Gleanings — §358

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 358 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

باری از این بیانات معلوم شد که جمیع اشیاء حاکی از اسماء و صفات الهیّه هستند هر کدام بقدر استعداد خود مدلّ و مشعرند بر معرفت الهیّه بقسمی که احاطه کرده است ظهورات صفاتیّه و اسمائیّه همهٔ غیب و شهود را اینست که میفرماید: "أَیَکُونُ لِغَیرِکَ مِنَ الظُّهُورِ مَا لَیْسَ لَکَ حَتَّی یَکُونَ هُوَ المُظْهِرَ لَکَ عُمِیَتْ عَینٌ لَا تَرَاکَ"، و باز سلطان بقا میفرماید: "ما رأیتُ شیئًا إلّا وقد رأیتُ اللهَ فیه أو قبله أو بعده"، و در روایت کمیل: "نُورٌ أَشْرَقَ مِنْ صُبْحِ الأَزَلِ فَیَلُوحُ عَلَی هَیاکِلِ التَّوحِید آثارُهُ"، و انسان که اشرف و اکمل مخلوقات است اشدّ دلالةً و اعظم حکایةً است از سایر معلومات و اکمل انسان و افضل و الطف او مظاهر شمس حقیقتند بلکه ما سوای ایشان موجودند بارادهٔ ایشان و متحرّکند بافاضهٔ ایشان...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

…From that which hath been said it becometh evident that all things, in their inmost reality, testify to the revelation of the names and attributes of God within them. Each according to its capacity, indicateth, and is expressive of, the knowledge of God. So potent and universal is this revelation, that it hath encompassed all things visible and invisible. Thus hath He revealed: “Hath aught else save Thee a power of revelation which is not possessed by Thee, that it could have manifested Thee? Blind is the eye which doth not perceive Thee.” Likewise hath the eternal King spoken: “No thing have I perceived, except that I perceived God within it, God before it, or God after it.” Also in the tradition of Kumayl it is written: “Behold, a light hath shone forth out of the morn of eternity, and lo, its waves have penetrated the inmost reality of all men.” Man, the noblest and most perfect of all created things, excelleth them all in the intensity of this revelation, and is a fuller expression of its glory. And of all men, the most accomplished, the most distinguished, and the most excellent are the Manifestations of the Sun of Truth. Nay, all else besides these Manifestations, live by the operation of Their Will, and move and have their being through the outpourings of Their grace.

Translation Notes

باری

b-r-y → “Briefly”

literal: well; cistern; pit

از

ʾ-z → “that”

literal: from

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

بیانات

b-y-n → “hath been said”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

معلوم

ʿ-l-m → “evident”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اشیاء

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

literal: thing; something

حاکی

ḥ-k-y → “story” Distinctive

literal: telling; indicative; narrator; testifier; narrative; story; account; tale; to relate; one who relates; speaking of

اسماء

s-m-w → “names”

literal: name

صفات

w-ṣ-f → “attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

الهیّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

هستند

h-s-t → “are”

literal: to be; to exist

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

کدام

k-d-m → “Each”

literal: which; what; whoever; any

بقدر

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

استعداد

ʿ-d-d → “capacity”

literal: numerous; many; multiple

خود

kh-w-d → “its” Distinctive

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

مدلّ

d-l-l → “indicateth”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

مشعرند

sh-ʿ-r → “is expressive”

literal: hair

بر

b-r-r → “of” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

معرفت

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

بقسمی

q-s-m → “swear” Distinctive

literal: oath; division; kind; type

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

کرده

k-r-d → “hath”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; deed; action; conduct; behavior

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

ظهورات

ẓ-h-r → “revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

همهٔ

h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

غیب

gh-y-b → “invisible”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

شهود

sh-h-d → “visible”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

میفرماید:

f-r-m

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

"أَیَکُونُ

k-w-n → ““Hath”

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

لِغَیرِکَ

gh-y-r → “aught else save Thee”

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

مَا

m-ʾ

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

لَیْسَ

l-y-s → “is not possessed”

literal: is not; to be not

لَکَ

l → “His is”

literal: for; for you; for him

حَتَّی

ḥ-t-y

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

هُوَ

h-w

literal: He; He is

عُمِیَتْ

ʿ-m-y → “Blind”

literal: blindness; to be blind

عَینٌ

ʿ-y-n → “eye”

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

لَا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَرَاکَ"،

r-ʾ-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

باز

b-ʾ-z

literal: back; open; back, open

سلطان

s-l-ṭ → “King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

بقا

b-q-y → “eternal”

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

رأیتُ

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest” Distinctive

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

وقد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: and indeed; and already; conjunction indicating completed action

فیه

f-y → “within it” Distinctive

literal: alas; woe; oh

أو

h-w-w → “is”

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

قبله

q-b-l → “before”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بعده"،

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; distance; far

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

روایت

r-w-y → “tradition”

literal: narration; tradition; fragrance; to grow; to spring forth; to sprout

کمیل:

k-m-l → “perfect”

literal: inclination; leaning; preference

"نُورٌ

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; lights; luminous

أَشْرَقَ

sh-r-q → “hath shone forth”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

صُبْحِ

ṣ-b-ḥ → “morn”

literal: morning, dawn; daybreak

الأَزَلِ

ʾ-z-l → “eternity”

literal: eternity; pre-eternity; without beginning; eternal; everlasting; from eternity

فَیَلُوحُ

l-w-ḥ

literal: tablet; tablets; allusion

عَلَی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هَیاکِلِ

h-y-k-l

literal: temple; structure; form; body

التَّوحِید

w-ḥ-d

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

آثارُهُ"،

ʾ-th-r

literal: effect; trace; signs

انسان

ʾ-n-s → “Man”

literal: man; human being; mankind

اشرف

sh-r-f → “noblest”

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

مخلوقات

kh-l-q → “created things”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

اشدّ

sh-d-d → “intensity”

literal: to become; to be

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

حکایةً

ḥ-k-y

literal: telling; indicative; narrator; testifier; narrative; story; account; tale; to relate; one who relates; speaking of

سایر

s-y-r

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

افضل

f-ḍ-l → “most distinguished” Distinctive

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

الطف

l-ṭ-f → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

شمس

sh-m-s → “Sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

حقیقتند

ḥ-q-q → “Truth”

literal: truth; true; right

بلکه

b-l-k → “Nay”

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

سوای

s-w-y → “else besides these”

literal: level; equal; straight; upon a throne; resting upon; toward; to; direction of; other than; besides; except

ایشان

ʾ-y-sh → “Prophets”

literal: that; it (object pronoun with suffix)

موجودند

w-j-d → “live”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بارادهٔ

r-w-d → “Will”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

متحرّکند

ḥ-r-k → “move and have their being”

literal: move; movement; mover

بافاضهٔ

f-y-ḍ → “through the outpourings”

literal: grace; overflowing; outpourings

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 ¶