Gleanings — §364

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 364 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

حال ملاحظه فرمائید با این شهدای صادق که نصّ کتاب شاهد بر صدق قول ایشانست چنانچه دیده‌اید که همه جان و مال و زن و فرزند و کلّ مایملک را انفاق نموده‌اند و باعلی غرف رضوان عروج فرمودند شهادت این طلعات عالیه و انفس منقطعه بر تصدیق این امر عالی متعالی مقبول نیست و شهادت این گروه که برای ذهب از مذهب گذشته‌اند و برای جلوس بر صدر از اوّل ماصدر احتراز جسته‌اند بر بطلان این نور لائح جایز و مقبولست با اینکه جمیع مردم ایشان را شناخته‌اند و اینقدر ادراک نموده‌اند که از ذرّه‌ئی از اعتبار ظاهری ملکی در سبیل دین الهی نمیگذرند تا چه رسد بجان و مال و غیره...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider these martyrs of unquestionable sincerity, to whose truthfulness testifieth the explicit text of the Book, and all of whom, as thou hast witnessed, have sacrificed their life, their substance, their wives, their children, their all, and ascended unto the loftiest chambers of Paradise. Is it fair to reject the testimony of these detached and exalted beings to the truth of this preeminent and Glorious Revelation, and to regard as acceptable the denunciations which have been uttered against this resplendent Light by this faithless people, who for gold have forsaken their faith, and who for the sake of leadership have repudiated Him Who is the First Leader of all mankind? This, although their character is now revealed unto all people who have recognized them as those who will in no wise relinquish one jot or one tittle of their temporal authority for the sake of God’s holy Faith, how much less their life, their substance, and the like.

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l → “now”

literal: state; condition; circumstance

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ

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

فرمائید

f-r-m → “Consider”

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

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

شهدای

sh-h-d → “martyrs”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “unquestionable sincerity” Distinctive

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

نصّ

n-ṣ-ṣ → “explicit text”

literal: explicit text; clear statement

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

قول

q-w-l

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

دیده‌اید

d-y-d → “hast witnessed”

literal: to give; to grant; to present; justice; judgment; to see; sight; eye; seen

همه

h-m-h → “all”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

جان

j-ʾ-n → “life” Distinctive

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

مال

m-w-l → “substance”

literal: hope; wish; desire; aspiration

زن

z-n-n → “wives”

literal: wife; woman, wife; strike

فرزند

f-r-z → “children”

literal: to kindle, to light, to inflame

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

انفاق

n-f-q → “sacrificed”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

نموده‌اند

n-m-w → “have”

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

باعلی

ʿ-l-w → “loftiest” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

غرف

gh-r-f → “chambers”

literal: chamber; room; elevated chamber

رضوان

r-ḍ-w → “Paradise”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

عروج

ʿ-r-j → “ascended”

literal: to ascend, climb, mount

طلعات

ṭ-l-ʿ → “beings”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

انفس

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; souls

منقطعه

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detached”

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

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

مقبول

q-b-l → “acceptable”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

نیست

b-w-d → “is”

literal: is not; not to be; does not exist; negation, denial, banishment; to negate, deny, banish; contradiction; opposition; contrariety

گروه

g-r-w → “people”

literal: numerous; many; multiple

برای

b-r-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

ذهب

dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

گذشته‌اند

g-dh-r → “forsaken”

literal: to leave; to pass; to abandon

جلوس

j-l-s → “leadership”

literal: place; location; spot

صدر

ṣ-d-r

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

اوّل

ʾ-w-l → “First Leader”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

احتراز

ḥ-r-z → “repudiated”

literal: avoidance; caution; protection; guard

جسته‌اند

j-s-t

literal: to seek; to cling; to grasp; to strive

بطلان

b-ṭ-l

literal: falsehood, false; vain, null

نور

n-w-r → “Light”

literal: light; illumination

لائح

l-w-ḥ → “resplendent”

literal: to appear; to shine; to flash; to gleam

جایز

j-w-z

literal: permissible; allowed; possible; fair; lawful

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

مردم

m-r-d → “people”

literal: rebellion; mutiny; revolt

ایشان

ʾ-y-sh

literal: they; they, them; they/them

شناخته‌اند

sh-n-kh → “recognized”

literal: to know, recognize, acquaint oneself with

ادراک

d-r-k

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

ذرّه‌ئی

dh-r-r → “atom” Distinctive

literal: atom; atoms; particle

اعتبار

ʿ-b-r

literal: credible; reliable; worthy of trust; esteemed

ظاهری

ẓ-h-r

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

ملکی

m-l-k → “Kingdom” Distinctive

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

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

سبیل

s-b-l

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

دین

d-y-n → “Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “God’s”

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

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

رسد

r-s-d → “how much less”

literal: Persian verb رسیدن (to arrive/reach), not Arabic ر-س-د

غیره...

gh-y-r → “others”

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

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 ¶