Skip to main content

Gleanings — §193

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 193 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

یا قوم تالله الحقّ إنّ هذا لبحر الّذي منه ظهرت البحور وإلیه یذهب کلّها ومنه أشرقت الشّموس وإلیه یرجع کلّها ومنه أثمرت سدرات الأمر بأثمار الّتي کلّ واحدة منها بعثت علی هیکل نبيّ وأرسل إلی عالم من عوالم الّتي ما أحصاها أحد إلّا نفس الله الّتي أحاطت الموجودات بحرف من کلمة الّتي خرج من قلمه الّذي کان محکومًا تحت إصبعه الّذي کان علی الحقّ قویًّا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O people! I swear by the one true God! This is the Ocean out of which all seas have proceeded, and with which every one of them will ultimately be united. From Him all the Suns have been generated, and unto Him they will all return. Through His potency the Trees of Divine Revelation have yielded their fruits, every one of which hath been sent down in the form of a Prophet, bearing a Message to God’s creatures in each of the worlds whose number God, alone, in His all-encompassing Knowledge, can reckon. This He hath accomplished through the agency of but one Letter of His Word, revealed by His Pen — a Pen moved by His directing Finger — His Finger itself sustained by the power of God’s Truth.

Translation Notes

یا
y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

قوم
q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

تالله
ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

الحقّ
ḥ-q-q → “one true” Distinctive

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

إنّ
ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

هذا
h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; that

لبحر
b-ḥ-r → “Ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

الّذي
l-dh-y → “out of which”

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

ظهرت
ẓ-h-r → “have proceeded” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

وإلیه
b → “and with which”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

یذهب
dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

کلّها
k-l-l → “every one of them” Distinctive

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

أشرقت
sh-r-q → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

الشّموس
sh-m-s → “Suns”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

یرجع
r-j-ʿ → “will all return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

أثمرت
th-m-r → “fruit” Distinctive

literal: fruit; the fruit

سدرات
s-d-r → “Trees”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

الأمر
ʾ-m-r → “Divine Revelation”

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

الّتي
ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

واحدة
w-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

منها
m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

بعثت
b-ʿ-th → “hath been sent down”

literal: to send; to raise up; to dispatch

علی
ʿ-l-w → “in the” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هیکل
h-y-k-l → “form of”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

نبيّ
n-b-ʾ → “Prophet”

literal: prophet; messenger

وأرسل
r-s-l

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

إلی
ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

عالم
ʿ-l-m → “Knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ما
m-ʾ

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

أحصاها
ḥ-ṣ-y → “reckon”

literal: count; enumerate; enumeration

أحد
ʾ-ḥ-d → “alone”

literal: one; anyone; oneness

إلّا
ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

نفس
n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

أحاطت
ḥ-w-ṭ → “all-encompassing” Distinctive

literal: to encompass; to surround; to encircle

الموجودات
w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بحرف
ḥ-r-f → “Letter”

literal: letter; character; edge

کلمة
k-l-m → “Word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

خرج
kh-r-j → “banished” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

قلمه
q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

کان
k-w-n → “be”

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

محکومًا
ḥ-k-m

literal: wisdom; wise; judgment

تحت
t-ḥ-t → “beneath”

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

إصبعه
ṣ-b-ʿ → “Finger”

literal: finger; digit

قویًّا
q-w-y → “power”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

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 ¶