Gleanings — §612

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 612 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

وجهک مشرقًا في یوم الّذي اسودّت فیه الوجوه قل یا ملأ البیان أَمَا وصّیناکم في کلّ الألواح وفي کلّ زبر مکنون أن لا تتّبعوا أنفسکم وهواکم فانظروا بالمنظر الأکبر في حین الّذي ینصب فیه میزان الأعظم ویرتفع نغمات الرّوح عن یمین عرش ربّکم المهیمن العزیز القدّوس ونهیناکم عن کلّ ما یمنعکم عن جمالي في ظهور بعدي ولو یکون مظاهر الأسمآء وملکوتها ومطالع الصّفات وجبروتها فلمّا أظهرت نفسي إِذًا کفرتم وأعرضتم وکنتم من الّذینهم کانوا بآیات ربّهم یلعبون فوجمالي لن یقبل منکم الیوم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O people of the Bayán! Did We not admonish you, in all Our Tablets and in all Our hidden Scriptures, not to follow your evil passions and corrupt inclinations, but to keep your eyes directed towards the Scene of transcendent glory, on the Day when the Most Mighty Balance shall be set, the Day when the sweet melodies of the Spirit of God shall be poured out from the right hand of the throne of your Lord, the omnipotent Protector, the All-Powerful, the Holy of Holies? Did We not forbid you to cleave to the things that would shut you out from the Manifestation of our Beauty, in its subsequent Revelation, be they the embodiments of the names of God and all their glory, or the revealers of His attributes and their dominion? Behold, how, as soon as I revealed Myself, ye have rejected My truth and turned away from Me, and been of them that have regarded the signs of God as a play and pastime!

Translation Notes

وجهک

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

مشرقًا

sh-r-q

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

في

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

یوم

y-w-m → “Day”

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

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

اسودّت

s-w-d

literal: blackened; dark; tranquil; at peace; undisturbed

قل

q-w-l → “Say: O”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people” Distinctive

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

البیان

b-y-n → “of the Bayán”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident

أَمَا

ʾ-m-m → “nations” Distinctive

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

وصّیناکم

w-ṣ-y → “admonish you”

literal: counsel; commandment; bequest; will; testament; admonition; command

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الألواح

l-w-ḥ → “Our Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

زبر

z-b-r → “Books”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

مکنون

k-n-n → “concealed”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

أن

ʾ-n → “not to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تتّبعوا

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

أنفسکم

n-f-s → “your”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وهواکم

h-w-y → “evil passions and corrupt”

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

فانظروا

n-ẓ-r → “keep your eyes directed” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

الأکبر

k-b-r → “transcendent glory”

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

حین

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

ینصب

n-ṣ-b → “portion” Distinctive

literal: share; portion; lot; fate

میزان

w-z-n → “standard”

literal: weight; measure; to weigh

الأعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

ویرتفع

r-f-ʿ → “raised” Distinctive

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

نغمات

n-gh-m → “sweet melodies”

literal: melody; tone; note

الرّوح

r-w-ḥ → “of the Spirit”

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from the right hand”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

یمین

y-m-n

literal: right hand; oath; right side

عرش

ʿ-r-sh → “of the throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

ربّکم

r-b-b → “of your Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

المهیمن

h-m-n → “the omnipotent Protector”

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

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Powerful” Distinctive

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

القدّوس

q-d-s → “the Holy of Holies”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ونهیناکم

n-h-y → “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

یمنعکم

m-n-ʿ → “hinder”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

جمالي

j-m-l → “Manifestation of” Distinctive

literal: beauty; comeliness

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “its subsequent Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بعدي

b-ʿ-d → “when” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

ولو

l-w → “If”

literal: were it not for; if not for; save for

الأسمآء

s-m-w → “of the names”

literal: heaven; sky

وملکوتها

m-l-k → “and all their glory”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

ومطالع

ṭ-l-ʿ → “revealers” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الصّفات

w-ṣ-f → “of His attributes”

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

وجبروتها

j-b-r → “and their dominion”

literal: compelled; forced; constrained

فلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

إِذًا

ʾ-dh-n

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

کفرتم

k-f-r → “ye have rejected”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

وأعرضتم

ʿ-r-ḍ → “and turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

وکنتم

k-w-n → “and been of” Distinctive

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

من

m-n

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

بآیات

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

یلعبون

l-ʿ-b → “disportest” Distinctive

literal: to play; to sport; to jest

لن

l-n

literal: will not (negation of future)

یقبل

q-b-l

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

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 ¶