Gleanings — §2

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 2 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و أقول يا إلهي بأنّك أنت عارف أُشاهد بأنّ مظاهر العرفان قد خلقت بأمرك ولو أقول بأنّك أنت حكيم أُشاهد بأنّ مطالع الحكمة قد ذوّتت بإرادتك وإن قلتُ بأنّك أنت الفرد أُلاحظ بأنّ حقايق التّفريد قد بعثت بإنشائك وإن قلتُ إنّك أنت العليم أُشاهد بأنّ جواهر العلم قد حقّقت بمشيّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

If I describe Thee, O my God, as Him Who is the All-Perceiving, I find myself compelled to admit that They Who are the highest Embodiments of perception have been created by virtue of Thy behest. And if I extol Thee as Him Who is the All-Wise, I, likewise, am forced to recognize that the Wellsprings of wisdom have themselves been generated through the operation of Thy Will. And if I proclaim Thee as the Incomparable One, I soon discover that they Who are the inmost essence of oneness have been sent down by Thee and are but the evidences of Thine handiwork. And if I acclaim Thee as the Knower of all things, I must confess that they Who are the Quintessence of knowledge are but the creation and instruments of Thy Purpose.

Translation Notes

أقول

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إلهي

ʾ-l-h → “Thee, O my God”

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

بأنّك

ʾ-n-n → “as”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أنت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

عارف

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

أُشاهد

sh-h-d → “witness” Distinctive

literal: witness; observation; witnessed

بأنّ

ʾ-n-n → “to admit that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

مظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “highest Embodiments” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

قد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

خلقت

kh-l-q → “created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

بأمرك

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

ولو

l-w → “If”

literal: were it not for; if not for; save for

حكيم

ḥ-k-m → “All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

مطالع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

ذوّتت

dh-w-t → “Essence” Distinctive

literal: essence; self; being

بإرادتك

r-w-d → “desire” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

الفرد

f-r-d → “Incomparable One”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

أُلاحظ

l-ḥ-ẓ → “I soon discover”

literal: to observe; to consider; to note; observation

حقايق

ḥ-q-q → “inmost essence” Distinctive

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

بعثت

b-ʿ-th → “sent down”

literal: to send; to raise up; to dispatch

بإنشائك

n-sh-ʾ → “of creation” Distinctive

literal: creation; creation, origination; arising

إنّك

ʾ-n-n → “Thee” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “Knower of all things” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

جواهر

j-w-h-r → “Quintessence” Distinctive

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

بمشيّ

sh-y-ʾ → “things” Distinctive

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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 ¶