Gleanings — §607

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 607 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

اعمال و افعال حقّ مشهود و ظاهر چنانچه در جمیع کتب سماویّه نازل و مسطور است مثل امانت و راستی و پاکی قلب در ذکر حقّ و بردباری و رضای بما قضی الله له و القناعة بما قدّر له و الصّبر فی البلایا بل الشّکر فیها و التّوکّل علیه فی کلّ الأحوال این امور از اعظم اعمال و اسبق آن عند حقّ مذکور و دیگر مابقی احکام فروعیّه در ظلّ آنچه مذکور شد بوده و خواهد بود...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident and manifest, and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenly Books. Among them are trustworthiness, truthfulness, purity of heart while communing with God, forbearance, resignation to whatever the Almighty hath decreed, contentment with the things His Will hath provided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, and complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him. These rank, according to the estimate of God, among the highest and most laudable of all acts. All other acts are, and will ever remain, secondary and subordinate unto them.…

Translation Notes

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “deeds”

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

افعال

f-ʿ-l

literal: to do, act, make; deed, action

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “pertaining unto God”

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

مشهود

sh-h-d → “evident”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifest”

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

چنانچه

ch-n-n → “likewise” Distinctive

literal: thus; in such manner; as

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

جمیع

j-m-ʿ → “all”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

کتب

k-t-b → “Books”

literal: book; scripture; writing

سماویّه

s-m-w → “heavenly”

literal: heaven; sky

نازل

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مسطور

s-ṭ-r

literal: written; inscribed; recorded

است

b-w-d → “are”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

مثل

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

امانت

ʾ-m-n → “trustworthiness”

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

راستی

r-ʾ-s-t → “sincerity”

literal: truth; verily; truly

پاکی

p-ʾ-k → “cleanse” Distinctive

literal: pure; clean; sanctified; holy

قلب

q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

ذکر

dh-k-r

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

بردباری

b-r-d → “brother” Distinctive

literal: brother

رضای

r-ḍ-y → “Thy pleasure”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

قضی

q-ḍ-y → “hath decreed”

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

له

h-w → “is”

literal: for them both; to both of them (dual pronoun)

القناعة

q-n-ʿ → “contentment”

literal: content; contentment; be-content

قدّر

q-d-r → “hath provided” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

الصّبر

ṣ-b-r → “patience”

literal: patience; forbearance; endurance; to be patient

فی

f-y → “in”

literal: in it; in them

البلایا

b-l-w → “tribulation”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

بل

b-l → “nay”

literal: rather; but; rather/nay

الشّکر

sh-k-r → “thankfulness” Distinctive

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

التّوکّل

w-k-l → “ministers” Distinctive

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority

علیه

ʿ-l-y → “upon Him”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

الأحوال

ḥ-w-l → “circumstances” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

امور

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

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

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

اسبق

s-b-q → “hath surpassed” Distinctive

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

آن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

عند

ʿ-n-d → “possess” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

مذکور

dh-k-r

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

دیگر

d-g-r → “other”

literal: home; place; land; abode

مابقی

b-q-y

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

احکام

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom” Distinctive

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

فروعیّه

f-r-ʿ → “offshoots” Distinctive

literal: Pharaoh; branch; pharaoh

ظلّ

ẓ-l-l → “shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

شد

sh-d

literal: to become; to be

خواهد

kh-w-h → “will ever”

literal: will; to wish; to want

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 ¶