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Gleanings — §594

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 594 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

کن في النّعمة منفقًا وفي فقدها شاکرًا وفي الحقوق أمینًا وفي الوجه طَلْقًا وللفقرآء کنزًا وللأغنیآء ناصحًا وللمنادي مجیبًا وفي الوعد وَفَیًّا وفي الأمور منصفًا وفي الجمع صامتًا وفي القضآء عادلاً وللإنسان خاضعًا وفي الظّلمة سراجًا وللهموم فرحًا وللظّمآن بحرًا وللمکروب ملجأ وللمظلوم ناصرًا وعضدًا وظهرًا وفي الأعمال متّقیًا وللغریب وطنًا وللمریض شفآء وللمستجیر حِصنًا وللضّریر بصرًا ولمن ضلّ صراطًا ولوجه الصّدق جمالاً ولهیکل الأمانة طرازًا ولبیت الأخلاق عرشًا ولجسد العالم روحًا ولجنود العدل رایة ولأفق الخیر نورًا وللأرض الطّیّبة رَذَاذًا ولبحر العلم فَلکًا ولسمآء الکرم نجمًا ولرأس الحکمة إکلیلاً ولجبین الدّهر بیاضًا ولشجر الخشوع ثمرًا.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.

Translation Notes

کن

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

في

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

النّعمة

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

منفقًا

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

فقدها

literal: to lose; to miss; lost; missing

شاکرًا

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

الحقوق

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

أمینًا

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

الوجه
w-j-h “friendly face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

طَلْقًا
ṭ-l-q “applied” Distinctive

literal: divorce; release; freeing

وللفقرآء
f-q-r “to the poor” Distinctive

literal: by God; and God (oath formula)

کنزًا

literal: treasure; treasure-trove; hidden store; treasury

وللأغنیآء

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

ناصحًا

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

وللمنادي

literal: call; called; call, voice

مجیبًا

literal: responder; one who answers; answerer

الوعد

literal: promised; the Promised One

وَفَیًّا

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

الأمور
ʾ-m-r “Cause” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

منصفًا

literal: justice; fairness; equity

الجمع
j-m-ʿ “all” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

صامتًا

literal: silence; to be silent

القضآء

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

وللإنسان

literal: human; mankind; of humanity

خاضعًا

literal: humility; submissiveness; lowliness

الظّلمة
ẓ-l-m “in darkness” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

سراجًا

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

وللهموم

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

فرحًا

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

وللظّمآن

literal: thirsty; thirst

بحرًا
b-ḥ-r “sea” Distinctive

literal: sea; ocean

وللمکروب
k-r-b “Cherubim” Distinctive

literal: anguish; distress; sorrow

ملجأ

literal: refuge; shelter; place of asylum

ناصرًا
n-ṣ-r “aid” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

وعضدًا

literal: supporter; arm, support; support

وظهرًا
ẓ-h-r “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الأعمال

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

متّقیًا
w-q-y “Fear” Distinctive

literal: to protect, safeguard, shield

وللغریب
gh-r-b “West” Distinctive

literal: west; sunset; place of setting

وطنًا

literal: homeland; native country; dwelling place

وللمریض
m-r-ḍ “ills” Distinctive

literal: illness, disease; sickness

شفآء

literal: to seek healing; to be healed; recovery

وللمستجیر

literal: one who seeks refuge; supplicant

حِصنًا

literal: fortress, stronghold, fortified place

وللضّریر
ḍ-r-r “harm” Distinctive

literal: harm; hardship; affliction

بصرًا

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

ولمن

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

ضلّ

literal: error; error/misguidance; error, misguidance

صراطًا

literal: path, way, straight path

الصّدق

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

جمالاً

literal: beauty; comeliness

ولهیکل

literal: temple; structure; form; body

طرازًا

literal: all; all together; -ward; fresh; tender; new

ولبیت

literal: house; household; family; verse

الأخلاق
kh-l-q “Thy creatures” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

عرشًا

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

ولجسد

literal: body; corpse; physical form

العالم
ʿ-l-m “mankind” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

روحًا
r-w-ḥ “breath of life” Distinctive

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

ولجنود

literal: hosts, armies, troops

العدل

literal: justice; equity

رایة
r-w-y “traditions” Distinctive

literal: standard; banner; flag; ensign; opinion; counsel; judgment; to see; to view; to perceive

ولأفق

literal: horizon; horizons; horizons/regions

الخیر

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

نورًا

literal: light; illumination

وللأرض

literal: earth; earth/land; land

الطّیّبة

literal: good; pure; sweet; fragrant; virtuous

رَذَاذًا

literal: drizzle

فَلکًا

literal: ship; ark; orbit; sphere; heaven

ولسمآء

literal: heaven; sky

الکرم

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

نجمًا

literal: star

ولرأس
r-ʾ-s “my head” Distinctive

literal: head; heads; beginning/start

الحکمة

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

إکلیلاً
k-l-l “all” Distinctive

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

ولجبین

literal: forehead, brow

الدّهر

literal: time; age; era; eternity

بیاضًا
b-y-ḍ “snow-white” Distinctive

literal: white; whiteness; the white

ولشجر

literal: tree

الخشوع

literal: fear of God; awe; reverence; submission

ثمرًا.

literal: fruit; the fruit

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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268 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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Prayers and Meditations

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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.

858 ¶

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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 ¶

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5 ¶

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Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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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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‘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 ¶