Gleanings — §235

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 235 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

یا أرض النّورآء بک ارتفع علم إنّه لا إله إلّا هو وفیک نصبت رایة إنّني أنا الحقّ علّام الغیوب ینبغي لکلّ مقبل أن یفتخر بک وبما فیک من أفناني وأوراقي وآثاري وأولیائي وأحبّائي الّذین أقبلوا بالاستقامة الکبری إلی مقامی المحمود ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Through thee, O land of resplendent glory, the ensign, “There is none other God but Him,” hath been unfurled, and the standard, “Verily I am the Truth, the Knower of things unseen,” been hoisted. It behooveth every one that visiteth thee to glory in thee and in them that inhabit thee, that have branched from My Tree, who are the leaves thereof, who are the signs of My glory, who follow Me and are My lovers, and who, with the most mighty determination, have turned their faces in the direction of My glorious station.

Translation Notes

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

أرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

النّورآء

n-w-r → “resplendent glory” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

ارتفع

r-f-ʿ → “hath been unfurled” Distinctive

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

علم

ʿ-l-m → “ensign” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → ““There”

literal: I, verily; behold I

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

وفیک

f-y → “and the” Distinctive

literal: so he; thus he; therefore he

نصبت

n-ṣ-b → “portion” Distinctive

literal: share; portion; lot; fate

رایة

r-w-y → “standard”

literal: standard; banner; flag; ensign; opinion; counsel; judgment; to see; to view; to perceive

إنّني

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

أنا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “the Truth”

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

الغیوب

gh-y-b → “things unseen,””

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

ینبغي

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

لکلّ

k-l-l → “every one”

literal: for each; for every; to each

مقبل

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

یفتخر

f-kh-r → “to glory”

literal: glory; boasting; pride

وبما

m-w-h → “water” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

من

m-n → “that” Distinctive

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

أفناني

f-n-n → “Afnán”

literal: twigs; branches

وأوراقي

w-r-q → “who are the leaves thereof”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

وآثاري

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

وأولیائي

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

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

وأحبّائي

ḥ-b-b → “and are My lovers” Distinctive

literal: love; affection

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

بالاستقامة

q-w-m → “with the most mighty determination”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الکبری

k-b-r

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

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

المحمود

ḥ-m-d

literal: praise; to praise

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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

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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 ¶