Gleanings — §338

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 338 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

اهل بهاء که در سفینهٴ الهیّه ساکنند کل از احوال یکدیگر مطّلع و با هم مأنوس و مصاحب و معاشر این مقام منوط بایقان و اعمال نفوس است نفوسی که در یک درجه واقفند مطّلعند از کمّیّات و کیفیّات و درایج و مقامات یکدیگر و نفوسی که در تحت این نفوس واقعند کما هو حقّه بر مراتب و مقامات نفوس عالیهٴ از خود اطّلاع نیابند لکلّ نصیب عند ربّک طوبی لنفس توجّه الی الله و استقام فی حبّه الی ان طار روحه الی الله الملک المقتدر الغفور الرّحیم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The people of Bahá, who are the inmates of the Ark of God, are, one and all, well aware of one another’s state and condition, and are united in the bonds of intimacy and fellowship. Such a state, however, must depend upon their faith and their conduct. They that are of the same grade and station are fully aware of one another’s capacity, character, accomplishments and merits. They that are of a lower grade, however, are incapable of comprehending adequately the station, or of estimating the merits, of those that rank above them. Each shall receive his share from thy Lord. Blessed is the man that hath turned his face towards God, and walked steadfastly in His love, until his soul hath winged its flight unto God, the Sovereign Lord of all, the Most Powerful, the Ever-Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

Translation Notes

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

بهاء

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

سفینهٴ

s-f-n → “Ark”

literal: ship; ship/ark; ship, ark

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ساکنند

s-k-n → “inmates”

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

کل

k-l-l → “one and all”

literal: for us; to us

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

احوال

ḥ-w-l → “state and condition” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

یکدیگر

d-y-g-r → “others”

literal: other; another; different

مطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “well aware” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

مأنوس

ʾ-n-s → “man” Distinctive

literal: familiar; intimate; companionship; to be acquainted with; companion; intimate friend; to be intimate with; to keep company; to console

مصاحب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “companions” Distinctive

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

معاشر

ʿ-sh-r → “associated”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction; عشرين (twenty) is from numeral root ع-ش-ر, distinct from ‘association’ meaning

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

منوط

n-w-ṭ → “depend upon”

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

بایقان

y-q-n → “faith” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “conduct” Distinctive

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

است

b-w-d

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

نفوسی

n-f-s → “They that”

literal: self; soul; psyche

یک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

درجه

d-r-j → “grades”

literal: degree; level; rank; step

واقفند

w-q-f

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

کمّیّات

k-m-y → “capacity”

literal: as; like; just as; in the manner that; decrease; fewness; scarcity; little; failure; defeat; lack of success; misfortune

کیفیّات

k-y-f → “how” Distinctive

literal: how; in what manner

درایج

d-r-y → “know” Distinctive

literal: know; in; sea

تحت

t-ḥ-t

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

واقعند

w-q-ʿ

literal: occurring; occurred; fall

کما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

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

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

حقّه

ḥ-q-q

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

مراتب

r-t-b → “rank”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

عالیهٴ

ʿ-l-w → “above”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

نیابند

y-ʾ-b → “find” Distinctive

literal: to find; to obtain; to discover; to reach

نصیب

n-ṣ-b → “share”

literal: share; portion; lot; fate

عند

ʿ-n-d → “from” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

ربّک

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: love; affection

طوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Blessed”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

توجّه

w-j-h → “turned”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

حبّه

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; beloved; beloved ones

ان

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

طار

ṭ-y-r → “soar”

literal: bird; birds; flying creature

روحه

r-w-ḥ → “soul” Distinctive

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

الملک

m-l-k → “Sovereign Lord” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

المقتدر

q-d-r → “Most Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

الغفور

gh-f-r → “Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

الرّحیم

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

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 ¶