Gleanings — §628

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 628 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

َٱرْحَمْ يَا إِلَهَ ٱلْعَالَمِ وَمَالِكَ ٱلْقِدَمِ وَسُلْطَانَ ٱلْأُمَمِ عِبَادَكَ ٱلَّذِينَ تَمَسَّكُواْ بِحَبْلِ أَوَامِرِكَ وَخَضَعُواْ عِنْدَ ظُهُوْرَاتِ أَحْكَامِكَ مِنْ سَمَاءِ مَشِيَّتِكَ أَيْ رَبِّ تَرَى عُيُوْنَهُمْ نَاظِرَةً إِلَى أُفُقِ عِنَايَتِكَ وَقُلُوْبَهُمْ مُتَوَجِّهَةً إِلَى بُحُوْرِ أَلْطَافِكَ وَأَصْوَاتَهُمْ خَاشِعَةً لِنِدَائِكَ ٱلْأَحْلَى ٱلَّذِي ٱرْتَفَعَ مِنَ ٱلْمَقَامِ ٱلْأَعْلَى بِٱسْمِكَ ٱل

Shoghi Effendi Translation

All the atoms of the earth bear witness, O my Lord, to the greatness of Thy power and of Thy sovereignty; and all the signs of the universe attest the glory of Thy majesty and of Thy might. Have mercy, then, O Thou Who art the sovereign Lord of all, Who art the King of everlasting days, and Ruler of all nations, upon these Thy servants, who have clung to the cord of Thy commandments, who have bowed their necks to the revelations of Thy laws which have been sent down from the heaven of Thy Will.

Translation Notes

َٱرْحَمْ

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

يَا

y-ʾ

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

إِلَهَ

ʾ-l-h

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

ٱلْعَالَمِ

ʿ-l-m

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وَمَالِكَ

m-l-k → “sovereign Lord”

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

ٱلْقِدَمِ

q-d-m

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

وَسُلْطَانَ

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

ٱلْأُمَمِ

ʾ-m-m → “nations”

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

عِبَادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ٱلَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

تَمَسَّكُواْ

m-s-k → “have clung”

literal: musk; to seize; grip

بِحَبْلِ

ḥ-b-l → “cord”

literal: cord; rope; bond; connection

أَوَامِرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “commandments”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَخَضَعُواْ

kh-ḍ-ʿ → “submissiveness” Distinctive

literal: fear of God; awe; reverence; submission

عِنْدَ

ʿ-n-d

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

ظُهُوْرَاتِ

ẓ-h-r → “revelations”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

أَحْكَامِكَ

ḥ-k-m → “laws”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

سَمَاءِ

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

مَشِيَّتِكَ

sh-y-ʾ → “Will”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

عُيُوْنَهُمْ

ʿ-y-n

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

نَاظِرَةً

n-ẓ-r

literal: neck; slaves; those held in bonds

إِلَى

ʾ-l-y

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

أُفُقِ

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

عِنَايَتِكَ

ʿ-n-y

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

وَقُلُوْبَهُمْ

q-l-b

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

مُتَوَجِّهَةً

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

بُحُوْرِ

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

أَلْطَافِكَ

l-ṭ-f

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

وَأَصْوَاتَهُمْ

ṣ-w-t

literal: voice; voices; sound

خَاشِعَةً

kh-sh-ʿ

literal: fear of God; awe; reverence; submission

لِنِدَائِكَ

n-d-y

literal: call; voice; cry; summons; to call; to proclaim; to cry out; to summon

ٱلْأَحْلَى

ḥ-l-w

literal: sweetest; most sweet; most pleasant

ٱرْتَفَعَ

r-f-ʿ

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

ٱلْمَقَامِ

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ٱلْأَعْلَى

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ٱل

ʾ-w-l

literal: first; beginning; family

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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291 ¶

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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.

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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

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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 ¶

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57 ¶

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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 ¶