Gleanings — §212

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 212 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

العالمین تحت سیوف الأحزاب طوبی لك ولوفائك بما اقتدیت مولاك في أحزانه وبلایاه أشهد بأنّك المنظر الأكبر والمقرّ الأطهر ومنك مرّت نسمة السّبحان علی من في الأكوان واستفرحت قلوب المخلصین في غرفات الجنان

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I testify that thou art the scene of His transcendent glory, His most holy habitation. Out of thee hath gone forth the Breath of the All-Glorious, a Breath that hath breathed over all created things, and filled with joy the breasts of the devout that dwell in the mansions of Paradise. The Concourse on high, and they that inhabit the Cities of the Names of God, weep over thee, and bewail the things that have befallen thee.

Translation Notes

العالمین

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

تحت

t-ḥ-t

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

سیوف

s-y-f

literal: sword

الأحزاب

ḥ-z-b

literal: party; people; community

طوبی

ṭ-w-b

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لك

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

ولوفائك

w-f-y

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

بما

m-ʾ

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

اقتدیت

q-d-y

literal: to follow; to imitate; to follow the example of

مولاك

w-l-y

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

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أحزانه

ḥ-z-n

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

وبلایاه

b-l-w

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

أشهد

sh-h-d → “I testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بأنّك

ʾ-n-n → “that thou art”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

المنظر

n-ẓ-r → “Consider” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

الأكبر

k-b-r → “transcendent glory”

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

والمقرّ

q-r-r → “His most holy habitation”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

الأطهر

ṭ-h-r

literal: to purify; to cleanse

ومنك

m-n → “Out of thee”

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

مرّت

m-r-r → “At one time” Distinctive

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

نسمة

n-s-m → “Breath” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

السّبحان

s-b-ḥ → “of the All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

علی

ʿ-l-w → “over” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الأكوان

k-w-n

literal: be; was; to be

واستفرحت

f-r-ḥ → “and filled with joy”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

قلوب

q-l-b → “breasts” Distinctive

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

المخلصین

kh-l-ṣ → “wholly”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

غرفات

gh-r-f → “chambers”

literal: chamber; room; elevated chamber

الجنان

j-n-n → “of Paradise”

literal: garden; paradise; heaven

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 ¶