Gleanings — §542

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 542 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

\[أَیْنَ] الّذین کانوا قبلکم وتطوف في حولهم ذوات الجمال أن اعتبروا یا قوم ولا تکوننّ من الغافلین سوف یأتي دونکم ویتصرّف

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The generations that have gone on before you — whither are they fled? And those round whom in life circled the fairest and the loveliest of the land, where now are they? Profit by their example, O people, and be not of them that are gone astray.

Translation Notes

\[أَیْنَ]

ʾ-y-n → “Where” Distinctive

literal: where

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

کانوا

k-w-n → “have gone” Distinctive

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

قبلکم

q-b-l → “before you”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

وتطوف

ṭ-w-f → “round whom in life circled”

literal: flood, deluge, tempest

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

حولهم

ḥ-w-l → “now” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

ذوات

dh-w-w → “Dhi’l-Jawshan” Distinctive

literal: possessor of; one having; those having

الجمال

j-m-l

literal: beauty; comeliness

أن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اعتبروا

ʿ-b-r → “tears” Distinctive

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

قوم

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ولا

w-l-y → “be not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

من

m-n → “of them”

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

الغافلین

gh-f-l → “that are gone astray” Distinctive

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

سوف

s-w-f

literal: shall; will (future marker)

یأتي

ʾ-t-y

literal: to come; to arrive; to approach; verse; sign; miracle

دونکم

d-w-n

literal: to know; to understand

ویتصرّف

ṣ-r-f

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

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

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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

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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

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 ¶