Gleanings — §339

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 339 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و أمّا أرواح کفّار لعمري حین الاحتضار یعرفون ما فات عنهم و ینوحون و یتضرّعون و کذلک بعد خروج أرواحهم من أبدانهم این

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The souls of the infidels, however, shall — and to this I bear witness — when breathing their last be made aware of the good things that have escaped them, and shall bemoan their plight, and shall humble themselves before God. They shall continue doing so after the separation of their souls from their bodies.

Translation Notes

أمّا

ʾ-m-m → “nations” Distinctive

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

أرواح

r-w-ḥ → “souls”

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

کفّار

k-f-r → “of the infidels”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

لعمري

ʿ-m-r

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

حین

ḥ-y-n → “when breathing their last” Distinctive

literal: time; moment; while; season

الاحتضار

ḥ-ḍ-r

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

یعرفون

ʿ-r-f → “be made aware” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

فات

f-w-t → “have escaped”

literal: to neglect; to fail; to abandon; to waste

عنهم

ʿ-n-d → “possess”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ینوحون

n-w-ḥ → “groan” Distinctive

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

یتضرّعون

ḍ-r-ʿ → “shall humble themselves before God”

literal: they humble themselves; supplications; supplication

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

خروج

kh-r-j → “banished” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

من

m-n → “from”

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

أبدانهم

b-d-n → “their bodies”

literal: without; apart from; besides

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶