Gleanings — §320

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 320 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

مقامات و هم‌چنین مقامات نفس در الواح شتّی ذکر شده او است آیتی که از دخول و خروج مقدّس است و او است ساکن طائر و سائر قاعد شهادت میدهد بر عالمی که از برای او اوّل و آخر است و همچنین بر عالمی که مقدّس از اوّل و آخر است در این لیل امری مشاهده مینمائی و بعد از بیست سنه او ازید او اقلّ بعینه آن را مشاهده مینمائی حال ملاحظه کن این چه عالمی است تفکّر فی حکمة الله و ظهوراته

Shoghi Effendi Translation

In several of Our Tablets We have referred to this theme, and have set forth the various stages in the development of the soul. Verily I say, the human soul is exalted above all egress and regress. It is still, and yet it soareth; it moveth, and yet it is still. It is, in itself, a testimony that beareth witness to the existence of a world that is contingent, as well as to the reality of a world that hath neither beginning nor end. Behold how the dream thou hast dreamed is, after the lapse of many years, reenacted before thine eyes. Consider how strange is the mystery of the world that appeareth to thee in thy dream. Ponder in thine heart upon the unsearchable wisdom of God, and meditate on its manifold revelations.…

Translation Notes

مقامات

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

همچنین

ch-n-n → “likewise”

literal: always; ever; forever; at all times; constantly

نفس

n-f-s → “soul”

literal: soul; self; person; essence

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

الواح

l-w-ḥ

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

شتّی

sh-t-t

literal: scattering; various; dispersal

ذکر

dh-k-r → “have referred” Distinctive

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

شده

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

او

h-w-w → “It” Distinctive

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

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

آیتی

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

که

k-h → “that is contingent”

literal: that; who; who, that

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

دخول

d-kh-l → “enter”

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

خروج

kh-r-j → “egress”

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

مقدّس

q-d-s → “exalted”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ساکن

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

طائر

ṭ-y-r → “soareth”

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

سائر

s-y-r → “journeying” Distinctive

literal: captive; prisoner; captivity; to journey; to move; course

قاعد

q-ʿ-d → “seat” Distinctive

literal: rule; principle; foundation; basis

شهادت

sh-h-d → “that beareth witness” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

میدهد

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: give; grant; bestow; award

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

عالمی

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

برای

b-r-y

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

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “beginning”

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

آخر

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

لیل

l-y-l

literal: night; darkness

امری

ʾ-m-r

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

مینمائی

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after the lapse”

literal: after; behind; distance

بیست

b-y-s-t → “twenty”

literal: twenty

سنه

s-n-h → “many years”

literal: year; way; tradition; custom

ازید

z-y-d

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

اقلّ

q-l-l

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

بعینه

ʿ-y-n → “before thine eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

آن

ʾ-n → “dream” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

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

کن

k-w-n

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

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

تفکّر

f-k-r → “Ponder”

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

حکمة

ḥ-k-m → “unsearchable wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

الله

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

ظهوراته

ẓ-h-r → “its manifold revelations.…”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶