Gleanings — §217

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 217 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

یا إلهي أسألك بهذا البیت الّذي تغیّر في فراقك وینوح لهجرك وما ورد علیك في أیّامك بأن تغفر لي ولأبويّ وذوي قرابتي والمؤمنین من اخواني ثمّ اقض لي حوائجي كلّها بجودك یا سلطان الأسمآء إنّك أنت أكرم الأكرمین ومولی العالمین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I beseech Thee, O my God, by this House that hath suffered such change in its separation from Thee, that bewaileth its remoteness from Thy presence, and lamenteth Thy tribulation, to forgive me, and my parents, and my kindred, and such of my brethren as have believed in Thee. Grant that all my needs be satisfied, through Thy bounty, O Thou Who art the King of Names. Thou art the most Bountiful of the bountiful, the Lord of all worlds.

Translation Notes

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إلهي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

أسألك

s-ʾ-l → “I beseech Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

بهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “by this”

literal: this; that

البیت

b-y-t → “House”

literal: house; household; family; verse

الّذي

l-dh-y → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

تغیّر

gh-y-r → “other” Distinctive

literal: other; other than; change

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

فراقك

f-r-q → “its separation from Thee”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

وینوح

n-w-ḥ → “bewaileth” Distinctive

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

لهجرك

h-j-r → “its remoteness from Thy presence”

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

وما

m-ʾ → “and” Distinctive

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

ورد

w-r-d → “hath befallen”

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

علیك

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أیّامك

y-w-m

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

بأن

ʾ-n-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تغفر

gh-f-r → “forgive”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

ولأبويّ

ʾ-b-w → “fathers” Distinctive

literal: and my parents; father

وذوي

dh-w-y → “and”

literal: possessor of; one having; those having

قرابتي

q-r-b → “my kindred”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

والمؤمنین

ʾ-m-n → “believed”

literal: to grant, bestow favor; grace, bounty, kindness

من

m-n

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

اخواني

ʾ-kh-w → “brother”

literal: brother; اخواني (my brethren) is from أ-خ-و (brother), not خ-و-ن (blood/treachery)

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اقض

q-ḍ-y → “decree” Distinctive

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

حوائجي

ḥ-w-j → “my needs”

literal: needy, in need, requiring, dependent

كلّها

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

بجودك

j-w-d → “through Thy bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “Thou Who art the King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الأسمآء

s-m-w → “of Names”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint

إنّك

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أنت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

أكرم

k-r-m → “most Bountiful”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

ومولی

w-l-y → “Lord”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “of all worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶