Gleanings — §614

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 614 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بسراب بقیعة وأعرضتم عن بحر الّذي جعله الله عَذْبًا سَایِغًا فویلٌ لکم بما بدّلتم نعمة الله وکنتم من الّذینهم کفروا بنفسي أوّل مرّة إن أنتم في أنفسکم تفقهون إِذًا قوموا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Will ye be content with that which is like the vapor in a plain, and be willing to forgo the Ocean Whose waters refresh, by virtue of the Will of God, the souls of men? Woe unto you, for having repaid the bounty of God with so vain and contemptible a thing! Ye are, indeed, of them that have rejected Me in My previous Revelation. Would that your hearts could comprehend!

Translation Notes

بسراب

s-r-b → “vapor”

literal: mirage, illusion

بقیعة

q-y-ʿ → “in a plain”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

وأعرضتم

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

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

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “Ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

جعله

j-ʿ-l

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

عَذْبًا

ʿ-dh-b → “refresh”

literal: torment, punishment, chastisement

سَایِغًا

s-w-gh

literal: flowing smoothly; palatable; acceptable

فویلٌ

w-y-l → “Woe”

literal: woe; alas; grief

لکم

l-k-m → “unto you”

literal: for you, to you, your (dative pronoun)

بما

m-ʾ

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

بدّلتم

b-d-l → “change” Distinctive

literal: change; transformation; exchange

نعمة

n-ʿ-m → “bounty” Distinctive

literal: bliss; bounty; grace; comfort; felicity

وکنتم

k-w-n → “Ye are”

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

من

m-n → “of them”

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

کفروا

k-f-r → “have rejected” Distinctive

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude

بنفسي

n-f-s → “Me” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche

أوّل

ʾ-w-l

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

مرّة

m-r-r

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

إن

ʾ-n → “Would that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أنتم

n-t-m → “you”

literal: you

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

تفقهون

f-q-h → “could comprehend”

literal: to understand; to comprehend; insight; jurisprudence

إِذًا

ʾ-dh-n

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

قوموا

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

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 ¶