Gleanings — §486

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 486 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

كلّ ذلك من سيرة الملوك الّذين سبقوك في الملك وكانوا أن يعدلوا بين النّاس ويسلكوا على مناهج عدل قويم، إنّك ظلّ الله في الأرض فافعل ما يليق لهذا الشّأن المتعال العظيم، وإنّك إن تخرج عمّا ألقيناك وعلّمناك لتخرج عن هذا الشّأن الأعزّ الرّفيع، فارجع إلى الله بقلبك ثمّ طهّره عن الدّنيا وزخرفها ولا تدخل فيه حبّ المغايرين، لأنّك لو تدخل فيه حبّ الغير لن يستشرق عليه أنوار تجلّي الله، لأنّ الله ما جعل لأحد من قلبين وهذا ما نزّل في كتاب قديم، ولمّا جعله الله واحدا ينبغي لحضرتك بأن لا تدخل فيه حبّين، إذا تمسّك بحبّ الله وأعرض عن حبّ ما سواه ليدخلك الله في لجّة بحر أحديّته ويجعلك من الموحّدين، فوالله لم يكن مقصودي فيما ألقيناك إلّا تنزيهك عن الأشياء الفانية وورودك في جبروت الباقية وتكون فيه بإذن الله لمن الحاكمين...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thou art God’s shadow on earth. Strive, therefore, to act in such a manner as befitteth so eminent, so august a station. If thou dost depart from following the things We have caused to descend upon thee and taught thee, thou wilt, assuredly, be derogating from that great and priceless honor. Return, then, and cleave wholly unto God, and cleanse thine heart from the world and all its vanities, and suffer not the love of any stranger to enter and dwell therein. Not until thou dost purify thine heart from every trace of such love can the brightness of the light of God shed its radiance upon it, for to none hath God given more than one heart. This, verily, hath been decreed and written down in His ancient Book. And as the human heart, as fashioned by God, is one and undivided, it behooveth thee to take heed that its affections be, also, one and undivided. Cleave thou, therefore, with the whole affection of thine heart, unto His love, and withdraw it from the love of anyone besides Him, that He may aid thee to immerse thyself in the ocean of His unity, and enable thee to become a true upholder of His oneness. God is My witness. My sole purpose in revealing to thee these words is to sanctify thee from the transitory things of the earth, and aid thee to enter the realm of everlasting glory, that thou mayest, by the leave of God, be of them that abide and rule therein.…

Translation Notes

كلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

ذلك

dh-l-k

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

من

m-n

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

سيرة

s-y-r

literal: captive; prisoner; captivity; to journey; to move; course

الملوك

m-l-k

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

الّذين

l-dh-y

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

سبقوك

s-b-q

literal: precede; preceded; precedence

في

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

وكانوا

k-w-n

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

إن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يعدلوا

ʿ-d-l

literal: justice; equity

بين

b-y-n

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

النّاس

n-ʾ-s

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

ويسلكوا

s-l-k

literal: conduct; walk; traveler

على

ʿ-l-w → “in” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مناهج

n-h-j

literal: ways; paths; way

قويم،

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

إنّك

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God’s”

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

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

فافعل

f-ʿ-l → “Strive, therefore, to act”

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

ما

m-ʾ

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

يليق

l-y-q → “worthy”

literal: worthy, befitting, appropriate, suitable

لهذا

l-dh-ʾ

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

الشّأن

sh-ʾ-n → “station”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

العظيم،

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وإنّك

ʾ-n-n → “If thou”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تخرج

kh-r-j → “banished” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: with them; in their company

ألقيناك

l-q-y → “Presence” Distinctive

literal: suggestion; instilling; casting; throwing

وعلّمناك

ʿ-l-m → “and taught thee”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الأعزّ

ʿ-z-z → “glory” Distinctive

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

الرّفيع،

r-f-ʿ

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

فارجع

r-j-ʿ → “Return, then”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

إلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

بقلبك

q-l-b → “and cleanse thine heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

طهّره

ṭ-h-r

literal: to purify; to cleanse

الدّنيا

d-n-w → “world”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

وزخرفها

z-kh-r-f → “and all its vanities” Distinctive

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

تدخل

d-kh-l → “enter”

literal: enter; entered; entering

حبّ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

المغايرين،

gh-y-r → “none” Distinctive

literal: without; besides; other than; except; other; different

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

لن

l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

يستشرق

sh-r-q → “shed its radiance” Distinctive

literal: shining; east; shine

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: upon; on; exalted

أنوار

n-w-r → “brightness of the light”

literal: light; illumination

تجلّي

j-l-w

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

لأنّ

ʾ-n → “for” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

جعل

j-ʿ-l → “make” Distinctive

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

لأحد

ʾ-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

نزّل

n-z-l → “hath been decreed” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

كتاب

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

قديم،

q-d-m → “ancient”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

ولمّا

l-m-ʾ

literal: did not; has not (negative particle with past tense)

واحدا

w-ḥ-d → “one”

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

ينبغي

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

لحضرتك

ḥ-ḍ-r → “thee”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

بأن

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

تمسّك

m-s-k → “cleave”

literal: musk; to seize; grip; to hold fast; to cling to; to grasp

وأعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

سواه

s-w-y → “anyone besides Him”

literal: other than; other-than; besides

لجّة

l-j-j → “ocean”

literal: ocean, sea; depths, abyss

بحر

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

أحديّته

ʾ-ḥ-d → “one” Distinctive

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

فوالله

w-l-h → “Rapture” Distinctive

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

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

مقصودي

q-ṣ-d → “purpose”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

تنزيهك

n-z-h → “sanctified” Distinctive

literal: exalted; sanctified; free from; removed from

الأشياء

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

الفانية

f-n-y → “transitory”

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

وورودك

w-r-d → “and aid thee to enter”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

جبروت

j-b-r → “realm”

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

الباقية

b-q-y → “everlasting”

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

الحاكمين...

ḥ-k-m → “abide and rule”

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

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 ¶