Gleanings — §251

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 251 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ایّاكم ان لا تستكبروا علی الله واحبّائه ثمّ اخفضوا جناحكم للمؤمنین الّذین آمنوا بالله وآیاته وتشهد قلوبهم بوحدانیّته والسنتهم بفردانیّته ولا یتكلّمون الّا بعد اذنه كذلك ننصحكم بالعدل ونذكركم بالحقّ لعلّ تكوننّ من المتذكرین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Beware that ye swell not with pride before God, and disdainfully reject His loved ones. Defer ye humbly to the faithful, they that have believed in God and in His signs, whose hearts witness to His unity, whose tongues proclaim His oneness, and who speak not except by His leave. Thus do We exhort you with justice, and warn you with truth, that perchance ye may be awakened.

Translation Notes

ایّاكم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

ان

ʾ-n → “that ye swell”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تستكبروا

k-b-r → “with pride” Distinctive

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

واحبّائه

ḥ-b-b → “loved ones”

literal: love; affection

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اخفضوا

kh-f-ḍ → “Defer ye humbly”

literal: to lower; to humble; to defer

جناحكم

j-n-ḥ

literal: wing; side; shelter; protection

للمؤمنین

ʾ-m-n → “faithful”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

الّذین

l-dh-y → “they that”

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

آمنوا

ʾ-m-n → “have believed”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

وآیاته

ʾ-y-y → “His signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; testimony; token

وتشهد

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

قلوبهم

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

بوحدانیّته

w-ḥ-d → “to His unity”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

والسنتهم

l-s-n → “tongues”

literal: arrow; pointed weapon; spear-point; edge

بفردانیّته

f-r-d → “His oneness”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

ولا

w-l-y → “not”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

یتكلّمون

k-l-m → “speak”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

الّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

بعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

اذنه

ʾ-dh-n → “by His leave”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow

كذلك

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

ننصحكم

n-ṣ-ḥ → “exhort”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

بالعدل

ʿ-d-l → “with justice”

literal: justice; equity

ونذكركم

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “with truth”

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

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

تكوننّ

k-w-n → “be”

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

من

m-n

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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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

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 ¶