Gleanings — §191

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 191 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ای بی‌خبران سر از نوم غفلت بردارید و انوارش که عالم را احاطه نموده مشاهده کنید بعضی میگویند زود اشراق نموده ای بی‌بصران یا قریب و یا بعید حال اشراق فرموده شما ملاحظه نمائید فی‌الحقیقه این اشراق محقّق است یا نه دیگر قرب و بعد آن در دست شما و این غلام نبوده و نخواهد بود حکمت الهیّه که از انظر بریّه مستور است اقتضا نموده یا قوم فارضوا بما رضی الله لکم و قضی علیکم فو الله لو كان الأمر بيدی ما أظهرت نفسی أبدا.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Shake off, O heedless ones, the slumber of negligence, that ye may behold the radiance which His glory hath spread through the world. How foolish are those who murmur against the premature birth of His light. O ye who are inly blind! Whether too soon or too late, the evidences of His effulgent glory are now actually manifest. It behooveth you to ascertain whether or not such a light hath appeared. It is neither within your power nor mine to set the time at which it should be made manifest. God’s inscrutable Wisdom hath fixed its hour beforehand.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

بی‌خبران

kh-b-r → “All-Informed” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

سر

s-r-r

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

نوم

n-w-m → “slumber”

literal: to sleep; to slumber

غفلت

gh-f-l → “negligence”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

بردارید

b-r-d-ʾ-r → “lift not” Distinctive

literal: brother

انوارش

n-w-r → “light” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “behold”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

کنید

k-r-d

literal: do; to do; do, make

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “those who” Distinctive

literal: part; some; portion

میگویند

g-w-y → “I say” Distinctive

literal: utterance; speaking; the one who speaks

زود

z-w-d → “too soon”

literal: soon; quickly; early

اشراق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

بی‌بصران

b-ṣ-r → “eyes” Distinctive

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

قریب

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

بعید

b-ʿ-d → “after” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

فرموده

f-r-m

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

شما

sh-m-ʾ → “you”

literal: you (plural); your

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

فی‌الحقیقه

ḥ-q-q → “truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

نه

n-h-y → “or not” Distinctive

literal: end; ended; utmost

دیگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

آن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

دست

d-s-t → “hand”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

غلام

gh-l-m → “Youth”

literal: youth; boy; servant; the Youth (Bahá’u’lláh)

نبوده

b-w-d → “is” Distinctive

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

نخواهد

kh-w-h → “nor” Distinctive

literal: will; to wish; to want

حکمت

ḥ-k-m → “inscrutable Wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “God’s”

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

انظر

n-ẓ-r

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بریّه

b-r-ʾ

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

مستور

s-t-r

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

اقتضا

q-ḍ-y → “decree” Distinctive

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

قوم

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

فارضوا

r-ḍ-y

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

بما

m-ʾ

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

لکم

l-k-m

literal: for you, to you, your (dative pronoun)

قضی

q-ḍ-y

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

علیکم

ʿ-l-y

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

فو

w-ʾ-y

literal: by; by (oath particle)

لو

l-w

literal: if; would that; O that

كان

k-w-n

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

الأمر

ʾ-m-r

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

بيدی

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; action; possession

أظهرت

ẓ-h-r → “made manifest” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

نفسی

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

أبدا.

ʾ-b-d

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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 ¶