Gleanings — §459

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 459 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ارضا لأمركم إلى أن جعلتموني مسجونا في هذه الأرض البعيد، ولكن فاعلم ثمّ أيقن بأنّ ذلك لن يبدّل أمر الله وسننه كما لم يبدّل من قبل عن كلّ ما اكتسبت أيديكم وأيدي المشركين، ثمّ اعلموا يا ملأ الأعجام

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Ye perpetrate every day a fresh injustice, and treat Me as ye treated Me in times past, though I never attempted to meddle with your affairs. At no time have I opposed you, neither have I rebelled against your laws. Behold how ye have, at the last, made Me a prisoner in this far-off land! Know for a certainty, however, that whatever your hands or the hands of the infidels have wrought will never, as they never did of old, change the Cause of God or alter His ways.

Translation Notes

ارضا

r-ḍ-و/ي

literal: satisfying/appeasing

لأمركم

ʾ-m-r → “your affairs”

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

إلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

أن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

جعلتموني

j-ʿ-l → “made”

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

مسجونا

s-j-n → “prisoner”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

هذه

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

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

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “land” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

البعيد،

b-ʿ-d → “far-off”

literal: after; behind; distance

ولكن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

فاعلم

ʿ-l-m → “Know”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أيقن

y-q-n → “for a certainty” Distinctive

literal: certainty; certitude; be certain

بأنّ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; moment

ذلك

dh-l-k → “Thus” Distinctive

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

يبدّل

b-d-l → “change”

literal: change; transformation; exchange

أمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

وسننه

s-n-n → “years” Distinctive

literal: arrow; pointed weapon; spear-point; edge

كما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

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

لم

l-y-s → “not”

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

من

m-n → “from”

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

قبل

q-b-l → “of old”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

كلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

ما

m-ʾ

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

اكتسبت

k-s-b → “have wrought”

literal: to acquire, earn, gain; to bring upon (oneself); to gain; to acquire; earning; livelihood

أيديكم

y-d-y → “your hands”

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

المشركين،

sh-r-k → “the infidels”

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

الأعجام

ʿ-j-m

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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

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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

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57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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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 ¶