Gleanings — §279

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 279 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

قل لا تفرحوا بما ملكتموه في العشيّ وفي الإشراق يملكه غيركم كذلك يخبركم العليم الخبير قل هل رأيتم لما عندكم من قرار أو وفآء لا ونفسي الرّحمن لو أنتم من المنصفين تمرّ أيّام حيو'تكم كما تمرّ الأرياح ويطوى بساط عزّكم كما طوي بساط الأوّلين تفكّروا يا قوم أين أيّامكم الماضية وأين أعصاركم الخالية طوبى لأيّام مضت بذكر الله ولأوقات صرفت في ذكره الحكيم لعمري لا تبقى عزّة الأعزّآء ولا زخارف الأغنيآء ولا شوكة الأشقيآء سيفنى الكلّ بكلمة من عنده إنّه لهو المقتدر العزيز القدير لا ينفع النّاس ما عندهم من الأثاث وما ينفعهم غفلوا عنه سوف ينتبهون ولا يجدون ما فات عنهم في أيّام ربّهم العزيز الحميد لو يعرفون ينفقون ما عندهم لتذكر أسمآئهم لدى العرش ألا إنّهم من الميّتين...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: Rejoice not in the things ye possess; tonight they are yours, tomorrow others will possess them. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed. Say: Can ye claim that what ye own is lasting or secure? Nay! By Myself, the All-Merciful. The days of your life flee away as a breath of wind, and all your pomp and glory shall be folded up as were the pomp and glory of those gone before you. Reflect, O people! What hath become of your bygone days, your lost centuries? Happy the days that have been consecrated to the remembrance of God, and blessed the hours which have been spent in praise of Him Who is the All-Wise. By My life! Neither the pomp of the mighty, nor the wealth of the rich, nor even the ascendancy of the ungodly will endure. All will perish, at a word from Him. He, verily, is the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling, the Almighty. What advantage is there in the earthly things which men possess? That which shall profit them, they have utterly neglected. Erelong, they will awake from their slumber, and find themselves unable to obtain that which hath escaped them in the days of their Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised. Did they but know it, they would renounce their all, that their names may be mentioned before His throne. They, verily, are accounted among the dead.

Translation Notes

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تفرحوا

f-r-ḥ → “Rejoice”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

بما

m-ʾ → “in the” Distinctive

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

ملكتموه

m-l-k → “Kingdom” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; king; owner

في

f-y

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

العشيّ

ʿ-sh-w → “the daytime”

literal: evening; daytime; afternoon

الإشراق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

غيركم

gh-y-r → “other”

literal: to err; to make a mistake; wrong

كذلك

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

يخبركم

kh-b-r → “warneth you”

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هل

h-l → “people” Distinctive

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

رأيتم

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest” Distinctive

literal: see; to see; see/behold

لما

l-m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

literal: when; certainly-not; when, since

عندكم

ʿ-n-d → “what ye own” Distinctive

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

من

m-n

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

قرار

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

أو

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

وفآء

w-f-y → “fidelity” Distinctive

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

ونفسي

n-f-s → “By Myself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

أنتم

n-t-m

literal: you

المنصفين

n-ṣ-f

literal: justice; fairness; equity

تمرّ

m-r-r → “At one time” Distinctive

literal: matter; affair; thing

أيّام

y-w-m → “days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

حيو'تكم

ḥ-y-y → “your life”

literal: life; living; shame

كما

k-m → “as”

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

الأرياح

r-y-ḥ → “winds”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility; wind; breeze; spirit; fragrance; scent; aroma

ويطوى

ṭ-w-y → “shall be folded up”

literal: to fold; to conceal

بساط

b-s-ṭ → “pomp and glory”

literal: carpet; mat; carpet of realm; expanse; table; surface

الأوّلين

ʾ-w-l → “this world” Distinctive

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

تفكّروا

f-k-r → “Reflect”

literal: reflection; reflect; contemplation

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

قوم

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

أين

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

الماضية

m-ḍ-y → “passed” Distinctive

literal: to pass, go by; have passed; past; bygone

وأين

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

أعصاركم

ʿ-ṣ-r → “your lost centuries”

literal: age; era; century; period of time

الخالية

kh-l-w

literal: empty; vacant; void; devoid

طوبى

ṭ-w-b → “Happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

بذكر

dh-k-r → “to the remembrance” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ولأوقات

w-q-t

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

صرفت

ṣ-r-f → “treatment” Distinctive

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

الحكيم

ḥ-k-m → “All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

لعمري

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

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

تبقى

b-q-y → “endure”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

عزّة

ʿ-z-z → “glory”

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

ولا

w-l-y

literal: friend; lord; guardian

زخارف

z-kh-r-f → “vanities”

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

الأغنيآء

gh-n-y → “the rich”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

شوكة

sh-w-k → “majesty” Distinctive

literal: majesty; power; power, majesty

الأشقيآء

sh-q-y → “the wicked doers”

literal: wretched ones; the miserable; the wicked

سيفنى

f-n-y → “will perish”

literal: sword

الكلّ

k-l-l → “All”

literal: for us; to us

بكلمة

k-l-m → “at a word”

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

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “He, verily”

literal: I, verily; behold I

لهو

h-w → “He”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

المقتدر

q-d-r → “All-Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ينفع

n-f-ʿ → “profit”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “which men”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

الأثاث

ʾ-th-th

literal: goods

غفلوا

gh-f-l → “have utterly neglected” Distinctive

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

عنه

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

سوف

s-w-f → “Ere long will”

literal: shall; will (future marker)

ينتبهون

n-b-h → “awakening” Distinctive

literal: awaken; awakening; attentive

يجدون

w-j-d → “find themselves”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

فات

f-w-t → “hath escaped”

literal: to neglect; to fail; to abandon; to waste

ربّهم

r-b-b → “their Lord”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

الحميد

ḥ-m-d → “All-Praised”

literal: praise; to praise

يعرفون

ʿ-r-f → “know”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ينفقون

n-f-q → “would renounce”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

أسمآئهم

s-m-w → “their names”

literal: name

لدى

l-d-y → “before”

literal: with; in the presence of; from; by

العرش

ʿ-r-sh → “His throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

ألا

ʾ-kh-r

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

الميّتين...

m-w-t → “accounted among the dead”

literal: death; dead; die

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘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 ¶