Gleanings — §416

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 416 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

سداد شرط ایمان است نه اختلاف و فساد بلّغ ما امرت به من لدن صادق امین انّما البهآء علیک یا ایّها الذّاکر باسمی و النّاظر الی شطری و النّاطق بثنآء ربّک الجمیل

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Proclaim unto men what He, Who speaketh the truth and is the Bearer of the Trust of God, hath bidden thee observe. My glory be with thee, O thou that callest upon My name, whose eyes are directed towards My court, and whose tongue uttereth the praise of thy Lord, the Beneficent.

Translation Notes

سداد

s-d-d

literal: threshold; barrier; seat of authority

شرط

sh-r-ṭ

literal: condition; requirement; clause

ایمان

ʾ-m-n

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

است

b-w-d

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

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

اختلاف

kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

فساد

f-s-d

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

بلّغ

b-l-gh → “Proclaim”

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

امرت

ʾ-m-r → “hath bidden” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

به

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

من

m-n → “He, Who” Distinctive

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

لدن

l-d-n

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

صادق

ṣ-d-q → “speaketh the truth” Distinctive

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

امین

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthy”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

البهآء

b-h-w → “My glory”

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

علیک

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ایّها

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

الذّاکر

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

literal: that; that one

باسمی

s-m-w → “upon My name”

literal: heaven; sky

النّاظر

n-ẓ-r → “whose eyes are directed” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

الی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

شطری

sh-ṭ-r → “My court”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

النّاطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

بثنآء

th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الجمیل

j-m-l → “the Beneficent”

literal: beauty; comeliness

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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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 ¶