Gleanings — §465

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 465 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

في نفسه ما ادّعى فوالله هذا لبهتان عظيم، وما أنا إلّا عبد آمنت بالله وآياته ورسله وملئكته ويشهد حينئذ لساني وقلبي وظاهري وباطني بأنّه هو الله لا إله إلّا هو وما سواه مخلوق بأمره ومنجعل بإرادته لا إله إلّا هو الخالق الباعث المحيي المميت، ولكن إنّي حدّثت نعمة الّتي أنعمني الله بجوده وإن كان هذا جرمي فأنا أوّل المجرمين، وأكون بين أيديكم مع أهلي فافعلوا ما شئتم ولا تكوننّ من الصّابرين، لعلّ أرجع إلى الله ربّي في مقام الّذي يخلو فيه عن وجوهكم وهذا منتهى أملي وبغيتي وكفى بالله على نفسي لعليم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Certain ones among you have said: “He it is Who hath laid claim to be God.” By God! This is a gross calumny. I am but a servant of God Who hath believed in Him and in His signs, and in His Prophets and in His angels. My tongue, and My heart, and My inner and My outer being testify that there is no God but Him, that all others have been created by His behest, and been fashioned through the operation of His Will. There is none other God but Him, the Creator, the Raiser from the dead, the Quickener, the Slayer. I am He that telleth abroad the favors with which God hath, through His bounty, favored Me. If this be My transgression, then I am truly the first of the transgressors. I and My kindred are at your mercy. Do ye as ye please, and be not of them that hesitate, that I might return to God My Lord, and reach the place where I can no longer behold your faces. This, indeed, is My dearest wish, My most ardent desire. Of My state God is, verily, sufficiently informed, observant.

Translation Notes

في

f-y

literal: alas; woe; oh

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

ادّعى

d-ʿ-y → “claims” Distinctive

literal: to claim; to allege; claim; assertion; to assert

فوالله

w-l-h → “Rapture” Distinctive

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is”

literal: this; that

لبهتان

b-h-t → “slander” Distinctive

literal: slander; calumny; false accusation

عظيم،

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

أنا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

عبد

ʿ-b-d → “servant”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

آمنت

ʾ-m-n → “hath believed” Distinctive

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

بالله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

وآياته

ʾ-y-y → “in His signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; testimony; token

ورسله

r-s-l → “Apostle”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

وملئكته

m-l-k → “in His angels”

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

ويشهد

sh-h-d → “testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

حينئذ

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

لساني

l-s-n → “My tongue”

literal: tongue; language

وقلبي

q-l-b → “My heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

وظاهري

ẓ-h-r → “My outer” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

وباطني

b-ṭ-n → “My inner”

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

هو

h-w → “is”

literal: He; He is

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

سواه

s-w-y → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: other than; other-than; besides

مخلوق

kh-l-q → “been created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

بأمره

ʾ-m-r → “by His behest” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

ومنجعل

j-ʿ-l → “been fashioned”

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

بإرادته

r-y-d

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

الباعث

b-ʿ-th → “sent down” Distinctive

literal: sent; send; resurrection

المحيي

ḥ-y-y → “life”

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

المميت،

m-w-t → “death” Distinctive

literal: death; dead; die

ولكن

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

إنّي

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

حدّثت

ḥ-d-th → “traditions” Distinctive

literal: tradition; traditions; tradition, hadith

نعمة

n-ʿ-m → “favors”

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “with which”

literal: who; which/that; which

بجوده

j-w-d → “through His bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

كان

k-w-n → “be”

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

جرمي

j-r-m → “crime”

literal: crime; sin; boldness

فأنا

ʾ-n-ʾ → “am I”

literal: I

أوّل

ʾ-w-l → “first”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

بين

b-y-n → “at” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

أيديكم

y-d-y → “hands”

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

مع

m-ʿ → “and”

literal: with; together with; alongside

أهلي

ʾ-h-l → “people” Distinctive

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

فافعلوا

f-ʿ-l → “Do ye as ye please”

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

شئتم

sh-y-ʾ → “Will”

literal: thing; will; things

ولا

w-l-y → “be not”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

من

m-n → “of them that hesitate”

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

الصّابرين،

ṣ-b-r → “patience”

literal: patience; forbearance; endurance; to be patient

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “that I” Distinctive

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

أرجع

r-j-ʿ → “might return”

literal: return; returning; to return

إلى

ʾ-l-y → “to”

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

ربّي

r-b-b → “My Lord”

literal: divine; of God; lordly

مقام

q-w-m → “reach the place” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

يخلو

kh-l-w → “bygone” Distinctive

literal: empty; past, bygone; past

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

وجوهكم

w-j-h → “your faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

منتهى

n-h-y

literal: stinking, foul-smelling; stench

أملي

ʾ-m-l → “hope”

literal: hope; expectation; aspiration; desire; wish; to hope; to wish

وبغيتي

b-gh-y → “becometh” Distinctive

literal: befit; transgression; befit, be proper

وكفى

k-f-y → “suffice” Distinctive

literal: to be content; to suffice; to be satisfied; to be satisfied with

على

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

نفسي

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

لعليم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

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 ¶