Gleanings — §480

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 480 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

تفرّط في الأمور فاعمل بين خدّامك بالعدل ثمّ أنفق عليهم على قدر ما يحتاجون به لا على قدر الّذي يكنزونه ويجعلونه زينة لأنفسهم وبيوتهم ويصرفونه في أمور الّتي لن يحتاجوا بها ويكوننّ من المسرفين، فاعدل بينهم على الخطّ الاستواء بحيث لن يحتاج

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Overstep not the bounds of moderation, and deal justly with them that serve thee. Bestow upon them according to their needs, and not to the extent that will enable them to lay up riches for themselves, to deck their persons, to embellish their homes, to acquire the things that are of no benefit unto them, and to be numbered with the extravagant. Deal with them with undeviating justice, so that none among them may either suffer want, or be pampered with luxuries. This is but manifest justice.

Translation Notes

تفرّط

f-r-ṭ → “hath failed in duty towards Thee” Distinctive

literal: to neglect; to fail; to abandon; to waste

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الأمور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

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

فاعمل

ʿ-m-l → “deeds” Distinctive

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

بين

b-y-n → “with them” Distinctive

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

خدّامك

kh-d-m → “that serve thee”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

بالعدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

ثمّ

th-m-m → “and” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أنفق

n-f-q → “Bestow”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

عليهم

ʿ-l-y → “upon them”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

على

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

قدر

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ما

m-ʾ

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

يحتاجون

ḥ-w-j → “their needs”

literal: need; needy; needs

به

b-h

literal: to; with it; with

لا

l-ʾ → “and not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

الّذي

l-dh-y → “that will enable” Distinctive

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

يكنزونه

k-n-z → “treasures” Distinctive

literal: treasure; treasure-trove; hidden store; treasury

ويجعلونه

j-ʿ-l

literal: make; made; to make

زينة

z-y-n → “adorn”

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty

لأنفسهم

n-f-s → “for themselves”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وبيوتهم

b-y-t → “their homes”

literal: house; household; family; verse

ويصرفونه

ṣ-r-f → “treatment” Distinctive

literal: pure; disposal; assayer

أمور

ʾ-m-r → “things”

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

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

بها

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

ويكوننّ

k-w-n → “to be numbered”

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

من

m-n → “with” Distinctive

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

المسرفين،

s-r-f → “transgressor”

literal: to be extravagant; to exceed; to squander

الخطّ

kh-ṭ-ṭ → “handwriting”

literal: line; writing; path; course

الاستواء

s-w-y → “except Thee” Distinctive

literal: level; equal; straight; upon a throne; resting upon

بحيث

ḥ-y-th → “so that none”

literal: where; in which; inasmuch as; in such wise that; whereby; in that; respect, aspect

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 ¶