Gleanings — §324

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 324 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ملاحظه در نفس ناطقه که ودیعهٴ ربّانیّه است در انفس انسانیّه نمائید مثلاً در خود ملاحظه نما که حرکت و سکون و اراده و مشیّت و دون آن و فوق آن و هم‌چنین سمع و بصر و شمّ و نطق و مادون آن از حواسّ ظاهره و باطنه جمیع بوجود آن موجودند چنانچه اگر نسبت او از بدن اقلّ من آن مقطوع شود جمیع این حواسّ از آثار و افعال خود محجوب و ممنوع شوند و این بسی واضح و معلوم بوده که اثر جمیع این اسباب مذکوره منوط و مشروط بوجود نفس ناطقه که آیهٴ تجلّی سلطان احدیّه است بوده و خواهد بود چنانچه از ظهور او جمیع این اسماء و صفات ظاهر و از بطون آن جمیع

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider the rational faculty with which God hath endowed the essence of man. Examine thine own self, and behold how thy motion and stillness, thy will and purpose, thy sight and hearing, thy sense of smell and power of speech, and whatever else is related to, or transcendeth, thy physical senses or spiritual perceptions, all proceed from, and owe their existence to, this same faculty. So closely are they related unto it, that if in less than the twinkling of an eye its relationship to the human body be severed, each and every one of these senses will cease immediately to exercise its function, and will be deprived of the power to manifest the evidences of its activity. It is indubitably clear and evident that each of these aforementioned instruments has depended, and will ever continue to depend, for its proper functioning on this rational faculty, which should be regarded as a sign of the revelation of Him Who is the sovereign Lord of all. Through its manifestation all these names and attributes have been revealed, and by the suspension of its action they are all destroyed and perish.

Translation Notes

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

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

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

نفس

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

ناطقه

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

ودیعهٴ

w-d-ʿ → “entrusted”

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

ربّانیّه

r-b-b → “God”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

است

b-w-d → “hath endowed” Distinctive

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

انسانیّه

ʾ-n-s → “essence of man”

literal: human; mankind; of humanity

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

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

مثلاً

m-th-l

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

خود

kh-w-d → “thine own self”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

حرکت

ḥ-r-k → “move”

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

سکون

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

اراده

r-w-d → “will”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

مشیّت

sh-y-ʾ → “purpose” Distinctive

literal: way; manner; gait; to walk; to go; to proceed

دون

d-w-n → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

آن

ʾ-n → “twinkling of an eye” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

فوق

f-w-q → “transcendeth” Distinctive

literal: above; over; beyond

هم‌چنین

ch-n-n

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

سمع

s-m-ʿ → “hearing”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

بصر

b-ṣ-r → “sight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

شمّ

sh-m-m → “inhale” Distinctive

literal: smell; smelling; Syria

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

حواسّ

ḥ-s-s → “senses”

literal: to feel; sensation; perception; feeling

ظاهره

ẓ-h-r → “physical” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

باطنه

b-ṭ-n → “spiritual perceptions” Distinctive

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بوجود

w-j-d → “existence” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

اگر

ʾ-g-r

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

نسبت

n-s-b → “relationship”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

او

h-w-w

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

بدن

b-d-n → “human body”

literal: without; apart from; besides

اقلّ

q-l-l → “less than”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

من

m-n

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

مقطوع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “severed”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

شود

sh-w-d → “be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

آثار

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

افعال

f-ʿ-l → “activity” Distinctive

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

محجوب

ḥ-j-b → “deprived”

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

ممنوع

m-n-ʿ

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

بسی

b-s-y → “greatly” Distinctive

literal: many; much; very

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ → “clear”

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “evident”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اثر

ʾ-th-r

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

اسباب

s-b-b → “instruments” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

مذکوره

dh-k-r → “aforementioned”

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

منوط

n-w-ṭ → “depend upon”

literal: to be dependent upon, to hang upon, to hinge upon

مشروط

sh-r-ṭ

literal: condition; requirement; clause

آیهٴ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: sign; signs; verse

تجلّی

j-l-w → “revelation”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “sovereign Lord” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

احدیّه

ʾ-ḥ-d → “none”

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

خواهد

kh-w-h → “will ever continue to depend”

literal: will; to wish; to want

اسماء

s-m-w → “names”

literal: name

صفات

w-ṣ-f → “attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

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 ¶