Skip to main content

Gleanings — §449

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 449 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بأنّك تعجزه في شيء أو تمنعه عن حكمه وسلطانه أو يقدر أن يقوم مع أمره كلّ من في السّموات والأرضين، لا فو نفسه الحقّ لا يعجزه شيء عمّا خلق إذا فارجع عن ظنّك إنّ الظّنّ لا يغني من الحقّ شيئا وكن من الرّاجعين إلى الله الّذي خلقك ورزقك وجعلك سفير المسلمين، ثمّ اعلم بأنّه خلق كلّ من في السّموات والأرض بكلمة أمره وما خلق بحكمه كيف يقوم معه

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Dost thou believe thou hast the power to frustrate His Will, to hinder Him from executing His judgment, or to deter Him from exercising His sovereignty? Pretendest thou that aught in the heavens or in the earth can resist His Faith? No, by Him Who is the Eternal Truth! Nothing whatsoever in the whole of creation can thwart His Purpose. Cast away, therefore, the mere conceit thou dost follow, for mere conceit can never take the place of truth. Be thou of them that have truly repented and returned to God, the God Who hath created thee, Who hath nourished thee, and made thee a minister among them that profess thy faith.

Translation Notes

بأنّك
ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تعجزه
ʿ-j-z → “to frustrate His Will”

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence

في
f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

شيء
sh-y-ʾ → “whatsoever”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

أو
h-w-w → “is”

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

تمنعه
m-n-ʿ → “to hinder”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عن
ʿ-n → “from executing”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

حكمه
ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

وسلطانه
s-l-ṭ → “from exercising His sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

يقدر
q-d-r → “can resist”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

أن
ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يقوم
q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

مع
m-ʿ

literal: with; together with; alongside

أمره
ʾ-m-r → “His Faith” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

كلّ
k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

من
m-n → “of them”

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

السّموات
s-m-w → “in the heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

والأرضين،
ʾ-r-ḍ → “in the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

لا
l-ʾ → “No”

literal: no; not; negation particle

فو
w-ʾ-y

literal: by; by (oath particle)

نفسه
n-f-s → “by Him” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

الحقّ
ḥ-q-q → “Who is the Eternal Truth”

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

خلق
kh-l-q → “creation”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

إذا
ʾ-dh-n

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

فارجع
r-j-ʿ → “return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

ظنّك
ẓ-n-n → “mere conceit”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

يغني
gh-n-y → “wealth” Distinctive

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with

وكن
k-w-n → “Be thou”

literal: to be; existence

إلى
ʾ-l-y → “to”

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

الله
ʾ-l-h → “God, the God”

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

الّذي
l-dh-y

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

ورزقك
r-z-q → “partake” Distinctive

literal: sustenance; provision; to grant livelihood

وجعلك
j-ʿ-l → “and made thee”

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

سفير
s-f-r → “minister”

literal: embassy, envoy, intercession

المسلمين،
s-l-m

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

ثمّ
th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اعلم
ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بكلمة
k-l-m

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

وما
m-ʾ

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

كيف
k-y-f

literal: how; in what manner

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶