Gleanings — §495

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 495 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

مایند ابداً در امور دنیا و ما یتعلّق بها و رؤسای ظاهرهٴ آن تکلّم جایز نه حقّ جلّ و عزّ مملکت ظاهره را بملوک عنایت فرموده بر احدی جایز نه که ارتکاب نماید امری را که مخالف رأی رؤسای مملکت باشد و آنچه از برای خود خواسته مداین قلوب عباد بوده و احبّای حقّ الیوم بمنزلهٴ مفاتیحند انشآءالله باید کل بقوّت اسم اعظم آن ابواب را بگشایند اینست نصرت حقّ که در جمیع زبر و الواح از قلم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The one true God, exalted be His glory, hath bestowed the government of the earth upon the kings. To none is given the right to act in any manner that would run counter to the considered views of them who are in authority. That which He hath reserved for Himself are the cities of men’s hearts; and of these the loved ones of Him Who is the Sovereign Truth are, in this Day, as the keys. Please God they may, one and all, be enabled to unlock, through the power of the Most Great Name, the gates of these cities. This is what is meant by aiding the one true God — a theme to which the Pen of Him Who causeth the dawn to break hath referred in all His Books and Tablets.

Translation Notes

ابداً

ʾ-b-d

literal: in place of; instead of; to change; to alter (preposition or verb stem)

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

امور

ʾ-m-r

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

دنیا

d-n-w

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

ما

m-ʾ

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

یتعلّق

ʿ-l-q

literal: attachment; connection; relationship

بها

b-h-w

literal: by it; by him; with it

رؤسای

r-ʾ-s → “them who are in authority”

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

ظاهرهٴ

ẓ-h-r

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

تکلّم

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

جایز

j-w-z → “transgressed” Distinctive

literal: permissible; allowed; possible; fair; lawful

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “right” Distinctive

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

جلّ

j-l-l → “exalted be”

literal: exalted; glory; majesty

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “His glory”

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

مملکت

m-l-k → “Kingdom” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

عنایت

ʿ-n-y → “hath bestowed” Distinctive

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

فرموده

f-r-m → “hath bestowed” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “none”

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

ارتکاب

r-k-b → “committed”

literal: to ride; to commit; to undertake; composition; combination; structure

نماید

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

امری

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

مخالف

kh-l-f → “contrary”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

رأی

r-ʾ-y → “beholdest” Distinctive

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

باشد

b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

آنچه

ʾ-n → “That which”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

برای

b-r-y → “for”

literal: for; on; briefly

خود

kh-w-d → “Himself”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

خواسته

kh-w-s → “hath been to confer”

literal: to wish; to desire; request

مداین

m-d-n → “cities”

literal: religion; faith; creed

قلوب

q-l-b → “men’s hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

عباد

ʿ-b-d

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

احبّای

ḥ-b-b → “loved ones”

literal: love; affection

الیوم

y-w-m → “in this Day”

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

بمنزلهٴ

n-z-l → “as”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مفاتیحند

f-t-ḥ → “keys”

literal: open; opened; keys

انشآءالله

sh-y-ʾ → “Please God”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

باید

b-y-d → “must”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

کل

k-l-l → “one and all”

literal: for us; to us

بقوّت

q-w-y → “through the power”

literal: strength; power; might; piety; fear of God; godliness

اسم

s-m-w → “Most Great Name”

literal: name; title; designation

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great Name”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

ابواب

b-w-b → “gates” Distinctive

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

اینست

h-s-t → “This is what is meant by”

literal: is; be; are

نصرت

n-ṣ-r → “aiding”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

زبر

z-b-r → “Books”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

الواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

قلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

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 ¶