Gleanings — §610

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 610 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

لک بما کسّرت صنم النّفس والوهم وخرقت أحجاب الظّنون بقدرة ربّک المهیمن العزیز المحبوب فإذًا یصدق في حقّک بأنّک من حروف الّتي سبقن الحروفات ولذا اختصّک الله من قبل بلسان عَلِيٍّ بالحقّ الّذي أشرقت من نور وجهه کلّ ما کان وما یکون وإنّک أنت فاحمد الله ثمّ اشکره بما أیّدک علی أمر الّذي اضطرب عنه سکّان السّموات والأرض وضجّت من في ملکوت الأمر والخلق وبلت السّرایر عمّا هو المکنون في الصّدور إذًا یخاطبک ربّک ال

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Blessed art thou for having utterly abolished the idol of self and of vain imagination, and for having rent asunder the veil of idle fancy, through the power of the might of thy Lord, the Supreme Protector, the Almighty, the one Beloved. Thou art indeed to be numbered with those Letters that have excelled every other Letter. Wherefore thou hast been singled out by God through the tongue of thy Lord, the Báb, the brightness of Whose countenance hath enveloped, and will continue to envelop, the whole of creation. Render thanks unto the Almighty, and magnify His name, inasmuch as He hath aided thee to recognize a Cause that hath made the hearts of the inhabitants of the heavens and of the earth to tremble, that hath caused the denizens of the Kingdoms of creation and of Revelation to cry out, and through which the hidden secrets of men’s breasts have been searched out and tested.

Translation Notes

لک

l → “His is”

literal: for us; to us

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

کسّرت

k-s-r → “degradation” Distinctive

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

صنم

ṣ-n-m → “idols”

literal: idol; statue

النّفس

n-f-s → “self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

والوهم

w-h-m → “vain imagination”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

وخرقت

kh-r-q → “rent asunder”

literal: miracle; extraordinary occurrence; to tear; to breach

أحجاب

ḥ-j-b → “veil”

literal: stone; rock

الظّنون

ẓ-n-n → “idle fancy”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

بقدرة

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

المهیمن

h-m-n → “Supreme Protector” Distinctive

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian; inspiration; revelation; intuition

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “Almighty”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

المحبوب

ḥ-b-b → “one Beloved”

literal: love; affection

فإذًا

ʾ-dh → “indeed”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

یصدق

ṣ-d-q → “truth” Distinctive

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

في

f-y → “with those” Distinctive

literal: in; in-it; in it

حقّک

ḥ-q-q

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

بأنّک

ʾ-n-n → “thee”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

من

m-n

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

حروف

ḥ-r-f → “Letters”

literal: letter; character; edge

الّتي

ʾ-l-l → “that” Distinctive

literal: who; which/that; which

سبقن

s-b-q → “hath surpassed” Distinctive

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

ولذا

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: therefore; for this reason; hence; so

اختصّک

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled out”

literal: sister; sisters

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

قبل

q-b-l

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

بلسان

l-s-n → “tongue”

literal: tongue; language

عَلِيٍّ

ʿ-l-w → “Báb” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أشرقت

sh-r-q → “hath enveloped” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

نور

n-w-r → “brightness” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

وجهه

w-j-h → “countenance”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

کلّ

k-l-l → “whole” Distinctive

literal: for us; to us

یکون

k-w-n → “creation” Distinctive

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

أنت

ʾ-n-t

literal: you (masculine singular)

فاحمد

ḥ-m-d → “Render thanks”

literal: praise; to praise

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اشکره

sh-k-r → “Render thanks”

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

أیّدک

ʾ-y-d → “hath aided”

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

أمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

اضطرب

ḍ-r-b → “tremble”

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

عنه

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

سکّان

s-k-n → “inhabitants” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

السّموات

s-m-w → “heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

والأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وضجّت

ḍ-j-j → “sighing” Distinctive

literal: clamor; clamor/noise; noise

ملکوت

m-l-k → “Kingdoms”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

الأمر

ʾ-m-r → “Revelation”

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

والخلق

kh-l-q → “creation”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

وبلت

b-l-w → “tribulations” Distinctive

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

السّرایر

s-r-r → “secrets”

literal: secret; secrets; secret, mystery

هو

h-w

literal: He; He is

المکنون

k-n-n → “hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

الصّدور

ṣ-d-r → “breasts”

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

إذًا

ʾ-dh-n

literal: permission; ear; ears

یخاطبک

kh-ṭ-b → “addressed”

literal: discourse; address; speech; utterance; the divine word

ال

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; family

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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 ¶

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 ¶