Skip to main content

Gleanings — §187

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 187 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

شأن یجدنّ أهل الفردوس نفحات التّقدیس من قمیصهم وَیَرَوْنَ أهل الأکوان في وجوههم نضرة الرّحمن أَلَا إنّهم من المقرّبین أولئک عباد بهم یظهر التّقدیس في البلاد وتنتشر آثار الله العزیز الحکیم إنّ الّذین ضیّعوا الأمر بما اتّبعوا أهوائهم إنّهم في ضلال مبین...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

It behooveth the people of Bahá to die to the world and all that is therein, to be so detached from all earthly things that the inmates of Paradise may inhale from their garment the sweet smelling savor of sanctity, that all the peoples of the earth may recognize in their faces the brightness of the All-Merciful, and that through them may be spread abroad the signs and tokens of God, the Almighty, the All-Wise. They that have tarnished the fair name of the Cause of God, by following the things of the flesh — these are in palpable error!

Translation Notes

شأن
sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

یجدنّ
w-j-d → “may inhale”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

أهل
ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

الفردوس
f-r-d-w-s → “of Paradise”

literal: Paradise; garden; the highest paradise

نفحات
n-f-ḥ → “sweet smelling savor” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

التّقدیس
q-d-s → “of sanctity”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

من
m-n → “from”

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

قمیصهم
q-m-ṣ → “their garment”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

وَیَرَوْنَ
r-ʾ-y → “may recognize”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

الأکوان
k-w-n → “be” Distinctive

literal: be; was; to be

في
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

وجوههم
w-j-h → “their faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

نضرة
n-ḍ-r → “brightness”

literal: verdant; fresh; flourishing; to look

الرّحمن
r-ḥ-m → “of the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

أَلَا
ʾ-kh-r

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

إنّهم
ʾ-n-n → “these”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

المقرّبین
q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

أولئک
ʾ-w-l

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

عباد
ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

بهم
h-m → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

یظهر
ẓ-h-r → “may be spread abroad” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

البلاد
b-l-d

literal: city; land; country

وتنتشر
n-sh-r → “spreading” Distinctive

literal: to scatter; to spread; to unfold; to disseminate

آثار
ʾ-th-r

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

الله
ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

العزیز
ʿ-z-z → “the Almighty”

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

الحکیم
ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

إنّ
ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الّذین
l-dh-y → “They that”

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

ضیّعوا
ḍ-y-ʿ → “wasteth” Distinctive

literal: waste; be lost, perish; wasted

الأمر
ʾ-m-r → “of the Cause”

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

بما
m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

اتّبعوا
t-b-ʿ → “following”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

أهوائهم
h-w-y → “desires”

literal: desire; air; passion

ضلال
ḍ-l-l → “palpable error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

مبین...
b-y-n

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶