Gleanings — §203

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 203 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

یا ارض الطّآء یاد آر هنگامی را که مقرّ عرش بودی و انوارش از در و دیوارت ظاهر و هویدا چه مقدار از نفوس مقدّسهٴ مطمئنّه که بحبّت جان دادند و روان ایثار نمودند طوبی از برای تو و از برای نفوسی که در تو ساکنند هر صاحب شمّی عرف مقصود را از تو مییابد در تو پدید آمد آنچه مستور بود و از تو ظاهر شد آنچه پوشیده و پنهان کدام عاشق صادق را ذکر نمائیم که در تو جان داد و در خاکت پنهان شد نفحات قمیص الهی از تو قطع نشده و نخواهد شد ما ذکر مینمائیم تو را و مظلومان و مظلوماتی که در تو مستورند إنّا نذکر اختی اظهارًا لعنایتی و ابرازاً لوفائی بمظلومیّت کبری بحقّ راجع شد ما اطّلع بذلک الّا علمی المحیط

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Call thou to remembrance, O Land of Ṭá (Ṭihrán), the former days in which thy Lord had made thee the seat of His throne, and had enveloped thee with the effulgence of His glory. How vast the number of those sanctified beings, those symbols of certitude, who, in their great love for thee, have laid down their lives and sacrificed their all for thy sake! Joy be to thee, and blissfulness to them that inhabit thee. I testify that out of thee, as every discerning heart knoweth, proceedeth the living breath of Him Who is the Desire of the world. In thee the Unseen hath been revealed, and out of thee hath gone forth that which lay hid from the eyes of men. Which one of the multitude of thy sincere lovers shall We remember, whose blood hath been shed within thy gates, and whose dust is now concealed beneath thy soil? The sweet savors of God have unceasingly been wafted, and shall everlastingly continue to be wafted upon thee. Our Pen is moved to commemorate thee, and to extol the victims of tyranny, those men and women that sleep beneath thy dust.

Translation Notes

یا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “Land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

الطّآء

ṭ-y-y → “traverse”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

یاد

y-ʾ-d → “mind”

literal: remembrance; memory; mention

آر

r-ʾ-y

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

هنگامی

h-n-g → “time” Distinctive

literal: time; when; occasion

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

مقرّ

q-r-r → “seat”

literal: matter; affair; thing

عرش

ʿ-r-sh → “throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

بودی

b-w-d → “had made thee” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

انوارش

n-w-r → “effulgence of His glory”

literal: light; illumination

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “gone forth” Distinctive

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

هویدا

h-w-y

literal: cradle; bed; couch; resting place

چه

ch-h → “For”

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

مقدار

q-d-r → “power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

مقدّسهٴ

q-d-s → “sanctified beings”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

مطمئنّه

ṭ-m-n → “confidence” Distinctive

literal: to be at peace; to be reassured; to settle down

بحبّت

ḥ-b-b → “great love for thee”

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

جان

j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

دادند

d-ʾ-d → “of equity” Distinctive

literal: to give; to grant; to issue

روان

r-w-ḥ

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

ایثار

ʾ-th-r → “sacrificed their all”

literal: to sacrifice; to devote oneself

نمودند

n-m-ود → “hath” Distinctive

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

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Blessed”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

برای

b-r-y

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

تو

t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

نفوسی

n-f-s → “them”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

ساکنند

s-k-n → “inmates”

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

صاحب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions” Distinctive

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

شمّی

sh-m-m

literal: you (plural); your

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

مقصود

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

پدید

p-d-y → “Unseen”

literal: manifest; evident; visible; appearance

آمد

ʾ-m-d → “came”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

آنچه

ʾ-n → “that which lay hid”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

پوشیده

p-w-sh

literal: to hide; to conceal; to cover

پنهان

p-n-h → “concealed”

literal: hidden; concealed; to hide

کدام

k-d-m → “Which one”

literal: which; what; whoever; any

عاشق

ʿ-sh-q → “lovers”

literal: love, passion, ardor

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “sincere”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

ذکر

dh-k-r → “remember” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

نمائیم

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

خاکت

kh-ʾ-k → “dust”

literal: dust; earth; soil; ground

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “savors” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

قمیص

q-m-ṣ → “robe”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

قطع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detachment” Distinctive

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

نشده

sh-d → “been” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

نخواهد

kh-w-h → “shall everlastingly continue”

literal: will; to wish; to want

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

مظلومان

ẓ-l-m → “victims of tyranny” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

مستورند

s-t-r → “hidden” Distinctive

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

اختی

ʾ-kh-y

literal: sister; sisters

لعنایتی

ʿ-n-y

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

ابرازاً

b-r-z

literal: appearance; manifestation; coming forth

لوفائی

w-f-y

literal: faithfulness; fidelity; fulfill

کبری

k-b-r

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

بحقّ

ḥ-q-q

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

راجع

r-j-ʿ

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

اطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

بذلک

dh-l-k

literal: that; this; it; by that

الّا

ʾ-kh-r

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

علمی

ʿ-l-m → “world” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

المحیط

ḥ-w-ṭ

literal: to surround, encompass, encircle, beset

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 ¶