Gleanings — §406

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 406 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ناظرند بغایت بعید مشاهده میشوند در اکثر احیان در ساحت رحمن بحسب ظاهر زخارفی نبوده و طائفین حول در عسر عظیم بوده‌اند مع‌ذلک ابداً از مشرق قلم اعلی ذکر دنیا و یا کلمه‌ئی که مدلّ بر آن باشد اشراق ننموده و هر نفسی که موفّق شد و بساحت اقدس هدیّه‌ئی ارسال نمود نظر بفضل قبول شده مع آنکه اگر جمیع اموال ارض را بخواهیم تصرّف نمائیم احدی را مجال لم و بم نبوده و نخواهد بود هیچ فعلی اقبح از این فعل نبوده و نیست که باسم حقّ مابین ناس تکدّی شود بر آن جناب و

Shoghi Effendi Translation

How great, how very great, the gulf that separateth Us from them who, in this Day, are occupied with their evil passions, and have set their hopes on the things of the earth and its fleeting glory! Many a time hath the court of the All-Merciful been to outward seeming so denuded of the riches of this world that they who lived in close association with Him suffered from dire want. Despite their sufferings, the Pen of the Most High hath, at no time, been willing to refer, nor even to make the slightest allusion, to the things that pertain to this world and its treasures. And if, at any time, any gift were presented to Him, that gift was accepted as a token of His grace unto him that offered it. Should it ever please Us to appropriate to Our own use all the treasures of the earth, to none is given the right to question Our authority, or to challenge Our right. It would be impossible to conceive any act more contemptible than soliciting, in the name of the one true God, the riches which men possess.

Translation Notes

ناظرند

n-ẓ-r → “are occupied”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بغایت

gh-y-y → “Supreme End”

literal: purpose; aim; goal; end; ultimate

بعید

b-ʿ-d → “after” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

میشوند

sh-w-d → “be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

اکثر

k-th-r → “most”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

احیان

ḥ-y-n → “time”

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

ساحت

s-w-ḥ → “court”

literal: court; presence; domain; vicinity

رحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بحسب

ḥ-s-b → “to” Distinctive

literal: according to; in accordance with; as regards

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “outward seeming” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

زخارفی

z-kh-r-f → “vanities” Distinctive

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

نبوده

b-w-d → “been”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

طائفین

ṭ-w-f → “circle”

literal: flood, deluge, tempest

حول

ḥ-w-l → “now” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

عسر

ʿ-s-r → “ease”

literal: difficulty; hardship; severity; distress

عظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

مع‌ذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: nevertheless; despite this; yet; however

ابداً

ʾ-b-d → “never”

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “of the Most High”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ذکر

dh-k-r → “mention”

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

دنیا

d-n-w → “this world”

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

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

کلمه‌ئی

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

مدلّ

d-l-l → “proof” Distinctive

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

بر

b-r-r

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

آن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اشراق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

ننموده

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

نفسی

n-f-s → “any gift” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

موفّق

w-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

شد

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

اقدس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

هدیّه‌ئی

h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; guide; guided

ارسال

r-s-l

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

بفضل

f-ḍ-l → “of His grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

قبول

q-b-l → “was accepted”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

مع

m-ʿ → “notwithstanding”

literal: with; together with; alongside

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

اموال

m-w-l → “treasures” Distinctive

literal: hope; wish; desire; aspiration

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “of the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بخواهیم

kh-w-h → “will” Distinctive

literal: to read; to call; to recite

تصرّف

ṣ-r-f → “treatment”

literal: to turn; to dispose; to manage affairs

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “to none”

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

مجال

m-j-l → “room”

literal: scope; room; opportunity; field

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

بم

b-m-m

literal: wherefore

هیچ

h-y-ch → “any”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

فعلی

f-ʿ-l → “act”

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

اقبح

q-b-ḥ → “more contemptible”

literal: most ugly, most base, most unseemly

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

باسم

s-m-w → “in the name”

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “one true God”

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

مابین

b-y-n

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

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “men”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

تکدّی

k-d-y → “soliciting”

literal: begging

جناب

j-n-b → “thee”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

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 ¶