Gleanings — §531

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 531 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

الحقّ إن تکفروا بهذا الأمر فقد یضحک علیکم کلّ الملل لأنّکم استدللتم بینهم في إثبات أمرکم بآیات الله المهیمن المقتدر العزیز العلیم فلمّا نزلت مرّة أُخری بسلطنة عظمی إِذًا کفرتم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

By the righteousness of the one true God! If ye reject this Revelation, all the nations of the earth will laugh you to scorn and mock you, for it is you that have produced, before their eyes, and for the purpose of vindicating the truth of your Cause, the testimonies of God, the Sovereign Protector, the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the All-Knowing. And yet, no sooner was His subsequent Revelation, clothed with the glory of an all-compelling sovereignty, sent down unto you, than ye cast it behind your backs, O ye that are numbered with the heedless ones!

Translation Notes

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “By the righteousness” Distinctive

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

إن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تکفروا

k-f-r → “reject”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الأمر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair

فقد

q-d-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

یضحک

ḍ-ḥ-k → “laugh you to scorn”

literal: to laugh; to mock

علیکم

ʿ-l-y → “unto you”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الملل

m-l-l → “the nations”

literal: nation; people; religion; community

لأنّکم

l-ʾ-n

literal: you; your (suffix pronoun)

استدللتم

d-l-l → “produced”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

بینهم

b-y-n → “before their eyes” Distinctive

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

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

إثبات

th-b-t → “established” Distinctive

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

بآیات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

المهیمن

h-m-n → “Sovereign Protector” Distinctive

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian

المقتدر

q-d-r → “Most Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

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

العلیم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

فلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

نزلت

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مرّة

m-r-r → “At one time”

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

أُخری

ʾ-kh-r → “end” Distinctive

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

بسلطنة

s-l-ṭ → “all-compelling sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

عظمی

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

إِذًا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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 ¶

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶