Gleanings — §397

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 397 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

...و بعضی از مشرکین از جمله شبهات که در این ارض القا نموده‌اند اینست که آیا میشود ذهب نحاس شود قل ای وربّی ولکن عندنا علمه نعلّم من نشآء بعلم من لدنّا و من کان فی ریب فلیسأل الله ربّه بأن یشهده و یکون من الموقنین و در رسیدن نحاس برتبهٴ ذهبیّت همان دلیلی است واضح بر عود ذهب بحالت اوّل لو هم یشعرون جمیع فلزّات بوزن و صورت و مادّه یکدیگر میرسند ولکن علمه عندنا فی کتاب مکنون...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider the doubts which they who have joined partners with God have instilled into the hearts of the people of this land. “Is it ever possible,” they ask, “for gold to be transmuted into copper?” Say, Yes, by my Lord, it is possible. Its secret, however, lieth hidden in Our Knowledge. We will reveal it unto whom We will. Whoso doubteth Our power, let him ask the Lord his God, that He may disclose unto him the secret, and assure him of its truth. That copper can be turned into gold is in itself sufficient proof that gold can, in like manner, be transmuted into copper, if they be of them that can apprehend this truth. Every mineral can be made to acquire the density, form, and substance of each and every other mineral. The knowledge thereof is with Us in the Hidden Book.

Translation Notes

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “some”

literal: part; some; portion

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

مشرکین

sh-r-k → “they who have joined partners” Distinctive

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

جمله

j-m-l

literal: beauty; totality; beautiful

شبهات

sh-b-h → “doubts”

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “land”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

القا

l-q-y → “Presence” Distinctive

literal: to cast, throw, utter; to impart

نموده‌اند

n-m-w → “have”

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

اینست

h-s-t → “have” Distinctive

literal: is; be; are

آیا

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: does; is it that (interrogative particle); sign; verse; O! (vocative particle); him; them (object pronoun)

میشود

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

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

ذهب

dh-h-b → “gold”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

نحاس

n-ḥ-s → “copper?””

literal: copper; brass; base metal

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: does; is it that (interrogative particle); sign; verse; O! (vocative particle); him; them (object pronoun)

وربّی

r-b-b → “by my Lord”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

ولکن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

عندنا

ʿ-n-d → “in” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

علمه

ʿ-l-m → “Knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

من

m-n → “whom” Distinctive

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

نشآء

sh-y-ʾ → “will”

literal: thing; will; things

لدنّا

l-d-n

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

کان

k-w-n

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

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ریب

r-y-b → “doubteth”

literal: doubt, suspicion, uncertainty; doubt; suspicion

فلیسأل

s-ʾ-l → “beseech” Distinctive

literal: ask; question; to ask/beseech

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بأن

ʾ-n-n → “that He may”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یشهده

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: hair

الموقنین

y-q-n → “certitude” Distinctive

literal: to be certain; to know with certainty

رسیدن

r-s-d → “reached”

literal: to arrive; to reach; to attain; to come

برتبهٴ

r-t-b

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

همان

h-m → “all” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

دلیلی

d-l-l → “proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

واضح

w-ḍ-ḥ

literal: clear; evident; manifest; obvious

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

عود

ʿ-w-d → “habits”

literal: custom; habit; usage

بحالت

ḥ-y-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

اوّل

ʾ-w-l

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

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

یشعرون

sh-ʿ-r → “consciousness” Distinctive

literal: hair

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “Every”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

فلزّات

f-l-z → “mineral”

literal: metal; mineral substance

بوزن

w-z-n → “standard” Distinctive

literal: weight; measure; to weigh

صورت

ṣ-w-r → “trumpet-call” Distinctive

literal: to imagine; to conceive; to suppose

مادّه

m-d-d → “substance”

literal: period; ink; extended

یکدیگر

d-y-g-r → “others”

literal: other; another; different

کتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

مکنون...

k-n-n → “Hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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 ¶