Gleanings — §498

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 498 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

مظلومیّته الّتی احترقت بها افئدة المقرّبین مع آنکه ببلایای لایحصی در دست اعدا مبتلا جمیع رؤسای ارض را واحداً بعد واحد تبلیغ نمودیم آنچه را که ارادة الله بآن تعلّق یافته بود لیعلموا الأمم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Though afflicted with countless tribulations, which We have suffered at the hands of Our enemies, We have proclaimed unto all the rulers of the earth what God hath willed to proclaim, that all nations may know that no manner of affliction can deter the Pen of the Ancient of Days from achieving its purpose. His Pen moveth by the leave of God, Who fashioneth the crumbling and rotten bones.

Translation Notes

مظلومیّته

ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

الّتی

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

احترقت

ḥ-r-q

literal: to burn; to be consumed by fire; burning

بها

b-h-w

literal: by it; by him; with it

افئدة

f-ʾ-d

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind

المقرّبین

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

مع

m-ʿ → “notwithstanding”

literal: with; together with; alongside

ببلایای

b-l-w → “affliction”

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

لایحصی

ḥ-ṣ-y

literal: unnumbered, innumerable, countless, beyond count; to count; to enumerate; to be reckoned

در

d-r-r → “at” Distinctive

literal: in; in, at; radiant

دست

d-s-t → “hands”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

اعدا

ʿ-d-w → “enemies”

literal: when; if; whenever; at that time

جمیع

j-m-ʿ

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

رؤسای

r-ʾ-s → “leadership” Distinctive

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

واحداً

w-ḥ-d

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

بعد

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

تبلیغ

b-l-gh → “proclaim” Distinctive

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

نمودیم

n-m-ʾ → “We have” Distinctive

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

آنچه

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

ارادة

r-w-d → “hath willed”

literal: to will; to intend; to wish; will, volition, intention, desire

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بآن

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تعلّق

ʿ-l-q

literal: attachment; connection; relationship

یافته

y-ʾ-f

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بود

b-w-d

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

لیعلموا

ʿ-l-m → “may know”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الأمم

ʾ-m-m → “all nations”

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

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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

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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 ¶