Gleanings — §569

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 569 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

إذًا اشکر في بثّي وحزني الّذي خلقني وأرسلني وأحمده في قضایاه وفي وحدتي ثمّ ابتلائي بین هؤلآء الغافلین وصبرت واصبر في الضّرّآء متّکلاً علی الله وأقول أي ربّ فاهد العباد إلی شطر جودک ومواهبک ولا تحرمهم عن بدایع فضلک وألطافک لأنّهم لا یعلمون ما أردت لهم من رحمتک الّتي سبقت العالمین أي ربّ هؤلآء ضعفآء في الجهر وأیتام في السّرّ وإنّک أنت الکریم ذو الفضل المتعالي العظیم لا تقهر یا إلهي علیهم ثمّ انظرهم إلی میقات الّتي ینبغي لبدایع رحمتک لعلّ یرجعنّ إلیک ویستغفرنّ عمّا ارتکبوا في جنبک وإنّک أنت الغفور الرّحیم...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Unto Him do I render thanks and praise for the things He hath ordained, for My loneliness, and the anguish I suffer at the hands of these men who have strayed so far from Him. I have patiently sustained, and will continue to sustain, the tribulation that touched Me, and will put My whole trust and confidence in God. Him will I supplicate saying: Guide Thy servants, O My Lord, unto the court of Thy favor and bounty, and suffer them not to be deprived of the wonders of Thy grace and of Thy manifold blessings. For they know not what Thou hast ordained for them by virtue of Thy mercy that encompasseth the whole of creation. Outwardly, O Lord, they are weak and helpless; inwardly they are but orphans. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the Munificent, the Most Exalted, the Most Great. Cast not, O My God, the fury of Thy wrath upon them, and cause them to tarry until such time when the wonders of Thy mercy will have been made manifest, that haply they may return unto Thee, and ask forgiveness of Thee for the things they have committed against Thee. Verily, Thou art the Forgiving, the All-Merciful.

Translation Notes

إذًا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

اشکر

sh-k-r → “render thanks”

literal: thankfulness, gratitude; to give thanks, be grateful; manifest; evident; apparent; clear

بثّي

b-th-th

literal: lamentation; grief/distress; grief

وحزني

ḥ-z-n

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

خلقني

kh-l-q

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

وأرسلني

r-s-l

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

وأحمده

ḥ-m-d → “and praise”

literal: praise; to praise

قضایاه

q-ḍ-y → “things He hath ordained”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

وفي

f-y → “for the” Distinctive

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

وحدتي

w-ḥ-d → “My loneliness”

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

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ابتلائي

b-l-w → “tribulations” Distinctive

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

بین

b-y-n → “at the hands” Distinctive

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

هؤلآء

h-ʾ-l → “these”

literal: these

الغافلین

gh-f-l

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

وصبرت

ṣ-b-r → “have patiently sustained”

literal: patience; forbearance; endurance; to be patient

الضّرّآء

ḍ-r-r → “harm” Distinctive

literal: harm; damage; injury; detriment

متّکلاً

w-k-l → “trust”

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

الله

ʾ-l-h → “in God”

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

وأقول

q-w-l → “supplicate saying”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

أي

ʾ-y-y

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

ربّ

r-b-b → “O My Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

فاهد

h-d-y → “Guide”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “unto the court” Distinctive

literal: side, direction; half; to split

جودک

j-w-d → “Thy favor” Distinctive

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

ومواهبک

w-h-b → “gifts”

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

ولا

w-l-y → “not”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

تحرمهم

ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

بدایع

b-d-ʿ → “wonders”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

فضلک

f-ḍ-l → “Thy grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وألطافک

l-ṭ-f → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

لأنّهم

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: that; because; inasmuch as

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

یعلمون

ʿ-l-m → “know”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أردت

r-w-d → “hast ordained” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

لهم

l-h-m → “inspiration” Distinctive

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

من

m-n

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

رحمتک

r-ḥ-m → “Thy mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

سبقت

s-b-q → “encompasseth” Distinctive

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

ضعفآء

ḍ-ʿ-f → “weakness” Distinctive

literal: weak; weakness; weaken

الجهر

j-h-r → “openly”

literal: to proclaim openly; manifest; public

وأیتام

y-t-m → “orphans”

literal: orphan

السّرّ

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

أنت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الکریم

k-r-m → “the All-Bountiful”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field

ذو

dh-w → “the” Distinctive

literal: possessor of; one having; those having

المتعالي

ʿ-l-w → “Most Exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

العظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “the Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

تقهر

q-h-r → “wrath” Distinctive

literal: subjugation; subduer; subduing

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

علیهم

ʿ-l-y → “upon them”

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

انظرهم

n-ẓ-r → “Consider” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

میقات

w-q-t → “until such time” Distinctive

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

ینبغي

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “that haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

یرجعنّ

r-j-ʿ → “may return”

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

إلیک

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

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

ویستغفرنّ

gh-f-r → “ask forgiveness”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

ارتکبوا

r-k-b → “have committed”

literal: to ride; to commit; to undertake

جنبک

j-n-b → “against Thee”

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

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 ¶