Skip to main content

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

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

بردارید
brdáríd b-r-d-ʾ-r

literal: lift; lift, raise; remove

SE rendered بی‌خبران (bí‌khbrán), سر (sr), از (iz), نوم (núm), غفلت (ghflt), بردارید (brdáríd), انوارش (inúársh), عالم (ʿálm), احاطه (iḥáṭh) as “heedless, Shake, slumber, negligence, radiance which His glory, world, spread”

resolve 50% set 50%
کنید
kníd krdn

literal: do; to do; do/make

SE rendered عالم (ʿálm), احاطه (iḥáṭh), نموده (nmúdh), مشاهده (msháhdh), کنید (kníd), بعضی (bʿḍí), میگویند (mígúynd), زود (zúd) as “world, spread, hath, may behold, murmur, soon”

do 18% ye 18% taste 9% impart 9% know 9% thou 9% would 9% yourselves 9% cast 9%
بعضی
bʿḍí b-ʿ-ḍ

literal: some; part; some, part

SE rendered احاطه (iḥáṭh), نموده (nmúdh), مشاهده (msháhdh), کنید (kníd), بعضی (bʿḍí), میگویند (mígúynd), زود (zúd), اشراق (ishráq), نموده (nmúdh) as “spread, hath, may behold, murmur, soon”

some 41% certain 24% few 12% others 11% many 3% who 3% number 3% several 1% whenever 1% other 1%
فرموده
frmúdh frmúdn

literal: say; command; says

SE rendered قریب (qríb), بعید (bʿíd), حال (ḥál), اشراق (ishráq), فرموده (frmúdh), ملاحظه (mláḥẓh), نمائید (nmáʾíd), فی‌الحقیقه (fí‌álḥqíqh) as “too, late, now, ascertain, actually manifest”

hath 37% said 14% declared 12% revealed 8% caused 8% addressed 4% did 4% had 4% observed 4% answered 4%
دیگر
dígr dígr

literal: other; other, another; other/another

SE rendered اشراق (ishráq), محقّق (mḥqqq), نه (nh), دیگر (dígr), قرب (qrb), دست (dst) as “light, hath, power”

another 31% other 15% moreover 15% different 13% yet 6% furthermore 6% again 4% else 4% now 4% following 2%
غلام
ghlám gh-l-m

literal: youth; servant; youth, boy

SE rendered دست (dst), غلام (ghlám), نبوده (nbúdh), نخواهد (nkhúáhd), حکمت (ḥkmt), الهیّه (al-híhh) as “power, is, Wisdom, God’s”

youth 88% officers 4% mine 4% servant 4%
نخواهد
nkhúáhd khúástn

literal: will; to want/will

SE rendered دست (dst), غلام (ghlám), نبوده (nbúdh), نخواهد (nkhúáhd), حکمت (ḥkmt), الهیّه (al-híhh) as “power, is, Wisdom, God’s”

will 57% can 29% shall 14%
انظر
inẓr n-ẓ-r

literal: look; looking

SE rendered حکمت (ḥkmt), الهیّه (al-híhh), از (iz), انظر (inẓr), بریّه (brírh), مستور (mstúr), اقتضا (iqtḍá) as “Wisdom, God’s, inscrutable, fixed”

look 29% consider 21% gaze 11% behold 11% contemplate 7% eyes 7% “look 4% “witness 4% know 4% ponder 4%
بریّه
brírh b-r-ʾ

literal: creation; creatures; creation/creatures

SE rendered حکمت (ḥkmt), الهیّه (al-híhh), از (iz), انظر (inẓr), بریّه (brírh), مستور (mstúr), اقتضا (iqtḍá) as “Wisdom, God’s, inscrutable, fixed”

men 33% mankind 33% heal 33%

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 ¶