Gleanings — §319

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 319 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و اینکه سؤال نمودید روح بعد از خراب بدن بکجا راجع میشود اگر بحقّ منسوب است برفیق اعلی راجع لعمر الله بمقامی راجع میشود که جمیع السن و اقلام از ذکرش عاجز است هر نفسی که در امر الله ثابت و راسخ است او بعد از صعود جمیع عوالم از او کسب فیض مینماید او است مایهٔ ظهور عالم و صنایع او و اشیاء ظاهرهٴ در او بامر سلطان حقیقی و مربّی حقیقی در خمیر ملاحظه نمائید که محتاج است بمایه و ارواح مجرّده مایهٴ عالمند تفکّر و کن من الشّاکرین این

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thou hast, moreover, asked Me concerning the state of the soul after its separation from the body. Know thou, of a truth, that if the soul of man hath walked in the ways of God, it will, assuredly, return and be gathered to the glory of the Beloved. By the righteousness of God! It shall attain a station such as no pen can depict, or tongue describe. The soul that hath remained faithful to the Cause of God, and stood unwaveringly firm in His Path shall, after his ascension, be possessed of such power that all the worlds which the Almighty hath created can benefit through him. Such a soul provideth, at the bidding of the Ideal King and Divine Educator, the pure leaven that leaveneth the world of being, and furnisheth the power through which the arts and wonders of the world are made manifest. Consider how meal needeth leaven to be leavened with. Those souls that are the symbols of detachment are the leaven of the world. Meditate on this, and be of the thankful.

Translation Notes

اینکه

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter” Distinctive

literal: that, the fact that, this (demonstrative particle)

سؤال

s-ʾ-l

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

نمودید

n-m-ʾ → “will”

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

روح

r-w-ḥ → “spirit”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

خراب

kh-r-b → “most desolate”

literal: ruin; desolation

بدن

b-d-n → “body”

literal: without; apart from; besides

بکجا

k-j-ʾ → “How”

literal: how; in what manner

راجع

r-j-ʿ → “return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

میشود

sh-w-d

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

بحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “By the righteousness” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

منسوب

n-s-b

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

است

b-w-d

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

برفیق

r-f-q → “unto the Supreme”

literal: companion; friend; associate; the Exalted Companion

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “glory of the Beloved” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

لعمر

ʿ-m-r

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بمقامی

q-w-m → “attain a station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

السن

l-s-n → “tongue”

literal: tongue; language

اقلام

q-l-m

literal: pen; writing instrument

ذکرش

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

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

عاجز

ʿ-j-z

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

نفسی

n-f-s → “that hath remained faithful” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

ثابت

th-b-t

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

راسخ

r-s-kh → “steadfast”

literal: steadfast; firm; firmly rooted; established

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

صعود

ṣ-ʿ-d → “ascension”

literal: ascent; ascension; rising; elevation

عوالم

ʿ-l-m → “worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

کسب

k-s-b → “have wrought” Distinctive

literal: to acquire, earn, gain; to bring upon (oneself); to gain; to acquire; earning; livelihood

فیض

f-y-ḍ → “grace”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace

مایهٔ

m-y-h → “Government Official”

literal: water; waters

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

صنایع

ṣ-n-ʿ → “arts”

literal: fashioning; making; creation; artifice

اشیاء

sh-y-ʾ

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

بامر

ʾ-m-r → “at the bidding” Distinctive

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

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “Ideal King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

مربّی

r-b-b → “Educator”

literal: father; paternal

خمیر

kh-m-r → “wine”

literal: wine; intoxicating drink

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

محتاج

ḥ-w-j → “needeth”

literal: needy, in need, requiring, dependent

مجرّده

j-r-d → “detachment”

literal: neck; throat

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Meditate”

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

کن

k-w-n → “be”

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

من

m-n

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

الشّاکرین

sh-k-r → “the thankful”

literal: thank; thankful; thanks

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 ¶