Gleanings — §374

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 374 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

سعید و شقیّ و مشرک و موحّد در یک مقامند و یا آنکه حقّ جلّ و عزّ را با خلق نسبت و ربط بوده چنانچه بعضی از جهّال بعد از ارتقاء بسموات اوهام خود توحید را آن دانسته‌اند که کلّ آیات حقّند من غیر فرق و از این رتبه هم بعضی تجاوز نموده‌اند و آیات را شریک و شبیه نموده‌اند سبحان الله انّه واحد فی ذاته و واحد فی صفاته ما سواه معدوم عند تجلّی اسم من اسمائه و ذکر من اذکاره و کیف نفسه فو اسمی الرّحمن که قلم اعلی از ذکر این کلمات مضطرب و متزلزل است از برای قطرهٴ فانیه نزد تموّجات بحر اعظم باقی چه شأن مشاهده میشود حدوث و عدم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Let no one imagine that by Our assertion that all created things are the signs of the revelation of God is meant that — God forbid — all men, be they good or evil, pious or infidel, are equal in the sight of God. Nor doth it imply that the Divine Being — magnified be His name and exalted be His glory — is, under any circumstances, comparable unto men, or can, in any way, be associated with His creatures. Such an error hath been committed by certain foolish ones who, after having ascended into the heavens of their idle fancies, have interpreted Divine Unity to mean that all created things are the signs of God, and that, consequently, there is no distinction whatsoever between them. Some have even outstripped them by maintaining that these signs are peers and partners of God Himself. Gracious God! He, verily, is one and indivisible; one in His essence, one in His attributes. Everything besides Him is as nothing when brought face to face with the resplendent revelation of but one of His names, with no more than the faintest intimation of His glory — how much less when confronted with His own Self!

Translation Notes

سعید

s-ʿ-d → “good”

literal: endeavor; effort; striving; exertion; endeavour

شقیّ

sh-q-y → “wicked doers” Distinctive

literal: wretched ones; the miserable; the wicked

مشرک

sh-r-k → “infidel”

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

موحّد

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

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

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

یک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

مقامند

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

آنکه

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “Divine Being” Distinctive

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

جلّ

j-l-l → “glory” Distinctive

literal: exalted; glory; majesty

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “and exalted be His glory”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

خلق

kh-l-q → “creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

نسبت

n-s-b → “relationship”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

ربط

r-b-ṭ → “firm” Distinctive

literal: connection; attachment; link; bond

بوده

b-w-d

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

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “Some”

literal: part; some; portion

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

جهّال

j-h-l

literal: ignorant; foolish; the ignorant ones

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

ارتقاء

r-q-y → “ascended” Distinctive

literal: raise them; promote them; heal them; ascension; elevation; rise

بسموات

s-m-w → “into the heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

اوهام

w-h-m → “their idle fancies”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

خود

kh-w-d

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

دانسته‌اند

d-ʾ-n → “considered”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

کلّ

k-l-l → “all created things”

literal: for us; to us

آیات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof

من

m-n → “from”

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

غیر

gh-y-r → “other”

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

فرق

f-r-q

literal: faction; sect; group; company

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

رتبه

r-t-b

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

تجاوز

j-w-z → “transgressed”

literal: to transgress; to exceed; to overstep; to cross over

نموده‌اند

n-m-w → “have”

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

شبیه

sh-b-h

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

انّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

ذاته

dh-w-t → “His essence”

literal: self; essence; being

صفاته

w-ṣ-f → “His attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

سواه

s-w-y → “besides Him”

literal: other than; other-than; besides

معدوم

ʿ-d-m → “as nothing” Distinctive

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

عند

ʿ-n-d

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

تجلّی

j-l-w → “resplendent revelation”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

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

کیف

k-y-f → “how much less”

literal: how; in what manner

نفسه

n-f-s → “His own Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

فو

w-ʾ-y

literal: by; by (oath particle)

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

قلم

q-l-m

literal: pen; writing instrument

اعلی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

کلمات

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions

مضطرب

ḍ-r-b

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

متزلزل

z-l-z-l

literal: to shake; to quake; to be shaken; to be moved

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

قطرهٴ

q-ṭ-r

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

فانیه

f-n-y

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

نزد

n-z-d → “unto”

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

تموّجات

m-w-j

literal: wave; waves; surge

بحر

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

باقی

b-q-y

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

چه

ch-h

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

شأن

sh-ʾ-n

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

میشود

sh-w-d → “been” Distinctive

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

حدوث

ḥ-d-th

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

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 ¶