Gleanings — §21

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 21 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

فی الحقيقه امروز روز مشاهده و اصغاست هم ندای الهی مرتفع است و هم أنوار وجه از أفق ظهور مشرق و لائح بايد جميع آنچه شنيده شد محو نمود و بعدل و انصاف در آيات و بيّنات و ظهورات ناظر شد امروز عظيم است چه که در جميع کتب بيوم اللّه معروف جميع أ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Verily I say, this is the Day in which mankind can behold the Face, and hear the Voice, of the Promised One. The Call of God hath been raised, and the light of His countenance hath been lifted up upon men. It behooveth every man to blot out the trace of every idle word from the tablet of his heart, and to gaze, with an open and unbiased mind, on the signs of His Revelation, the proofs of His Mission, and the tokens of His glory.

Translation Notes

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الحقيقه

ḥ-q-q

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

امروز

r-w-z → “this is the Day”

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

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “behold”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

ندای

n-d-y → “Voice”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

مرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

است

b-w-d

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

أنوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: type; kind; species

وجه

w-j-h → “Face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

أفق

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مشرق

sh-r-q

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

لائح

l-w-ḥ → “tablet” Distinctive

literal: to appear; to shine; to flash; to gleam

بايد

b-y-d → “must”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

جميع

j-m-ʿ → “every man”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

آنچه

ʾ-n

literal: that; indeed; that, to

شنيده

sh-n-w

literal: did not hear; has not heard

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

محو

m-ḥ-w → “blot out”

literal: to efface; to obliterate; to blot out; to cause to disappear

نمود

n-m-ʾ → “hath”

literal: do; show; make

بعدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

انصاف

n-ṣ-f

literal: justice; fairness; equity

در

d-r-r → “on”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

آيات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

بيّنات

b-y-n → “proofs” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “gaze”

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

عظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

چه

ch-h

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

کتب

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

بيوم

y-w-m

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

معروف

ʿ-r-f

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 ¶