Gleanings — §537

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 537 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

أجسادکم عن خلع الهدی ثمّ اشربوا عن کأس الّتي یحرّکها غلمان الظّهور فوق رؤوسکم وکذلک أمرکم الّذي کان أرحم بکم من أنفسکم ولن یطلب منکم أجرًا ولا جزآءً إنّ أمره إلّا علی الّذي أرسله بالحقّ وجعله لنفسه حجّة علی الخلایق أجمعین وأظهره بکلّ الآیات إِذًا فارتدّوا أبصارکم لتشهدوا ما نطق علیکم لسان القِدم لعلّ تکوننّ من المطّلعین هل سمعتم من آبائکم وآبآء آبائکم إلی أن ینتهي إلی آدم الأولی بأن أتی أحد علی ظلل الأمر بسلطان لائح مبین وحرّک عن یمینه ملکوت الله وعن یساره جبروت القِدم وعن قدّامه جنود الله المقتدر الغالب القدیر وتکلّم في کلّ حین بآیات الّتي تعجز عن عرفانها أفئدة العارفین ولم یکن من عند الله إِذًا تبیّنوا ثمّ تکلّموا علی الصّدق

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Beware that ye divest not yourselves of the raiment of Divine guidance. Drink ye your fill from the Cup which the Youths of Heaven have raised above your heads. Thus biddeth you He Who hath more mercy upon you than your own selves, He Who asketh not any recompense or thanks from you. His reward is from Him Who hath, through the power of truth, sent Him down unto you, and singled Him out and proclaimed Him as His own Testimony unto the whole of creation. He it is Who hath empowered Him to manifest all His signs. Repeat the gaze, that ye may perceive the things whereunto the Tongue of the Ancient of Days hath summoned you, that haply ye may be of them that have apprehended the truth. Heard it ye ever reported by your fathers of old, or by the generations that preceded them, even unto the first Adam, that anyone coming in the clouds of revelation, being invested with manifest and transcendent sovereignty, having on his right hand the Kingdom of God and on his left all the power and glory of His everlasting dominion, anyone preceded by the hosts of God, the Almighty, the All-Compelling, the Most Powerful, and uttering continually verses whose import the minds of the most learned and wisest of men are powerless to fathom, should yet be the bearer of a message that is not of God? Be discerning, then, and speak ye the truth, the very truth, if ye claim to be honest and high-minded.

Translation Notes

أجسادکم

j-s-d

literal: body; corpse; physical form

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

خلع

kh-l-ʿ → “robe”

literal: robe; garment of honor; investiture

الهدی

h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اشربوا

sh-r-b → “Drink ye your fill”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

کأس

k-ʾ-s → “Cup”

literal: cup; chalice; goblet

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

یحرّکها

ḥ-r-k → “move” Distinctive

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

غلمان

gh-l-m → “Youths”

literal: youth; boy; servant; the Youth (Bahá’u’lláh)

الظّهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

فوق

f-w-q → “above”

literal: above; over; beyond

رؤوسکم

r-ʾ-s → “your heads”

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

وکذلک

k-dh-l → “Thus”

literal: that; thus; likewise

أمرکم

ʾ-m-r → “biddeth”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

کان

k-w-n → “hath” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

أرحم

r-ḥ-m → “more mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بکم

k-m-m → “How many”

literal: be dumb/silent; speechless

من

m-n → “from”

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

أنفسکم

n-f-s → “your own selves”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

ولن

l-n

literal: will not (negation of future)

یطلب

ṭ-l-b → “asketh”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

أجرًا

j-r-y → “flow” Distinctive

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

جزآءً

j-z-y → “recompense”

literal: part; portion; component; section; volume

إنّ

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

علی

ʿ-l-w → “from” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أرسله

r-s-l → “sent Him down unto”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

بالحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “through the power of truth”

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

وجعله

j-ʿ-l → “make” Distinctive

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

حجّة

ḥ-j-j → “Testimony”

literal: path, way; clear path

الخلایق

kh-l-q → “the whole of creation” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

أجمعین

j-m-ʿ

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بکلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

الآیات

ʾ-y-y → “His signs”

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

إِذًا

ʾ-dh-n

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

فارتدّوا

r-d-d → “reject” Distinctive

literal: rejection; rejected; refutation

أبصارکم

b-ṣ-r

literal: sight; insight; eyes

لتشهدوا

sh-h-d → “that ye may perceive”

literal: witness; observation; witnessed

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

نطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken”

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

علیکم

ʿ-l-y → “you”

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

لسان

l-s-n → “Tongue”

literal: tongue; language

القِدم

q-d-m → “Ancient of Days”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “that haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

المطّلعین

ṭ-l-ʿ

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

هل

h-l

literal: interrogative particle; whether; is it that

سمعتم

s-m-ʿ → “Heard it ye” Distinctive

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

آبائکم

ʾ-b-w → “your fathers”

literal: father; paternal; his father; to refuse; to decline

وآبآء

ʾ-b-w

literal: father; paternal; his father; to refuse; to decline

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

ینتهي

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

الأولی

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

بأن

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أتی

ʾ-t-y → “coming” Distinctive

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

أحد

ʾ-ḥ-d → “anyone”

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

ظلل

ẓ-l-l → “clouds”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

بسلطان

s-l-ṭ → “with manifest and transcendent sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

لائح

l-w-ḥ

literal: to appear; to shine; to flash; to gleam

یمینه

y-m-n → “on his right hand”

literal: right hand; oath; right side

ملکوت

m-l-k → “Kingdom”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

الله

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

یساره

y-s-r → “left”

literal: thief; robber; stealer

جبروت

j-b-r → “dominion”

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

جنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

المقتدر

q-d-r → “the Almighty”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

الغالب

gh-l-b → “ascendancy” Distinctive

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

وتکلّم

k-l-m → “uttering” Distinctive

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

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

حین

ḥ-y-n → “continually” Distinctive

literal: time; moment; while; season

تعجز

ʿ-j-z → “powerless”

literal: unable; powerlessness; inability

عرفانها

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

أفئدة

f-ʾ-d → “minds” Distinctive

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind; heart; inner consciousness; mind; one who benefits; advantageous

ولم

l-m → “wherefore”

literal: did not; has not (negative particle with past tense)

عند

ʿ-n-d → “God”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

تبیّنوا

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

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

الصّدق

ṣ-d-q → “the truth”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

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 ¶