Skip to main content

Gleanings — §540

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 540 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

انسان طلسم اعظم است ولکن عدم تربیت او را از آنچه با او است محروم نموده بیک کلمه خلق فرمود و بکلمهٴ اخری بمقام تعلیم هدایت نمود و بکلمهٴ دیگر مراتب و مقاماتش را حفظ فرمود حضرت موجود میفرماید انسان را بمثابهٴ معدن که دارای احجار کریمه است مشاهده نما بتربیت جواهر آن بعرصهٴ شهود آید و عالم انسانی از آن منتفع گردد انتهی

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Man is the supreme Talisman. Lack of a proper education hath, however, deprived him of that which he doth inherently possess. Through a word proceeding out of the mouth of God he was called into being; by one word more he was guided to recognize the Source of his education; by yet another word his station and destiny were safeguarded. The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.

Translation Notes

انسان
ʾ-n-s → “Man”

literal: man; human being; mankind

طلسم
ṭ-l-s-m → “Talisman”

literal: talisman; charm; enigma

اعظم
ʿ-ẓ-m → “supreme” Distinctive

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

است
b-w-d → “is”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

ولکن
l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

عدم
ʿ-d-m → “Lack”

literal: nonexistent; void; nullified

تربیت
r-b-y → “education”

literal: education; upbringing; training; cultivation

او
h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از
ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

آنچه
ʾ-n → “that which”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

با
b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

محروم
ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

نموده
n-m-ود → “hath”

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

بیک
y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

خلق
kh-l-q → “called into being” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

فرمود
f-r-m → “was” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

بکلمهٴ
k-l-m → “by one word”

literal: word; utterance; speech

اخری
ʾ-kh-r → “end” Distinctive

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

تعلیم
ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

هدایت
h-d-y → “guided”

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

نمود
n-m-ʾ

literal: to become; to be

دیگر
d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

مراتب
r-t-b → “station”

literal: rank; station; degree; time; instance

مقاماتش
q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

حفظ
ḥ-f-ẓ → “safeguarded” Distinctive

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

حضرت
ḥ-ḍ-r → “Great” Distinctive

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

موجود
w-j-d → “Being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بمثابهٴ
m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

معدن
ʿ-d-n → “mine”

literal: mine; source; origin; repository

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

دارای
d-ʾ-r → “repository”

literal: veiling; concealment; to have; to possess; to hold

احجار
ḥ-j-r

literal: stones; stone; stone/rock

کریمه
k-r-m

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

مشاهده
sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

جواهر
j-w-h-r → “gems”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

بعرصهٴ
ʿ-r-ṣ

literal: arena; field; space; open place

آید
ʾ-y-d

literal: come; support; may aid

منتفع
n-f-ʿ → “benefit”

literal: benefits; profits; advantages

گردد
g-r-d → “was” Distinctive

literal: become; to become; make

انتهی
n-h-y

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

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 ¶