Gleanings — §615

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 615 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بین یدي الله وتدارکوا ما فرّطتم في جنب ربّکم وهذا أمري علیکم إن أنتم تسمعون فوعمري ما فعل أُمَّة الفرقان کما فعلتم ولا ملأ التّورَیة والإنجیل والزّبور وإنّي بذلت نفسي لإثبات أمره وبشّرناکم في کلّ الألواح بظهوره فلمّا ظهر بردآء الکبریآء علی هیکل البهآء بتجلّي أُخری إِذًا قمتم علی المحاربة بنفسه المهیمن القیّوم إیّاکم یا قوم فاستحیوا عنّي وعمّا ورد عليّ في سبیل الله ولا تکوننّ من الّذینهم کفروا بما نزل علیهم من سمآء عزّ مرفوع أن یا حرف الحيّ کذلک

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Arise, and, under the eyes of God, atone for your failures in duty towards Him. This is My commandment unto you, were ye to incline your ears unto My commandment. By Mine own Self! Neither the people of the Qur’án, nor the followers of either the Torah or the Evangel, nor those of any other Book, have committed that which your hands have wrought. I, Myself, have dedicated My whole life to the vindication of the truth of this Faith. I, Myself, have announced, in all My Tablets, the advent of His Revelation. And yet, no sooner did He manifest Himself, in His subsequent Revelation, clothed in the glory of Bahá and arrayed in the robe of His grandeur, than ye rebelled against Him Who is the supreme Protector, the Self-Subsisting. Beware, O people! Be ye ashamed of that which hath befallen Me at your hands in the path of God. Take heed that ye be not of them that have rejected that which hath been sent down unto them from the Heaven of God’s transcendent glory.

Translation Notes

بین

b-y-n

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

یدي

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; action; possession

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

وتدارکوا

d-r-k → “comprehend” Distinctive

literal: to overtake; to catch; to reach; to attain; to perceive; to comprehend

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

فرّطتم

f-r-ṭ

literal: to neglect; to fail; to abandon; to waste

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

جنب

j-n-b

literal: to avoid; to shun; to keep away from

ربّکم

r-b-b → “Him” Distinctive

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher

وهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; that

أمري

ʾ-m-r → “commandment”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

علیکم

ʿ-l-y → “unto you”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

إن

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أنتم

n-t-m

literal: you

تسمعون

s-m-ʿ → “incline your ears”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

فوعمري

ʿ-m-r → “By My life” Distinctive

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

فعل

f-ʿ-l → “deeds” Distinctive

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

أُمَّة

ʾ-m-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: mother

الفرقان

f-r-q → “Qur’án”

literal: faction; sect; group; company

کما

k-m

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “Concourse”

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

التّورَیة

t-w-r → “a second”

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

والإنجیل

n-j-l → “Gospel”

literal: Gospel; the Good Tidings

والزّبور

z-b-r → “Books”

literal: writing; inscription; divine writ

وإنّي

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

بذلت

dh-l-l → “abasement”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

نفسي

n-f-s → “My whole life” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

لإثبات

th-b-t → “established” Distinctive

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

وبشّرناکم

b-sh-r → “have announced”

literal: human; mankind; human nature

کلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الألواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

بظهوره

ẓ-h-r → “advent of His Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

فلمّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

بردآء

r-d-y → “robe”

literal: brother

الکبریآء

k-b-r → “grandeur”

literal: greatest; greater; grandeur

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هیکل

h-y-k-l

literal: temple; structure; form; body

البهآء

b-h-w → “glory of Bahá”

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

بتجلّي

j-l-y → “His subsequent Revelation”

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation

أُخری

ʾ-kh-r → “other”

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

إِذًا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

قمتم

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

المحاربة

ḥ-r-b

literal: warfare; combat; fighting; hostility

المهیمن

h-m-n → “Protector”

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

إیّاکم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

فاستحیوا

ḥ-y-y → “Be ye ashamed”

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

عنّي

ʿ-n

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

ورد

w-r-d → “hath befallen”

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

سبیل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

تکوننّ

k-w-n → “ye be not”

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

من

m-n → “of”

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

الّذینهم

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

کفروا

k-f-r → “have rejected” Distinctive

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

نزل

n-z-l → “been sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

سمآء

s-m-w → “Heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “God’s transcendent glory”

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

مرفوع

r-f-ʿ

literal: raise; raised; elevation

حرف

ḥ-r-f

literal: letter; character; edge

کذلک

dh-l-k

literal: thus; likewise; also

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 ¶