Gleanings — §47

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 47 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

مَلَكُوتُ الأَسْمَاءِ بِاسْمِ رَبِّكَ فَاطِرِ السَّمَاءِ قُمْ بَيْنَ الأُمَمِ بِهَذَا الاسْمِ الأَعْظَمِ وَلا تَكُنْ مِنَ الصَّابِرِينَ، إِنَّا نَرَاكَ مُتَوَقِّفًا عَلَى اللَّوْحِ هَلْ أَخَذَتْكَ الْحَيْرَةُ مِنْ أَنْوَارِ الْجَمَالِ وَالأَحْزَانُ بِمَا سَمِعْتَ مَقَالاتِ أَهْلِ الضَّلالِ، إِيَّاكَ أَنْ يَمْنَعَكَ شَيْءٌ عَنْ ذِكْرِ هَذَا الْيَوْمِ الَّذِي فِيهِ فُكَّ رَحِيقُ الْوِصَالِ بِإِصْبَعِ الْقُدْرَةِ وَالْجَلالِ وَدُعِيَ مَنْ فِي السَّمَواتِ وَالأَرَضِينَ، وَاخْتَرْتَ الاصْطِبَارَ بَعْدَ الَّذِي وَجَدْتَ نَفَحَاتِ أَيَّامِ اللهِ أَمْ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Methinks that thou hast halted and movest not upon My Tablet. Could the brightness of the Divine Countenance have bewildered thee, or the idle talk of the froward filled thee with grief and paralyzed thy movement? Take heed lest anything deter thee from extolling the greatness of this Day — the Day whereon the Finger of majesty and power hath opened the seal of the Wine of Reunion, and called all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. Preferrest thou to tarry when the breeze announcing the Day of God hath already breathed over thee, or art thou of them that are shut out as by a veil from Him?

Translation Notes

مَلَكُوتُ

m-l-k

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

رَبِّكَ

r-b-b

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

فَاطِرِ

f-ṭ-r

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

قُمْ

q-w-m

literal: station; rank; standing place

بَيْنَ

b-y-n

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

الأَعْظَمِ

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَلا

w-l-y

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَكُنْ

k-w-n

literal: to be; existence

مِنْ

m-n → “of”

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

إِنَّا

ʾ-n → “Methinks that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

نَرَاكَ

r-ʾ-y → “thou hast halted”

literal: see; to see; see/behold

مُتَوَقِّفًا

w-q-f → “hesitated”

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “upon My” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اللَّوْحِ

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

هَلْ

h-l → “people” Distinctive

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

أَخَذَتْكَ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

الْحَيْرَةُ

ḥ-y-r

literal: bewildered; perplexed; confused; astounded; amazed; bewilderment; perplexity; wonder; amazement

أَنْوَارِ

n-w-r → “brightness” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

الْجَمَالِ

j-m-l → “Divine Countenance” Distinctive

literal: beauty; comeliness

وَالأَحْزَانُ

ḥ-z-n → “grief” Distinctive

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

بِمَا

m-ʾ → “of” Distinctive

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

سَمِعْتَ

s-m-ʿ → “heard”

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

مَقَالاتِ

q-w-l

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

أَهْلِ

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

الضَّلالِ،

ḍ-l-l

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

إِيَّاكَ

ʾ-y-y → “verse” Distinctive

literal: beware (imperative); you; would that, I wish, if only (optative particle)

يَمْنَعَكَ

m-n-ʿ → “deter”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

شَيْءٌ

sh-y-ʾ → “anything” Distinctive

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

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ذِكْرِ

dh-k-r → “extolling” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

هَذَا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الْيَوْمِ

y-w-m → “Day — the Day”

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

الَّذِي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

فُكَّ

f-k-k → “opened the seal”

literal: separated; detached; parted

رَحِيقُ

r-ḥ-q → “Wine”

literal: wine; pure drink; choice beverage (metaphorical for divine knowledge and love)

الْوِصَالِ

w-ṣ-l → “Reunion”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

بِإِصْبَعِ

ṣ-b-ʿ → “Finger”

literal: finger; digit

الْقُدْرَةِ

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

وَالْجَلالِ

j-l-l → “majesty” Distinctive

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

وَدُعِيَ

d-ʿ-w → “called”

literal: to let, allow, leave

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

السَّمَواتِ

s-m-w → “the heavens”

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

وَالأَرَضِينَ،

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَاخْتَرْتَ

kh-t-r

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

الاصْطِبَارَ

ṣ-b-r → “tarry” Distinctive

literal: patience; forbearance; endurance; to be patient

بَعْدَ

b-ʿ-d → “when” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

وَجَدْتَ

w-j-d → “being” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

نَفَحَاتِ

n-f-ḥ → “breeze”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

اللهِ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

أَمْ

ʾ-m-m → “nations” Distinctive

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

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 ¶