Gleanings — §253

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 253 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ثمّ احترموا العلمآء بینكم الّذین یفعلون ما علموا ویتّبعون حدود الله ویحكمون بما حكم الله في الكتاب فاعلموا بأنّهم سرج الهدایة بین السّموات والأرضین انّ الّذین لن تجدوا للعلمآء بینهم من شأن ولا من قدر اولئك غیّروا نعمة الله علی انفسهم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Respect ye the divines and learned amongst you, they whose conduct accords with their professions, who transgress not the bounds which God hath fixed, whose judgments are in conformity with His behests as revealed in His Book. Know ye that they are the lamps of guidance unto them that are in the heavens and on the earth. They who disregard and neglect the divines and learned that live amongst them — these have truly changed the favor with which God hath favored them.

Translation Notes

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

احترموا

ḥ-t-r-m → “Respect”

literal: to respect; to honor; to have regard for

العلمآء

ʿ-l-m → “divines and learned”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بینكم

b-y-n → “amongst you”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

یفعلون

f-ʿ-l

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

ما

m-ʾ

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

ویتّبعون

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

حدود

ḥ-d-d → “bounds”

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ویحكمون

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom” Distinctive

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الكتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

بأنّهم

ʾ-n-n → “that they”

literal: that; indeed; verily

سرج

s-r-j → “lamps”

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

الهدایة

h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

السّموات

s-m-w → “the heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

والأرضین

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

انّ

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لن

l-n

literal: will not (negation of future)

تجدوا

w-j-d → “being” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

من

m-n

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

شأن

sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; matter; station; rank; importance

ولا

w-l-y

literal: no; not; negation particle

قدر

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

اولئك

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

غیّروا

gh-y-r → “changed”

literal: other; other than; change

نعمة

n-ʿ-m → “favor”

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

انفسهم

n-f-s → “them”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

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

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

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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

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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 ¶