Gleanings — §243

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 243 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

فأنصفوا فی انفسکم یا ایّها الوکلآء بأیّ ذنب اطردتمونا و بأیّ جرم اخرجتمونا بعد الّذی استأجرناکم و ما آجرتمونا فوالله هذا لظلم عظیم الّذی لن یقاس بظلم فی الأرض و کان الله علی ما اقول شهید....

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Be fair in your judgment, O ye Ministers of State! What is it that We have committed that could justify Our banishment? What is the offense that hath warranted Our expulsion? It is We Who have sought you, and yet, behold how ye refused to receive Us! By God! This is a sore injustice that ye have perpetrated — an injustice with which no earthly injustice can measure. To this the Almighty is Himself a witness.… Know ye that the world and its vanities and its embellishments shall pass away.

Translation Notes

فأنصفوا

n-ṣ-f → “Be fair”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

انفسکم

n-f-s → “your judgment”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ایّها

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

الوکلآء

w-k-l → “Ministers of State”

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority

بأیّ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ذنب

dh-n-b

literal: sin; crime; offense; fault

اطردتمونا

ṭ-r-d → “Cast me” Distinctive

literal: cast out; driven away; expelled

جرم

j-r-m → “crime”

literal: crime; sin; boldness

اخرجتمونا

kh-r-j → “banished” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

الّذی

l-dh-y → “that We have committed” Distinctive

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

استأجرناکم

ʾ-j-r → “recompense” Distinctive

literal: wage; recompense; reward; wage, reward, recompense

ما

m-ʾ → “To this” Distinctive

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

فوالله

w-l-h → “Rapture” Distinctive

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is”

literal: this; that

لظلم

ẓ-l-m → “sore injustice” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

عظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

یقاس

q-w-s → “of two bows,”” Distinctive

literal: to measure; to compare; analogy, comparison, measure, standard

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کان

k-w-n → “is Himself”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اقول

q-w-l

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

شهید....

sh-h-d → “witness.…”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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