Gleanings — §278

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 278 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

إنّ النّاس نيام لو انتبهوا سرعوا بالقلوب إلى الله العليم الحكيم ونبذوا ما عندهم ولو كان كنوز الدّنيا كلّها ليذكرهم مولاهم بكلمة من عنده كذلك ينبّئكم من عنده علم الغيب في لوح ما ظهر في الإمكان وما اطّلع به إلاّ نفسه المهيمنة على العالمين قد أخذهم سكر الهوى على شأن لا يرون مولى الورى الّذي ارتفع ندآئه من كلّ الجهات لا إله إلاّ أنا العزيز الحكيم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The peoples of the world are fast asleep. Were they to wake from their slumber, they would hasten with eagerness unto God, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. They would cast away everything they possess, be it all the treasures of the earth, that their Lord may remember them to the extent of addressing to them but one word. Such is the instruction given you by Him Who holdeth the knowledge of things hidden, in a Tablet which the eye of creation hath not seen, and which is revealed to none except His own Self, the omnipotent protector of all worlds. So bewildered are they in the drunkenness of their evil desires, that they are powerless to recognize the Lord of all being, Whose voice calleth aloud from every direction: “There is none other God but Me, the Mighty, the All-Wise.”

Translation Notes

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “The peoples”

literal: people; mankind; human beings

نيام

n-w-m → “fast asleep”

literal: to sleep; to slumber

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

انتبهوا

n-b-h → “awakening” Distinctive

literal: to awaken; to alert; to warn

سرعوا

s-r-ʿ → “would hasten”

literal: speed; swiftness; haste

بالقلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

إلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الحكيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

ونبذوا

n-b-dh → “cast away”

literal: to cast; to reject; to abandon; to throw away

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

عندهم

ʿ-n-d → “they possess”

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

كان

k-w-n → “be it”

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

كنوز

k-n-z → “treasures”

literal: treasure; treasure-trove; hidden store; treasury

الدّنيا

d-n-w → “world”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

كلّها

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

ليذكرهم

dh-k-r → “remember them”

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

مولاهم

w-l-y → “their Lord”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

بكلمة

k-l-m → “word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

من

m-n → “by Him” Distinctive

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

كذلك

dh-l-k → “Such”

literal: thus; likewise; also

ينبّئكم

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets” Distinctive

literal: prophet; messenger

الغيب

gh-y-b → “of things hidden” Distinctive

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

لوح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

ظهر

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الإمكان

m-k-n → “eye of creation”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

اطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

إلاّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: end; hereafter; other

نفسه

n-f-s → “His own Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

المهيمنة

h-m-n → “the omnipotent protector”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

على

ʿ-l-w → “of” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

قد

q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

أخذهم

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold”

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

سكر

s-k-r → “drunkenness”

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

الهوى

h-w-y → “of their evil desires”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

شأن

sh-ʾ-n → “they are powerless” Distinctive

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يرون

r-ʾ-y → “to recognize”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

الورى

w-r-y → “of all being” Distinctive

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

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

ارتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

ندآئه

n-d-y → “voice”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

الجهات

j-h-h → “direction”

literal: direction; aspect; side; regard

إله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

أنا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “the Mighty” Distinctive

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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.

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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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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 ¶