Gleanings — §583

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 583 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

فأعرض عنه فتوكّل علی اللّه ربّك و‌ربّ العالمين تَاللّهِ الحَقِّ من يفتح اليوم شفتاه في ذكر اسم ربّه لينزل عليه جنود الوحي عن مشرق إسمي الحكيم العليم و‌ينزلنّ عليه أهل ملأ الأعلى بصحائف من النّور و‌كذلك قدّر في

Shoghi Effendi Translation

By the righteousness of God! Whoso openeth his lips in this Day and maketh mention of the name of his Lord, the hosts of Divine inspiration shall descend upon him from the heaven of My name, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. On him shall also descend the Concourse on high, each bearing aloft a chalice of pure light. Thus hath it been foreordained in the realm of God’s Revelation, by the behest of Him Who is the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful.

Translation Notes

فأعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

فتوكّل

w-k-l

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “By the righteousness of God”

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

الحَقِّ

ḥ-q-q

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

من

m-n → “Whoso” Distinctive

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

يفتح

f-t-ḥ → “openeth” Distinctive

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

اليوم

y-w-m → “this Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

شفتاه

sh-f-h → “lips”

literal: lip

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ذكر

dh-k-r → “maketh mention”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

اسم

s-m-w → “name”

literal: name; title; designation

ربّه

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

لينزل

n-z-l → “shall descend” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

عليه

ʿ-l-y → “upon him”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

جنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

الوحي

w-ḥ-y → “inspiration” Distinctive

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

مشرق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

الحكيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

أهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “Concourse”

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

الأعلى

ʿ-l-w → “on high”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

بصحائف

ṣ-ḥ-f → “Scriptures” Distinctive

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

النّور

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

و‌كذلك

k-dh-l → “Thus”

literal: that; thus; likewise

قدّر

q-d-r → “hath it been foreordained”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

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

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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

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 ¶