Skip to main content

Gleanings — §586

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 586 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ت بالحقّ وبها حقّق أمره بين بريّته وارتفعت رايات التّقديس بين السّموات و‌الأرضين قل يا قوم هذه لصحيفة المختومة المحتومة الّتي كانت مرقومة من إصبع القدس و‌مستورة خلف حجب الغيب و‌قد نزّلت بالفضل من لدن مقتدر قديم و‌فيها قدّرنا مقادير أهل السّموات و‌الأرض و‌علم الأوّلين و‌الآخرين لن يعزب عن علمه شيء و‌لن يعجزه أمر

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: This is the sealed and mystic Scroll, the repository of God’s irrevocable Decree, bearing the words which the Finger of Holiness hath traced, that lay wrapt within the veil of impenetrable mystery, and hath now been sent down as a token of the grace of Him Who is the Almighty, the Ancient of Days. In it have We decreed the destinies of all the dwellers of the earth and the denizens of heaven, and written down the knowledge of all things from first to last. Nothing whatsoever can escape or frustrate Him, whether created in the past or to be created in the future, could ye but perceive it.

Translation Notes

بالحقّ
ḥ-q-q → “God”

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

وبها
b-y-ʾ

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أمره
ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

بين
b-y-n

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

بريّته
b-r-ʾ

literal: creation; creation/creatures; creatures

وارتفعت
r-f-ʿ

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

رايات
r-w-y

literal: banner; banner/flag; banners

السّموات
s-m-w → “of heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

قل
q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

يا
y-ʾ

literal: O; or

قوم
q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

هذه
h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; this (masculine); this (feminine)

لصحيفة
ṣ-ḥ-f → “Scriptures” Distinctive

literal: page; tablet; scroll; book

المختومة
kh-t-m

literal: to seal; to conclude; to end; seal

المحتومة
ḥ-t-m → “irrevocable Decree”

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

الّتي
ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

كانت
k-w-n → “lay” Distinctive

literal: you (masculine singular)

مرقومة
r-q-m → “recorded”

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

من
m-n → “of Him”

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

إصبع
ṣ-b-ʿ → “Finger”

literal: finger; digit

القدس
q-d-s → “of Holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

و‌مستورة
s-t-r → “hidden”

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

خلف
kh-l-f → “within”

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

حجب
ḥ-j-b → “veil”

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

الغيب
gh-y-b → “invisible”

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

و‌قد
q-d → “We have been”

literal: and indeed; and already; conjunction indicating completed action

نزّلت
n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

بالفضل
f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

لدن
l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

مقتدر
q-d-r → “Almighty”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

قديم
q-d-m → “Ancient of Days”

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

و‌فيها
f-y-y → “In it” Distinctive

literal: in it; in them

أهل
ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

و‌الأرض
ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

و‌علم
ʿ-l-m → “and written down the knowledge”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look

الأوّلين
ʾ-w-l → “from first”

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

و‌الآخرين
ʾ-kh-r → “to last”

literal: hereafter; other; last

لن
l-n → “neither”

literal: will not (negation of future)

يعزب
ʿ-z-b → “escape”

literal: to escape; to be hidden from; to be distant from

عن
ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

شيء
sh-y-ʾ → “whatsoever”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

يعجزه
ʿ-j-z → “frustrate”

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence; أعجاز (roots of trees/extremities) is Pattern II plural, distinct from ‘inability’ forms

أمر
ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

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 ¶