Gleanings — §458

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 458 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

هل استطعتم أن تخمدوا نار الله أو تطفئوا أنوار تجلّيه الّتي استضاءت منها أهل لجج البقاء واستجذبت عنها أفئدة الموحّدين، أما سمعتم يد الله فوق أيديكم وتقديره فوق تدبيركم وإنّه لهو القاهر فوق عباده والغالب على أمره يفعل ما يشاء ولا يسئل عمّا شاء، ويحكم ما يريد وهو المقتدر القدير، وإن توقنوا بذلك لم لا تنتهون أعمالكم ولا تكوننّ من السّاكنين، وفي كلّ يوم تجدّدون ظلمكم كما قمتم عليّ في تلك الأيّام بعد الّذي ما دخلت نفسي في هذه الأمور وما كنت مخالفا لكم ولا مع

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Ponder in thine heart. Did ye, notwithstanding your behavior and the things your hands have wrought, succeed in quenching the fire of God or in putting out the light of His Revelation — a light that hath enveloped with its brightness them that are immersed in the billowing oceans of immortality, and hath attracted the souls of such as truly believe in and uphold His unity? Know ye not that the Hand of God is over your hands, that His irrevocable Decree transcendeth all your devices, that He is supreme over His servants, that He is equal to His Purpose, that He doth what He wisheth, that He shall not be asked of whatever He willeth, that He ordaineth what He pleaseth, that He is the Most Powerful, the Almighty? If ye believe this to be the truth, wherefore, then, will ye not cease from troubling and be at peace with yourselves?

Translation Notes

هل

h-l → “people” Distinctive

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

استطعتم

ṭ-w-ʿ → “obey” Distinctive

literal: obedient; obedience; to obey

أن

ʾ-n → “in” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تخمدوا

kh-m-d → “quenching”

literal: to extinguish, quench, suppress

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

أو

h-w-w → “or” Distinctive

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

تطفئوا

ṭ-f-ʾ → “putting out”

literal: to extinguish, put out, quench; to be extinguished; to perish; to go out

أنوار

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

تجلّيه

j-l-y → “Revelation”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

استضاءت

ḍ-w-ʾ → “shineth”

literal: evening; night

منها

m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

أهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

لجج

l-j-j → “ocean”

literal: ocean, sea; depths, abyss

البقاء

b-q-y → “immortality”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

واستجذبت

j-dh-b → “hath attracted”

literal: to draw, attract, pull; to be enraptured

عنها

ʿ-n-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

أفئدة

f-ʾ-d → “souls”

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind

الموحّدين،

w-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

أما

ʾ-m-m → “nations” Distinctive

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

سمعتم

s-m-ʿ → “that”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

يد

y-d-y → “Hand of God”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

فوق

f-w-q → “over”

literal: above; over; beyond

وتقديره

q-d-r → “Decree”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

تدبيركم

d-b-r → “Take ye counsel together” Distinctive

literal: deliberation; consideration; prudence; management; planning; counsel

وإنّه

h-w → “He”

literal: deviation; divergence; straying from the path; to be weak, to flag, to show reluctance

القاهر

q-h-r → “supreme”

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

عباده

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

والغالب

gh-l-b → “ascendancy” Distinctive

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

على

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أمره

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

يفعل

f-ʿ-l → “doth”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

يشاء

sh-y-ʾ → “wisheth” Distinctive

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

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

يسئل

s-ʾ-l

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ويحكم

ḥ-k-m → “ordaineth”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

يريد

r-y-d → “pleaseth”

literal: will; intention; to will; to intend; to wish

وإن

ʾ-n-n → “If ye believe” Distinctive

literal: that; indeed/verily; indeed

توقنوا

w-q-n

literal: to be certain; to know with certainty

بذلك

dh-l-k → “this to be the truth”

literal: that; this; it; by that

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تنتهون

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

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

أعمالكم

ʿ-m-l → “deeds” Distinctive

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

تكوننّ

k-w-n

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

السّاكنين،

s-k-n → “inmates”

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

وفي

f-y

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

كلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

يوم

y-w-m

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

تجدّدون

j-d-d

literal: new; renewal; renew

ظلمكم

ẓ-l-m

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

كما

k-m

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

قمتم

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

تلك

t-l-k

literal: those; that; those (feminine)

بعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

الّذي

l-dh-y

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

دخلت

d-kh-l

literal: to enter; to admit; to bring in

نفسي

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

هذه

h-dh-ʾ

literal: this; this (masculine); this (feminine)

مخالفا

kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

لكم

l-k-m

literal: for you, to you, your (dative pronoun)

مع

m-ʿ

literal: with; together with; alongside

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 ¶