Gleanings — §284

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 284 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

فانظروا في رحمة الله وألطافه إنّه يأمركم بما ينفعكم بعد إذ كان غنيّا عن العالمين لن تضرّنا سيّئاتكم كما لا تنفعنا حسناتكم إنّما ندعوكم لوجه الله يشهد بذلك كلّ عالم بصير...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider the mercy of God and His gifts. He enjoineth upon you that which shall profit you, though He Himself can well dispense with all creatures. Your evil doings can never harm Us, neither can your good works profit Us. We summon you wholly for the sake of God. To this every man of understanding and insight will testify.

Translation Notes

فانظروا

n-ẓ-r → “Consider”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

رحمة

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

الله

ʾ-l-h → “of”

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

وألطافه

l-ṭ-f → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

يأمركم

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

literal: to command; to order; command; affair; matter

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

ينفعكم

n-f-ʿ → “that which shall profit” Distinctive

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

بعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

إذ

ʾ-dh-dh

literal: when; since

كان

k-w-n → “can well dispense with”

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

غنيّا

gh-n-y → “wealth” Distinctive

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

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

تضرّنا

ḍ-r-r → “harm” Distinctive

literal: to vibrate; to resound; to warble; to sing

سيّئاتكم

s-w-ʾ → “thy sins” Distinctive

literal: evil deed; sin; transgression

كما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

حسناتكم

ḥ-s-n → “good works”

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

ندعوكم

d-ʿ-w → “summon”

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

لوجه

w-j-h → “for the sake”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

يشهد

sh-h-d → “testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بذلك

dh-l-k → “To this”

literal: that; this; it; by that

كلّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “man of understanding” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بصير...

b-ṣ-r → “insight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

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 ¶