Gleanings — §414

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 414 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

انّه هو الموهوم و لا یفقهون نسأل الله ان یوفّق الکلّ و یعرّفهم نفسه و انفسهم لعمری من فاز بعرفانه یطیر فی هوآء حبّه و ینقطع عن العالمین و لا یلتفت الی من علی الأرض کلّها و کیف الّذین یتکلّمون

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We beseech God that He may graciously vouchsafe His grace unto all men, and enable them to attain the knowledge of Him and of themselves. By My life! Whoso hath known Him shall soar in the immensity of His love, and shall be detached from the world and all that is therein. Nothing on earth shall deflect him from his course, how much less they who, prompted by their vain imaginations, speak those things which God hath forbidden.

Translation Notes

انّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

الموهوم

w-h-m → “prompted by their vain imaginations” Distinctive

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

یفقهون

f-q-h

literal: to understand; to comprehend; insight; jurisprudence

نسأل

s-ʾ-l → “We beseech”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

ان

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یوفّق

w-f-q → “aid” Distinctive

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

الکلّ

k-l-l → “all men”

literal: for us; to us

یعرّفهم

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

نفسه

n-f-s → “Him”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

لعمری

ʿ-m-r → “By My life”

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

من

m-n → “Whoso” Distinctive

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

فاز

f-w-z → “hath known” Distinctive

literal: to attain; to gain; to succeed; to win

یطیر

ṭ-y-r → “soar”

literal: bird; birds; flying creature; flying; flight

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

هوآء

h-w-y → “desires” Distinctive

literal: air; atmosphere; void

حبّه

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

ینقطع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “be detached”

literal: to cease; to be cut off; to break off

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

یلتفت

l-f-t

literal: to turn; to attend; to heed

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ

literal: earth; land; ground; country

کیف

k-y-f → “how much less”

literal: how; in what manner

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

یتکلّمون

k-l-m → “speak”

literal: words; utterances; locutions

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶