Skip to main content

Gleanings — §510

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 510 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

يكشف ومن لم يشأ إنّ ربّي لخير ناصر ومعين. أن يا عبد ذكّر العباد بما ألقيناك ولا تخف من أحد ولا تكن من الممترين، فسوف يرفع الله أمره ويعلو برهانه بين السّموات والأرضين، فتوكّل في كلّ الأمور على ربّك وتوجّه إليه ثمّ أعرض عن المنكرين، فاكف بالله ربّك ناصرا ومعين إنّا كتبنا على نفسنا نصرك في الملك وارتفاع أمرنا ولو لن يتوجّه إليك أحد من السلاطين.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Warn and acquaint the people, O Servant, with the things We have sent down unto Thee, and let the fear of no one dismay Thee, and be Thou not of them that waver. The day is approaching when God will have exalted His Cause and magnified His testimony in the eyes of all who are in the heavens and all who are on the earth. Place, in all circumstances, Thy whole trust in Thy Lord, and fix Thy gaze upon Him, and turn away from all them that repudiate His truth. Let God, Thy Lord, be Thy sufficing succorer and helper. We have pledged Ourselves to secure Thy triumph upon earth and to exalt Our Cause above all men, though no king be found who would turn his face towards Thee.

Translation Notes

يكشف
k-sh-f “dispel” Distinctive

literal: unveiling; uncover; unveiled

ومن

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

لم

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

يشأ

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

أن

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لخير

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

ومعين

literal: help; aid; helper; supporter

يا

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

عبد
ʿ-b-d “men” Distinctive

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ذكّر

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

بما
m-ʾ “with” Distinctive

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

ألقيناك

literal: suggestion; instilling; casting; throwing

ولا
w-l-y “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

تخف

literal: fear; fearful; to fear

أحد

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

تكن

literal: to be; existence

الممترين،

literal: doubt; Mary; doubter, waverer

فسوف

literal: shall; will (future marker)

يرفع

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

الله

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

أمره

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

ويعلو

literal: highest; most high; supreme

برهانه

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

بين

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

السّموات

literal: heaven; sky

والأرضين،

literal: earth; land; ground; country

فتوكّل

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

في

literal: in; in-it; in it

كلّ

literal: for us; to us

ربّك

literal: divine; of God; lordly

وتوجّه

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

إليه

literal: to; to him; besmirch

ثمّ
th-m-m “and” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أعرض
ʿ-r-ḍ “turn away” Distinctive

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

عن

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

المنكرين،

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation

فاكف
k-f-y “suffice” Distinctive

literal: to stop; restrain; abstain from

ناصرا
n-ṣ-r “succorer” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

كتبنا
k-t-b “Book” Distinctive

literal: to repent; to turn back; to return

نفسنا
n-f-s “souls” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

الملك
m-l-k “earth” Distinctive

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

ولو

literal: were it not for; if not for; save for

لن
l-n “no” Distinctive

literal: will not (negation of future)

إليك
ʾ-l-y “towards” Distinctive

literal: to; to him; besmirch

السلاطين.

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶