Gleanings — §501

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 501 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

الرّحمن فی کلّ الأحیان بأن یوفّقهم علی ما اراد انّه لهو المقتدر العزیز العلّام ای ذبیح ضرّ این مظلوم از سجن و تاراج و اسیری و شهادت و ذلّت ظاهره نبوده و نیست بلکه ضرّ اعمالیست که احبّای حقّ بآن عاملند و آن را نسبت بحقّ میدهند هذا ضرّی ونفسه المهیمنة علی العالمین و ضرّ اکبر دیگر آنکه هر یوم یکی از اهل بیان مدّعی امر شده و بعضی متمسّک بغصنی از اغصان و

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The imprisonment inflicted on this wronged One, O Ḏhabíḥ, did to Him no harm nor can it ever do so; nor can the loss of all His earthly goods, His exile, or even His martyrdom and outward humiliation, do Him any hurt. That which can hurt Him are the evil deeds which the beloved of God commit, and which they impute to Him Who is the Sovereign Truth. This is the affliction from which I suffer, and to this He, Himself, Who is potent over all things, beareth Me witness. That which hath sorely hurt Me are the claims which the people of the Bayán are advancing every day. Some have proclaimed their allegiance to one of My Branches (Sons), while others have asserted independently their claims, and acted after their own desires.

Translation Notes

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الأحیان

ḥ-y-n

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

بأن

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; moment

یوفّقهم

w-f-q

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

علی

ʿ-l-w → “over” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ

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

اراد

r-y-d

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

انّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; indeed; moment

لهو

h-w

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

المقتدر

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

العزیز

ʿ-z-z

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

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ذبیح

dh-b-ḥ → “offer up”

literal: to slaughter, sacrifice; slaughter, sacrifice

ضرّ

ḍ-r-r → “no harm” Distinctive

literal: harm; damage; injury; detriment

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “wronged One”

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

سجن

s-j-n → “imprisonment inflicted”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

تاراج

t-r-j → “robbed”

literal: to plunder, rob, ransack; plundering, robbery

اسیری

ʾ-s-r → “from his chains”

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

شهادت

sh-h-d → “martyrdom”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

ذلّت

dh-l-l → “outward humiliation”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

ظاهره

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

نبوده

b-w-d → “are” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to have been

بلکه

b-l-k

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

اعمالیست

ʿ-m-l → “evil deeds”

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

که

k-h → “which”

literal: that; who; who, that

احبّای

ḥ-b-b → “beloved”

literal: love; affection

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “God”

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

آن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

نسبت

n-s-b → “relationship”

literal: relation; relationship; connection; attribution; proportion

میدهند

d-h → “imputed” Distinctive

literal: to give; to provide; to yield; to grant; to bestow

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is”

literal: this; that

ونفسه

n-f-s → “He, Himself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

المهیمنة

h-m-n → “the Help in Peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “all things” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

اکبر

k-b-r

literal: liver; soul; essence

دیگر

d-g-r → “others”

literal: home; place; land; abode

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

یوم

y-w-m → “day”

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

یکی

w-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: one; any; each

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

بیان

b-y-n → “Bayán” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

مدّعی

d-ʿ-y → “claims”

literal: to claim; to allege; claim; assertion; to assert

امر

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

شده

sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

بعضی

b-ʿ-ḍ → “Some”

literal: part; some; portion

متمسّک

m-s-k → “cling”

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

اغصان

gh-ṣ-n → “Branches”

literal: branch; twig

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 ¶