا

b-q-y

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

عقبهٴ

ʿ-q-b → “retribution” Distinctive

literal: behind; heels; height

زمرّدی

z-m-r-d

literal: emerald; emerald-hued

وفا

w-f-y → “of fidelity”

literal: faithfulness; covenant-keeping; loyalty

بسدرهٴ

s-d-r → “Tree”

literal: lote-tree; tree; lote tree, bush

منتهی

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: stinking, foul-smelling; stench

رجوع

r-j-ʿ → “return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

نمود

n-m-ʾ

literal: to become; to be

گریست

g-r-y → “wept”

literal: to weep; to cry; to lament

گریستنی

g-r-y → “weep”

literal: to weep; to cry; to lament

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

ملأ

m-l-ʾ

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

عالین

ʿ-l-w → “on high”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

کرّوبین

k-r-b → “Cherubim”

literal: Cherubim; the celestial beings

نالهٴ

n-w-ḥ → “at His lamenting” Distinctive

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

او

h-w-w

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

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “Then summoned” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

ندبه

n-d-b → “lament”

literal: lamentation; wailing; mourning

استفسار

f-s-r → “interpreted” Distinctive

literal: interpretation; inquiry; commentary

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

مذکور

dh-k-r → “He made reply” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

داشت

d-ʾ-sh-t

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

حسب

ḥ-s-b → “accounted” Distinctive

literal: according to; in accordance with; as regards

الأمر

ʾ-m-r

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

منتظر

n-ẓ-r → “I waited expectant”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

ماندم

m-ʾ-n-d

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

رائحهٔ

r-w-ḥ → “fragrance”

literal: banner; standard; flag; sign; banner, standard, flag, ensign

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “on earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

نیافتم

y-ʾ-f → “discover the things”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

آهنگ

ʾ-h-n-g

literal: intention; intent

نمودم

n-m-w

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

ملحوظ

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider” Distinctive

literal: to observe; to consider; to note; observation

افتاد

f-t-d → “fallen”

literal: to fall, drop, befall, happen, come to pass

حمامات

ḥ-m-m → “certain doves”

literal: dove; pigeon

قدسی

q-d-s → “of holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

چند

ch-n-d

literal: some; several; a few; how many

دست

d-s-t → “claws” Distinctive

literal: hand; control, power, authority

کلاب

k-l-b → “dogs”

literal: dog; dogs

مبتلا

b-l-w → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

وقت

w-q-t → “time”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

حوریّهٔ

ḥ-w-r → “Maid of Heaven”

literal: maiden of paradise; houri

الهی

ʾ-l-h

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

قصر

q-ṣ-r → “mystic mansion”

literal: shortcoming; negligence; falling short; to be deficient

بی

b-y

literal: without; is; to

ستر

s-t-r → “unveiled”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

حجاب

ḥ-j-b

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

دوید

d-w → “two” Distinctive

literal: to run; to hasten; to strive; ran; rushed

سؤال

s-ʾ-l → “asked” Distinctive

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

اسامی

s-m-w → “of their names”

literal: heaven; sky

ایشان

ʾ-y-sh

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

چون

ch-w-n → “As”

literal: since; when; as

اصرار

ṣ-r-r → “urged”

literal: creaking sound; shrill voice; grating noise

رفت

r-f-t

literal: to go; to pass; to have gone

حرف

ḥ-r-f → “first letter”

literal: letter; character; edge

اوّل

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

لسان

l-s-n

literal: tongue; language

جاری

j-r-y → “flow”

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

غرفات

gh-r-f → “of the celestial chambers”

literal: chamber; room; elevated chamber

مکامن

k-m-n → “repository” Distinctive

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

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “of glory”

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

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

بیرون

b-r-n → “showers” Distinctive

literal: outside; out; forth

دوم

d-w-m

literal: always; continually; perpetually; constantly

رسید

r-s-d → “reached”

literal: Persian verb رسیدن (to arrive/reach), not Arabic ر-س-د

بر

b-r-r

literal: outside; out; forth

تراب

t-r-b → “upon the dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil

ریختند

r-y-z

literal: to fall apart; scatter; pour

ندا

n-d-w → “voice”

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

قرب

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

زیاده

z-y-d → “increase” Distinctive

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

جایز

j-w-z → “transgressed” Distinctive

literal: permissible; allowed; possible; fair; lawful

إنّا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

کنّا

k-w-n → “be”

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

شهدآء

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

فعلوا

f-ʿ-l → “have done”

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

وحینئذٍ

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

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 ¶