Gleanings — §568

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 568 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

وأظهرنا الأمر وبلّغناه إلی مقام کلّ اعترفوا بسلطنة الله وقدرته إلّا الّذین کان في صدورهم غلّ الغلام وکانوا من المشرکین ومع هذا الظّهور الّذي أحاط الممکنات وهذا الإشراق الّذي ما سمعوا شبهه في الآفاق اعترضوا عَلَيَّ ملأ البیان ومنهم من أعرض عن الصّراط وکفر بالّذي آمن به وبغی علی الله المقتدر المهیمن العليّ العظیم ومنهم من توقّف لدی الصّراط وعلّق أمر الله بساذجه بتصدیق الّذي خلق بقولي وبذلک حبط أعماله وما کان من الشّاعرین ومنهم من قاس نفس الله بنفسه وغرّته الأسمآء إلی مقام حارب بوجهي وافتی علی قتلي ونسبني بکلّ ما کان في نفسه

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And yet, notwithstanding this Revelation whose influence hath pervaded all created things, and despite the brightness of this Light, the like of which none of them hath ever beheld, witness how the people of the Bayán have denied and contended with Me. Some have turned away from the Path of God, rejected the authority of Him in Whom they had believed, and acted insolently towards God, the Most Powerful, the Supreme Protector, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Others hesitated and halted in His Path, and regarded the Cause of the Creator, in its inmost truth, as invalid unless substantiated by the approval of him who was created through the operation of My Will. Thus have their works come to naught, and yet they failed to perceive it. Among them is he who sought to measure God with the measure of his own self, and was so misled by the names of God as to rise up against Me, who condemned Me as one that deserved to be put to death, and who imputed to Me the very offenses of which he himself was guilty. Wherefore, do I plead My grief and My sorrow to Him Who created Me and entrusted Me with His Message.

Translation Notes

وأظهرنا

ẓ-h-r → “And yet” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الأمر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

وبلّغناه

b-l-gh

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

مقام

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

اعترفوا

ʿ-r-f

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

بسلطنة

s-l-ṭ

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

کان

k-w-n → “be”

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

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

صدورهم

ṣ-d-r

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

غلّ

gh-l-l

literal: one who envies; envious; malicious

الغلام

gh-l-m

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

المشرکین

sh-r-k

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

ومع

m-ʿ → “notwithstanding”

literal: with; together with; alongside

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

أحاط

ḥ-w-ṭ → “pervaded” Distinctive

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

الممکنات

m-k-n → “all created things”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

الإشراق

sh-r-q → “Light,” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

سمعوا

s-m-ʿ → “heard” Distinctive

literal: hear; hearing; heard

شبهه

sh-b-h

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

الآفاق

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

اعترضوا

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

literal: objection, protest, denial; cavil

عَلَيَّ

ʿ-l-w → “with Me” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people” Distinctive

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

البیان

b-y-n → “Bayán”

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

ومنهم

m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

الصّراط

ṣ-r-ṭ → “the Path”

literal: path, way, straight path

وکفر

k-f-r → “rejected” Distinctive

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

بالّذي

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

آمن

ʾ-m-n → “had believed”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

وبغی

b-gh-y → “becometh” Distinctive

literal: to seek; to desire; to rebel; to transgress

المقتدر

q-d-r → “Most Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

المهیمن

h-m-n → “Supreme Protector” Distinctive

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

العظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

توقّف

w-q-f → “hesitated and halted”

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

لدی

l-d-y → “in”

literal: with; in the presence of; from; by

وعلّق

ʿ-l-q → “dependent”

literal: attachment; connection; relationship

أمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

بساذجه

s-dh-j → “Essence”

literal: simplicity, artlessness, plainness; simple soul or being

بتصدیق

ṣ-d-q → “truth”

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

خلق

kh-l-q → “was created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

بقولي

q-w-l

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

وبذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: that; this; it; by that

حبط

ḥ-b-ṭ → “shall God bring to” Distinctive

literal: to nullify; to frustrate; to make void

أعماله

ʿ-m-l → “their works” Distinctive

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

الشّاعرین

sh-ʿ-r → “to perceive it”

literal: indicating; hair; perceive

قاس

q-y-s → “sought to measure”

literal: to measure; to compare; analogy, comparison, measure, standard

نفس

n-f-s → “self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وغرّته

gh-r-r → “pride” Distinctive

literal: vanity; delusion; pride

الأسمآء

s-m-w → “the names”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint

حارب

ḥ-r-b

literal: warfare; combat; fighting; hostility

بوجهي

w-j-h → “Me”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

وافتی

f-t-y → “pronounce” Distinctive

literal: pronounce judgment; decree; give verdict

قتلي

q-t-l → “to be put to death”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

ونسبني

n-s-b → “relationship” Distinctive

literal: attribution; relation; attributed

بکلّ

k-l-l → “very offenses” Distinctive

literal: for us; to us

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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.

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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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5 ¶

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57 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶