Gleanings — §179

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 179 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و مینمائیم دوستان را که از آنچه رائحهٴ فساد استشمام میشود اجتناب نمایند بل فرار اختیار کنند عالم منقلب است و افکار عباد مختلف نسأل الله أن یزیّنهم بنور عدله ویعرّفهم ما ینفعهم فی کلّ الأحوال إنّه هو الغنیّ المتعال

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Time and again have We admonished Our beloved ones to avoid, nay to flee from, anything whatsoever from which the odor of mischief can be detected. The world is in great turmoil, and the minds of its people are in a state of utter confusion. We entreat the Almighty that He may graciously illuminate them with the glory of His Justice, and enable them to discover that which will be profitable unto them at all times and under all conditions. He, verily is the All-Possessing, the Most High.

Translation Notes

مینمائیم

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

دوستان

d-w-s-t → “beloved ones”

literal: friend; beloved

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “from which”

literal: from

آنچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

رائحهٴ

r-w-ḥ → “spirit” Distinctive

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility; wind; breeze; spirit; fragrance; scent; aroma

فساد

f-s-d → “mischief”

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

استشمام

sh-m-m → “detected”

literal: smell; smelling; Syria

میشود

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

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

اجتناب

j-n-b → “thee” Distinctive

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

بل

b-l → “nay”

literal: rather; but; rather/nay

فرار

f-r-r → “flee”

literal: to flee, escape, run away

اختیار

kh-y-r

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

کنند

k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

منقلب

q-l-b → “hearts” Distinctive

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

است

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

افکار

f-k-r → “minds”

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

مختلف

kh-l-f → “confusion” Distinctive

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

نسأل

s-ʾ-l → “entreat” Distinctive

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

یزیّنهم

z-y-n → “adorn”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty

بنور

n-w-r → “with the glory” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

عدله

ʿ-d-l → “Justice”

literal: justice; equity

ویعرّفهم

ʿ-r-f → “enable them to discover”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ینفعهم

n-f-ʿ → “profitable”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

کلّ

k-l-l → “all times and under all”

literal: for us; to us

الأحوال

ḥ-w-l → “conditions. He,”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “verily” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

الغنیّ

gh-n-y → “All-Possessing”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with

المتعال

ʿ-l-w → “Most High”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

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 ¶

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

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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

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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 ¶

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 ¶