Gleanings — §189

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 189 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

تالله لو لم یكن مخالفًا بما نزل في الألواح لقبّلت ید الّذي یسفك دمي في سبیل محبوب العالمین وقدّرت عمّا ملّکني الله له إرثًا ولو إنّه یستحقّ بذلك نقمة الله وسخطه ثمّ قهره وغضبه بدوام الله الملك العادل الحكیم...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

God is my witness! Had it not been in conflict with that which the Tablets of God have decreed, I would have gladly kissed the hands of whosoever attempted to shed my blood in the path of the Well-Beloved. I would, moreover, have bestowed upon him a share of such worldly goods as God had allowed me to possess, even though he who perpetrated this act would have provoked the wrath of the Almighty, incurred His malediction, and deserved to be tormented throughout the eternity of God, the All-Possessing, the Equitable, the All-Wise.

Translation Notes

تالله

ʾ-l-h → “God is my witness”

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

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

یكن

k-w-n → “been”

literal: is; to be (third person singular present); to be one; oneness; unity

مخالفًا

kh-l-f → “in conflict with”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

نزل

n-z-l → “have decreed” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الألواح

l-w-ḥ → “the Tablets of God”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

لقبّلت

q-b-l → “would have gladly kissed”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

ید

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

یسفك

s-f-k → “attempted to shed”

literal: to shed; to spill; bloodshed; to shed (blood)

دمي

d-m-y → “my blood”

literal: breath; moment; instant

سبیل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; means

محبوب

ḥ-b-b → “Well-Beloved”

literal: love; affection

العالمین

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وقدّرت

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

عمّا

ʿ-n

literal: with them; in their company

ملّکني

m-l-k → “Kingdom” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

له

h-w → “is”

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

إرثًا

w-r-th → “share”

literal: Torah; the Jewish scripture

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “he who”

literal: I, verily; behold I

یستحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “deserved”

literal: to crush; to grind; to pulverize; destruction

بذلك

dh-l-k → “perpetrated this act”

literal: that; this; it; by that

نقمة

n-q-m → “chastisement” Distinctive

literal: punishment; vengeance; retribution

وسخطه

s-kh-ṭ → “wrath”

literal: wrath; displeasure; anger

ثمّ

th-m-m → “and” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

قهره

q-h-r → “supreme” Distinctive

literal: to overpower; to vanquish; wrath; might; force

وغضبه

gh-ḍ-b → “wrath”

literal: wrath; anger; rage

بدوام

d-w-m → “as long as”

literal: always; continually; perpetually; constantly

العادل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

الحكیم...

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

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 ¶