Gleanings — §436

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 436 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

حضرت موجود میفرماید ای پسران انسان دین الله و مذهب الله از برای حفظ و اتّحاد و اتّفاق و محبّت و الفت عالم است او را سبب و علّت نفاق و اختلاف و ضغینه و بغضا منمائید اینست راه مستقیم و اسّ محکم متین آنچه بر این اساس گذاشته شود حوادث دنیا او را حرکت ندهد و طول زمان او را از هم نریزاند انتهی

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure.

Translation Notes

حضرت

ḥ-ḍ-r → “Great” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

موجود

w-j-d → “Being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

میفرماید

f-r-m → “saith”

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

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

پسران

p-s-r → “children of men”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

انسان

ʾ-n-s → “human race”

literal: man; human being; mankind

دین

d-y-n → “Faith”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

مذهب

dh-h-b → “Religion”

literal: religion; creed; doctrine; belief; sect

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

برای

b-r-y → “Briefly” Distinctive

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

حفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “safeguard” Distinctive

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

اتّحاد

w-ḥ-d → “unity”

literal: unity; union; unification

اتّفاق

w-f-q

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

محبّت

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

الفت

ʾ-l-f → “thousand” Distinctive

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

عالم

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

او

h-w-w → “it” Distinctive

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

سبب

s-b-b → “cause”

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

علّت

ʿ-l-l → “of”

literal: cause; reason; illness; defect

نفاق

n-f-q → “sacrificed” Distinctive

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

اختلاف

kh-l-f → “discord”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

ضغینه

ḍ-gh-n → “enmity”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

بغضا

b-gh-ḍ → “hate”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

منمائید

n-m-ʾ → “not to become”

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

اینست

h-s-t → “This”

literal: is; be; are

راه

r-h → “guide” Distinctive

literal: way; path; road

مستقیم

q-w-m → “straight”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

اسّ

s-ʾ-l → “I beseech Thee”

literal: foundation; basis; groundwork; founder; establisher; to found; to establish; we have founded

محکم

ḥ-k-m

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

متین

m-t-n → “mighty”

literal: strong; firm; solid; robust

آنچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; indeed; that, to

بر

b-r-r → “on”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

اساس

ʾ-s-s → “foundation”

literal: foundation; basis; groundwork; founder; establisher; to found; to establish; we have founded

گذاشته

g-dh-sh → “decree” Distinctive

literal: did not leave; did not allow; left no room for

شود

sh-w-d → “is”

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

حوادث

ḥ-d-th → “changes and chances”

literal: events, occurrences, accidents, changes and chances

دنیا

d-n-w → “world”

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

حرکت

ḥ-r-k → “move”

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

ندهد

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: to give; to grant; not to give

طول

ṭ-w-l → “stretched out” Distinctive

literal: long; lengthy; protracted

زمان

z-m-n → “earth” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

هم

h-m-m

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

نریزاند

r-y-z → “precipitateth” Distinctive

literal: do not spill; do not scatter; do not shed; refrain from shedding

انتهی

n-h-y

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

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 ¶