Gleanings — §629

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 629 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ْأَبْهَى أَيْ رَبِّ فَٱنْصُرْ أَحِبَّتَكَ ٱلَّذِينَ نَبَذُواْ مَا عِنْدَهُمْ رَجَاءَ مَا عِنْدَكَ وَأَحَاطَتْهُمُ ٱلْبَأْسَاءُ وَٱلْضَّرَّاءُ بِمَا أَعْرَضُواْ عَنَ ٱلْوَرَى وَأَقْبَلُواْ إِلَى ٱلْأُفُقِ ٱلْأَعْلَى. أَيْ رَبِّ أَسْأَلُكَ بِأَنْ تَحْفَظَهُمْ مِنْ شُئُوْنَاتِ ٱلْنَّفْسِ وَٱلْهَوَى وَتُؤَيِّدَهُمْ عَلَى مَا يَنْفَعُهُمْ فِي ٱلآخِرَةِ وَٱلْأُوْلَى. أَيْ رَبِّ أَسْأَلُكَ بِٱسْ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Behold, O my Lord, how their eyes are lifted up towards the dawning-place of Thy loving-kindness, how their hearts are set upon the oceans of Thy favors, how their voices are lowered before the accents of Thy most sweet Voice, calling, from the most sublime Station, in Thy name the All-Glorious. Help Thou Thy loved ones, O my Lord, them that have forsaken their all, that they may obtain the things Thou dost possess, whom trials and tribulations have encompassed for having renounced the world and set their affections on Thy realm of glory. Shield them, I entreat Thee, O my Lord, from the assaults of their evil passions and desires, and aid them to obtain the things that shall profit them in this present world and in the next.

Translation Notes

ْأَبْهَى

b-h-w → “All-Glorious”

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

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O my” Distinctive

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

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

فَٱنْصُرْ

n-ṣ-r → “Help Thou”

literal: help; victory; helper

أَحِبَّتَكَ

ḥ-b-b → “Thy loved ones”

literal: love; beloved; beloved ones

ٱلَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “them that”

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

نَبَذُواْ

n-b-dh → “cast away”

literal: to cast; to reject; to abandon; to throw away

مَا

m-ʾ → “that”

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

عِنْدَهُمْ

ʿ-n-d → “that they may” Distinctive

literal: vessel; container; circumstance; adroitness

رَجَاءَ

r-j-w → “in the hope”

literal: to hope; to aspire; to expect

وَأَحَاطَتْهُمُ

ḥ-w-ṭ → “encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

ٱلْبَأْسَاءُ

b-ʾ-s → “Wretched” Distinctive

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

وَٱلْضَّرَّاءُ

ḍ-r-r

literal: harm; damage; injury; detriment

أَعْرَضُواْ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “renounced” Distinctive

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

عَنَ

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ٱلْوَرَى

w-r-y → “world” Distinctive

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

وَأَقْبَلُواْ

q-b-l → “and set” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَى

ʾ-l-y

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

ٱلْأُفُقِ

ʾ-f-q → “Thy realm of glory” Distinctive

literal: horizons; regions; quarters; skylines

ٱلْأَعْلَى.

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أَسْأَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “I entreat Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تَحْفَظَهُمْ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “Shield them”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

شُئُوْنَاتِ

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise” Distinctive

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

ٱلْنَّفْسِ

n-f-s → “of their” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَٱلْهَوَى

h-w-y → “evil passions and desires”

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

وَتُؤَيِّدَهُمْ

ʾ-y-d → “and aid them”

literal: to grant; to give; to bestow; to support, aid

يَنْفَعُهُمْ

n-f-ʿ → “shall profit them”

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

ٱلآخِرَةِ

ʾ-kh-r → “next”

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

وَٱلْأُوْلَى.

ʾ-w-l → “this present world” Distinctive

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

بِٱسْ

s-m-w → “name”

literal: foundation; basis; groundwork; founder; establisher; to found; to establish; we have founded

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 ¶