Gleanings — §266

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 266 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

قولي إلهي إلهي أودعت عندي أمانة من عندک وأخذتها بإرادتک لیس لأمتک هذه أن تقول لِمَ وَبِمَ لأنّک محمود في فعلک ومطاع في أمرک أي ربِّ إنّ أمتک هذه متوجّهة إلی فضلک وعطائک قدّر لها ما یقرّبها إلیک وینفعها في کلّ عالم من عوالمک إنّک أنت الغفور الکریم لا إله إلّا أنت الآمر القدیم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O God, my God! Thou hast committed into mine hands a trust from Thee, and hast now according to the good-pleasure of Thy Will called it back to Thyself. It is not for me, who am a handmaid of Thine, to say, whence is this to me or wherefore hath it happened, inasmuch as Thou art glorified in all Thine acts, and art to be obeyed in Thy decree. Thine handmaid, O my Lord, hath set her hopes on Thy grace and bounty. Grant that she may obtain that which will draw her nigh unto Thee, and will profit her in every world of Thine. Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Bountiful. There is none other God but Thee, the Ordainer, the Ancient of Days.

Translation Notes

قولي

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

إلهي

ʾ-l-h → “O God”

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

أودعت

w-d-ʿ → “committed”

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

عندي

ʿ-n-d → “possess” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

أمانة

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthy”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

من

m-n → “from”

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

وأخذتها

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

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

بإرادتک

r-w-d → “Will”

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

لیس

l-y-s → “is not for me, who am”

literal: is not; to be not

لأمتک

ʾ-m-y → “Thy handmaidens”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

هذه

literal: this; this (masculine); this (feminine)

أن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لِمَ

l-y-s → “not”

literal: is not; to be not

وَبِمَ

b-m-m → “wherefore”

literal: wherefore

لأنّک

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: you; your (suffix pronoun)

محمود

ḥ-m-d → “thanks” Distinctive

literal: praise; to praise

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

فعلک

f-ʿ-l → “acts”

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

ومطاع

ṭ-w-ʿ → “obeyed”

literal: obedient; obedience; to obey

أمرک

ʾ-m-r → “decree” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

أي

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

ربِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

متوجّهة

w-j-h → “set her hopes on” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

فضلک

f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وعطائک

ʿ-ṭ-w → “bounty”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

قدّر

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لها

literal: to it; towards it; unto it

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

یقرّبها

q-r-b → “draw her nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

وینفعها

n-f-ʿ → “profit”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

کلّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

أنت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الغفور

gh-f-r → “Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

الکریم

k-r-m → “All-Bountiful”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

literal: end; hereafter; other

القدیم

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶