Gleanings — §262

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 262 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

لعمري من سأل الآیات في القرون الخالیة إذا أظهرنا له کفر بالله ولکنّ النّاس أکثرهم غافلون إنّ الّذین فتحت أبصارهم بنور العرفان یجدون نفحات الرّحمن ویقبلون إلیه أَلَا إنّهم هم المخلصون ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

By My Self! Whoso hath in bygone ages asked Us to produce the signs of God, hath, no sooner had We revealed them to him, repudiated God’s truth. The people, however, have, for the most part, remained heedless. They whose eyes are illumined with the light of understanding will perceive the sweet savors of the All-Merciful, and will embrace His truth. These are they who are truly sincere.

Translation Notes

لعمري

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

من

m-n → “Whoso” Distinctive

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

سأل

s-n-h → “years”

literal: most beautiful; finest; highest

الآیات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

القرون

q-r-n → “ages”

literal: conjunction; union; coupling; association

الخالیة

kh-l-w → “bygone”

literal: empty; vacant; void; devoid

إذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

أظهرنا

ẓ-h-r → “revealed”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

له

h-w → “is”

literal: for them both; to both of them (dual pronoun)

کفر

k-f-r → “repudiated”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بالله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

ولکنّ

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

أکثرهم

k-th-r → “for the most part”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

غافلون

gh-f-l → “heedless”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

إنّ

ʾ-n → “They”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

فتحت

f-t-ḥ → “open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

أبصارهم

b-ṣ-r → “eyes”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

بنور

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

العرفان

ʿ-r-f → “understanding”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

یجدون

w-j-d → “perceive”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “sweet savors” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

ویقبلون

q-b-l → “will embrace”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إلیه

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to him; besmirch

أَلَا

ʾ-kh-r

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

إنّهم

ʾ-n-n → “These are they”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

هم

h-m-m

literal: endeavor; effort; also

المخلصون

kh-l-ṣ → “sincere”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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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57 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶