Gleanings — §418

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 418 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ای عباد براستی گفته میشود و براستی بشنوید حقّ جلّ شأنه ناظر بقلوب عباد بوده و هست و دون آن از برّ و بحر و زخارف و الوان کل را بملوک و سلاطین و امرا واگذارده چه که لازال علم یفعل ما یشآء امام ظهور بازغ و ساطع و متلألئ آنچه امروز لازمست اطاعت حکومت و تمسّک بحکمت فی‌الحقیقه زمام حفظ و راحت و اطمینان در ظاهر در قبضهٴ اقتدار حکومت است حقّ چنین خواسته و چنین مقدّر فرموده....

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Give a hearing ear, O people, to that which I, in truth, say unto you. The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath ever regarded, and will continue to regard, the hearts of men as His own, His exclusive possession. All else, whether pertaining to land or sea, whether riches or glory, He hath bequeathed unto the Kings and rulers of the earth. From the beginning that hath no beginning the ensign proclaiming the words “He doeth whatsoever He willeth” hath been unfurled in all its splendor before His Manifestation. What mankind needeth in this day is obedience unto them that are in authority, and a faithful adherence to the cord of wisdom. The instruments which are essential to the immediate protection, the security and assurance of the human race have been entrusted to the hands, and lie in the grasp, of the governors of human society.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “people”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

براستی

r-s-t → “in truth”

literal: truth; verily; truly

گفته

g-f-t → “say”

literal: utterance; speech; word; discourse

میشود

sh-w-d → “been” Distinctive

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

بشنوید

sh-n-w → “Give a hearing ear” Distinctive

literal: most ugly; most abominable; most heinous

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “one true God”

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

جلّ

j-l-l → “exalted be”

literal: exalted; glory; majesty

شأنه

sh-ʾ-n → “station”

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

ناظر

n-ẓ-r → “ever regarded” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بقلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

بوده

b-w-d

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

هست

h-s-t → “is” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

دون

d-w-n → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: below; lower than; beneath

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

برّ

b-r-r → “land”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “sea” Distinctive

literal: sea; ocean

زخارف

z-kh-r-f → “riches”

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

الوان

l-w-n → “look” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

کل

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بملوک

m-l-k → “Kings”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

سلاطین

s-l-ṭ → “rulers”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

امرا

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

واگذارده

g-dh-r → “renounced” Distinctive

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

چه

ch-h

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

لازال

z-w-l → “beginning that hath no beginning” Distinctive

literal: cease; to cease; decline

علم

ʿ-l-m → “ensign” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

یفعل

f-ʿ-l → “doeth whatsoever He willeth””

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

ما

m-ʾ

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

یشآء

sh-y-ʾ

literal: thing; will; things

امام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بازغ

b-z-gh → “unfurled”

literal: to emerge; to rise (of sun); to appear

ساطع

s-ṭ-ʿ

literal: shining; radiant; splendid; emanating

متلألئ

l-ʾ-l-ʾ → “goodly pearls”

literal: pearls; pearl; gleaming/brilliant

آنچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

امروز

r-w-z → “day”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

لازمست

l-z-m → “necessary” Distinctive

literal: necessary, incumbent, obligatory, essential

اطاعت

ṭ-w-ʿ → “obedience”

literal: the letter Ṭá; refers to Ṭihrán (also spelled Ṭehran)

تمسّک

m-s-k → “cleave”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

بحکمت

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

زمام

z-m-m → “reins”

literal: reins; bridle; control; governance

حفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protection”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

راحت

r-w-ḥ → “spirit” Distinctive

literal: rest; comfort; ease; relief

اطمینان

ṭ-m-n → “assurance”

literal: to be at peace; to be reassured; to settle down

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

قبضهٴ

q-b-ḍ → “grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

اقتدار

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

چنین

ch-n-n

literal: such; thus; in this manner; like this

خواسته

kh-w-s

literal: to wish; to desire; request

فرموده....

f-r-m → “saith” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

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 ¶