Gleanings — §182

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 182 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و العرفآء و الأدبآء نسمة الله او را بیدار نمود و بندا امر فرمود فلمّا انتبه قام و نادی الکلّ الی الله ربّ العالمین این بیان نظر بضعف اهل امکان است والّا امرش مقدّس از اذکار و منزّه از افکار یشهد بذلک من عنده أُمّ الکتاب

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Breathings of the Divine Spirit awoke Him, and bade Him arise and proclaim His Revelation. No sooner was He roused from His slumber than He lifted up His voice and summoned the whole of mankind unto God, the Lord of all worlds. We have been moved to reveal these words in consideration of the weakness and frailty of men; otherwise, the Cause We have proclaimed is such as no pen can ever describe, nor any mind conceive its greatness. To this beareth witness He with Whom is the Mother Book.

Translation Notes

العرفآء

ʿ-r-f

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

الأدبآء

ʾ-d-b

literal: learned person; man of letters; refined one

نسمة

n-s-m → “Breathings” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

الله

ʾ-l-h → “the Divine”

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

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بیدار

b-y-d → “must” Distinctive

literal: awake; vigilant; to awaken

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

بندا

n-d-w → “Voice”

literal: servants; bondsmen; slaves

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

فرمود

f-r-m → “He” Distinctive

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

فلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

انتبه

n-b-h → “awakening” Distinctive

literal: to awaken; to alert; to warn

قام

q-w-m → “arise”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الکلّ

k-l-l → “the whole”

literal: for us; to us

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “of all worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

بیان

b-y-n → “words”

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

نظر

n-ẓ-r → “in consideration” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بضعف

ḍ-ʿ-f → “weakness”

literal: weak; feeble; imperfect

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “men” Distinctive

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

امکان

m-k-n

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement

است

b-w-d

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

والّا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: friend; lord; guardian

مقدّس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

اذکار

dh-k-r

literal: remembrance; mention; invocation; reminders; commemorations

منزّه

n-z-h

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

افکار

f-k-r

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

یشهد

sh-h-d → “beareth witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بذلک

dh-l-k → “To this”

literal: that; this; it; by that

من

m-n → “from”

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

عنده

ʿ-n-d → “with Whom” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

أُمّ

ʾ-m-m → “Mother”

literal: mother

الکتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

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 ¶