Gleanings — §256

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 256 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

فسوف یظهر الله قوماً یذكرون ایّامنا وكلّ ما ورد علینا ویطلبون حقّنا عن الّذین‌هم ظلمونا بغیر جرم ولا ذنب مبین ومن ورائهم كان الله قائماً علیهم ویشهد ما فعلوا ویأخذهم بذنبهم وانّه اشدّ المنتقمین

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The day is approaching when God will have raised up a people who will call to remembrance Our days, who will tell the tale of Our trials, who will demand the restitution of Our rights from them that, without a tittle of evidence, have treated Us with manifest injustice. God, assuredly, dominateth the lives of them that wronged Us, and is well aware of their doings. He will, most certainly, lay hold on them for their sins. He, verily, is the fiercest of avengers.

Translation Notes

فسوف

s-w-f → “Ere long will”

literal: shall; will (future marker)

یظهر

ẓ-h-r → “will have raised up” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

قوماً

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

یذكرون

dh-k-r → “will call to remembrance”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

ایّامنا

y-w-m → “Our days”

literal: days; times; periods; epochs; sign; gesture; indication; hint

وكلّ

k-l-l → “will tell the tale”

literal: for us; to us

ما

m-ʾ → “of” Distinctive

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

ورد

w-r-d

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

علینا

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

ویطلبون

ṭ-l-b → “theme” Distinctive

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

حقّنا

ḥ-q-q → “restitution of Our rights”

literal: perfect, well-arranged, firmly constructed

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الّذین‌هم

l-dh-y → “them that” Distinctive

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

ظلمونا

ẓ-l-m

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

بغیر

gh-y-r → “without”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

جرم

j-r-m → “crime”

literal: crime; sin; boldness

ولا

w-l-y

literal: no; not; negation particle

مبین

b-y-n

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

ومن

m-n

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

ورائهم

w-r-ʾ → “lives of them” Distinctive

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

كان

k-w-n

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

ویشهد

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

فعلوا

f-ʿ-l → “their doings”

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

ویأخذهم

ʾ-kh-dh

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

بذنبهم

dh-n-b → “for their sins”

literal: sin; crime; offense; fault

وانّه

h-w → “is” Distinctive

literal: deviation; divergence; straying from the path; to be weak, to flag, to show reluctance

اشدّ

sh-d-d → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

المنتقمین

n-q-m → “chastisement” Distinctive

literal: punishment; vengeance; retribution

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 ¶