Gleanings — §180

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 180 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

یا معشر العلمآء اتّقوا الله ثمّ انصفوا في أمر هذا الأُمّيّ الّذي شهدت له کتب الله المهیمن القیّوم... بترسید از خداوند یکتا این مظلوم با شما و امثال شما معاشر نبوده و کتب شما را ندیده و در مجلس تدریس وارد نشده شهادت میدهد بآنچه گفته شد کلاه او و زلف او و لباس او آخر انصاف کجا رفته هیکل عدل در چه مکان آرمیده چشم بگشائید و بدیدهٴ بصیرت نظر نمائید و تفکّر کنید شاید از انوار آفتاب بیان محروم نمانید و از امواج بحر

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lay not aside the fear of God, O ye the learned of the world, and judge fairly the Cause of this unlettered One to Whom all the Books of God, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting, have testified.… Will not the dread of Divine displeasure, the fear of Him Who hath no peer or equal, arouse you? He Whom the world hath wronged hath, at no time, associated with you, hath never studied your writings, nor participated in any of your disputations. The garb He weareth, His flowing locks, His headdress, attest the truth of His words. How long will ye persist in your injustice? Witness the habitation in which He, Who is the incarnation of justice, hath been forced to dwell. Open your eyes, and, beholding His plight, meditate diligently upon that which your hands have wrought, that haply ye may not be deprived of the light of His Divine utterance, nor remain bereft of your share of the ocean of His knowledge.

Translation Notes

یا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

العلمآء

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اتّقوا

w-q-y → “fear”

literal: to fear; to frighten; afraid

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ثمّ

th-m-m → “and” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

انصفوا

n-ṣ-f → “judge fairly” Distinctive

literal: justice; fairness; equity

في

f-y → “of” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

أمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الأُمّيّ

ʾ-m-m → “before” Distinctive

literal: handmaiden; maidservant; woman servant; unlettered; illiterate; not trained in conventional learning

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

شهدت

sh-h-d → “testified.…” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

له

h-w

literal: for them both; to both of them (dual pronoun)

کتب

k-t-b → “Books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

المهیمن

h-m-n → “Protector”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

القیّوم...

q-w-m → “Self-Subsisting”

literal: rising; standing; resurrection; uprising; establishment

بترسید

t-r-s → “alarm”

literal: to fear; to frighten; afraid

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

یکتا

y-k-t → “one true”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “wronged”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

با

b-ʾ-ʾ → “with”

literal: to; with; by

شما

sh-m-ʾ → “you”

literal: you (plural); your

امثال

m-th-l

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

معاشر

ʿ-sh-r → “associated”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

نبوده

b-w-d → “is” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ندیده

d-y-d → “seen”

literal: Persian verb دیدن (to see), not Arabic د-ي-د

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مجلس

j-l-s

literal: council; assembly; gathering; session

تدریس

d-r-s

literal: school; schools; teaching

وارد

w-r-d → “hath befallen” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

نشده

sh-d → “been” Distinctive

literal: to become; to happen; to occur

میدهد

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: give; grant; bestow; award

بآنچه

b-ch-h

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

گفته

g-f-t → “words” Distinctive

literal: utterance; speech; word; discourse

کلاه

k-l-h → “hat”

literal: no; not; negation particle

او

h-w-w → “His”

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

زلف

z-l-f → “brought nigh”

literal: bring-near

لباس

l-b-s → “garb”

literal: garment; clothing; raiment; vesture

آخر

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

کجا

k-j-ʾ

literal: how; in what manner

رفته

r-f-t

literal: to go; to pass; to have gone

هیکل

h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

عدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

چه

ch-h

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

مکان

m-k-n → “Placeless”

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

چشم

ch-sh-m → “eyes”

literal: eye; vision; sight

بصیرت

b-ṣ-r

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

نظر

n-ẓ-r → “beholding”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

تفکّر

f-k-r → “meditate”

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

کنید

k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do, make

شاید

sh-y-d → “haply”

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

انوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

آفتاب

ʾ-f-t-ʾ-b

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

بیان

b-y-n → “utterance”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

محروم

ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

نمانید

m-n

literal: to remain; to stay; to be left

امواج

m-w-j → “ocean”

literal: wave; billows; surge

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

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 ¶