Gleanings — §340

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 340 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بسی معلوم و واضح است که کل بعد از موت مطّلع بافعال و اعمال خود خواهند شد قسم بآفتاب افق اقتدار که اهل حقّ را در آن حین فرحی دست دهد که ذکر آن ممکن نه و هم‌چنین اصحاب ضلال را خوف و اضطراب و وحشتی رو نماید که فوق آن متصوّر نه نیکوست حال نفسی که رحیق لطیف باقی ایمان را از ید عنایت و الطاف مالک ادیان گرفت و آشامید…

Shoghi Effendi Translation

It is clear and evident that all men shall, after their physical death, estimate the worth of their deeds, and realize all that their hands have wrought. I swear by the Daystar that shineth above the horizon of Divine power! They that are the followers of the one true God shall, the moment they depart out of this life, experience such joy and gladness as would be impossible to describe, while they that live in error shall be seized with such fear and trembling, and shall be filled with such consternation, as nothing can exceed. Well is it with him that hath quaffed the choice and incorruptible wine of faith through the gracious favor and the manifold bounties of Him Who is the Lord of all Faiths.…

Translation Notes

بسی

b-s-y → “greatly” Distinctive

literal: many; much; very

معلوم

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

کل

k-l-l → “all men”

literal: for us; to us

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

موت

m-w-t → “physical death”

literal: death; dead; to die

مطّلع

ṭ-l-ʿ

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

بافعال

f-ʿ-l → “deeds”

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

اعمال

ʿ-m-l

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

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

خواهند

kh-w-ʾ-h → “will”

literal: to will; to want; shall; will (future auxiliary)

شد

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

قسم

q-s-m → “swear”

literal: oath; division; kind; type

بآفتاب

sh-m-s → “Daystar”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

افق

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

اقتدار

q-d-r → “Divine power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

اهل

ʾ-h-l

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

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “one true God”

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

آن

ʾ-n → “moment” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حین

ḥ-y-n

literal: time; moment; while; season

فرحی

f-r-ḥ → “such joy”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

دست

d-s-t → “hands have wrought”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

دهد

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: to give; to grant; to yield

ذکر

dh-k-r → “describe” Distinctive

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

ممکن

m-k-n

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

هم‌چنین

ch-n-n → “likewise”

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

اصحاب

ṣ-ḥ-b → “followers” Distinctive

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

ضلال

ḍ-l-l → “error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

خوف

kh-w-f → “such fear”

literal: to fear; to be afraid; fear

اضطراب

ḍ-ṭ-r-b → “dismayed” Distinctive

literal: to be disturbed; to tremble; to be troubled; to be shaken

وحشتی

w-ḥ-sh → “consternation”

literal: fear; terror; dread; desolation

رو

r-w-y → “tradition” Distinctive

literal: face; grow; tradition

نماید

n-m-ʾ → “may”

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

فوق

f-w-q → “above”

literal: above; over; beyond

متصوّر

ṣ-w-r

literal: form; trumpet; conception

نیکوست

n-y-k → “Well is it”

literal: good, well, proper, beautiful

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

نفسی

n-f-s → “him” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

رحیق

r-ḥ-q → “choice” Distinctive

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

باقی

b-q-y → “incorruptible”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

ایمان

ʾ-m-n → “faith”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

ید

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

عنایت

ʿ-n-y → “gracious favor”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

الطاف

l-ṭ-f → “the manifold bounties”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

مالک

m-l-k → “Him Who is the Lord”

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

ادیان

d-y-n → “all Faiths.…” Distinctive

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

گرفت

g-r-f → “hath quaffed”

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp; to hold

آشامید…

sh-r-b

literal: to drink; to imbibe

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 ¶