Gleanings — §222
Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 222 of 729.
Source (Arabic)
و آنچه از اسباب ظاهره موجود شد منع ننمودیم نفوسی که با این مظلوم معاشر بودند کل گواهی میدهند که ساحت اقدس مقدّس از اسباب ظاهره بوده ولکن در سجن قبول نمودیم آنچه را که مشرکین ارادهٴ منع آن نمودند و اگر نفسی یافت شود و بیتی از ذهب و یا فضّه و یا فوق این دو از جواهر نفیسه بنا نماید اذن داده و میدهیم انّه یفعل ما یشآء و یحکم ما یرید و اذن داده شد که در این ارض بناهای عالیه ترتیب دهند و باسم حقّ جلّ جلاله اراضی طیّبهٔ طاهره که بنهر اردن متّصل است و یا حول او اخذ نمایند لیظهر ما کان مسطورًا من القلم الأعلی فی کتب القبل و ما أراده الله ربّ العالمین فی هذا الظّهور الأمنع الأقدس العزیز البدیع
Shoghi Effendi Translation
We did not refuse such material benefits as could relieve Us from Our afflictions. Every one of Our companions, however, will bear Us witness that Our holy court is sanctified from, and far above, such material benefits. We have nevertheless accepted, while confined in this Prison, those things of which the infidels have striven to deprive Us. If a man be found willing to rear, in Our name, an edifice of pure gold or silver, or a house begemmed with stones of inestimable value, such a wish will no doubt be granted. He, verily, doeth what He willeth, and ordaineth that which He pleaseth. Leave hath, moreover, been given to whosoever may desire to raise, throughout the length and breadth of this land, noble and imposing structures, and dedicate the rich and sacred territories adjoining the Jordan and its vicinity to the worship and service of the one true God, magnified be His glory, that the prophecies recorded by the Pen of the Most High in the sacred Scriptures may be fulfilled, and that which God, the Lord of all worlds, hath purposed in this most exalted, this most holy, this mighty, and wondrous Revelation may be made manifest.
Translation Notes
نفوسی
literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence
مظلوم
literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed
معاشر
literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning
باسم
literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress
