Gleanings — §200

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 200 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ای نصیر ای عبد من تالله الحقّ غلام روحی با رحیق ابهی در فوق کلّ رؤس الیوم ناظر و واقف که که را نظر بر او افتد و من غیر اشاره از کفّ بیضایش اخذ نموده بیاشامد ولکن هنوز احدی فایز باین سلسال بی‌مثال سلطان لا یزال نشده الّا معدودی و هم فی جنّة الأعلی فوق الجنان علی سرر التّمکین هم مستقرّون تالله لن یسبقهم المرایا و لا مظاهر الأسمآء و لا کلّ ما کان و ما یکون إن أنتم من العارفین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Naṣír, O My servant! God, the Eternal Truth, beareth Me witness. The Celestial Youth hath, in this Day, raised above the heads of men the glorious Chalice of Immortality, and is standing expectant upon His seat, wondering what eye will recognize His glory, and what arm will, unhesitatingly, be stretched forth to seize the Cup from His snow-white Hand and drain it. Only a few have as yet quaffed from this peerless, this soft-flowing grace of the Ancient King. These occupy the loftiest mansions of Paradise, and are firmly established upon the seats of authority. By the righteousness of God! Neither the mirrors of His glory, nor the revealers of His names, nor any created thing, that hath been or will ever be, can ever excel them, if ye be of them that comprehend this truth.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

نصیر

n-ṣ-r → “aid” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

عبد

ʿ-b-d → “My servant”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

من

m-n → “from”

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

تالله

ʾ-l-h → “God, the Eternal Truth”

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

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “God”

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

غلام

gh-l-m → “Celestial Youth”

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

روحی

r-w-ḥ

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

رحیق

r-ḥ-q → “wine”

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

ابهی

b-h-w → “All-Glorious”

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

فوق

f-w-q → “above the heads”

literal: above; over; beyond

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

رؤس

r-ʾ-s → “leadership” Distinctive

literal: Russia; Czar/Tsar

الیوم

y-w-m → “in this Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “standing expectant” Distinctive

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

واقف

w-q-f

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

او

h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

افتد

f-t-y → “decreed” Distinctive

literal: to fall, drop, befall, happen, come to pass

غیر

gh-y-r → “other”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

اشاره

sh-y-r

literal: king; sovereign; ruler; majesty

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

کفّ

k-f-f

literal: palm; palm, hand; hand

بیضایش

b-y-ḍ → “His snow-white Hand”

literal: white; pure; bright; radiant; clear

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “seize the Cup”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

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

بیاشامد

sh-r-b → “quaffed” Distinctive

literal: to drink; to imbibe

ولکن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

هنوز

h-n-w → “as yet”

literal: still; yet; hitherto

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

فایز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

باین

b-y-n → “from this” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

سلسال

s-l-s → “chains” Distinctive

literal: chain; links; succession

بی‌مثال

m-th-l

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “Ancient King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

یزال

z-w-l

literal: cease; to cease; decline

نشده

sh-d

literal: to become; to happen; to occur

الّا

ʾ-kh-r

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

معدودی

ʿ-d-d

literal: numerous; many; multiple

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

جنّة

j-n-n → “Paradise”

literal: garden; paradise; heaven

علی

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

سرر

s-r-r → “seats”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

التّمکین

m-k-n → “all created things” Distinctive

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement

مستقرّون

q-r-r → “are firmly established”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

یسبقهم

s-b-q

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

المرایا

r-ʾ-y → “the mirrors”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look

مظاهر

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الأسمآء

s-m-w → “of His names”

literal: heaven; sky

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

یکون

k-w-n → “or will ever be”

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

إن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أنتم

n-t-m

literal: you

العارفین

ʿ-r-f → “that comprehend this truth” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

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 ¶