Gleanings — §636

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 636 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ثمّ اعلم بأنّا أرفعنا حکم السّیف وقدّرنا النّصر باللّسان وما یظهر من البیان وکذلک کان الأمر عن جهة الفضل مقضیًّا قل یا قوم لا تفسدوا في الأرض ولا تحاربوا مع نفس لأنّ ربّک أودع مداین الأرض کلّها بید الملوک وجعلهم مظاهر قدرته علی ما هم علیه وما أراد لنفسه من المُلک شیئًا وکان نفسه الحقّ علی ذلک شهیدًا بل أراد لنفسه مداین القلوب لیطهّرهم عن دنس الأرض ویقرّبهم إلی مقرّ الّذي کان عن مسّ المشرکین محفوظًا أن افتحوا یا قوم مداین القلوب بمفاتیح البیان وکذلک نزّلنا الأمر علی قدر مقدورًا تالله إنّ الدّنیا وزخرفها وما فیها من آلائها لم یکن عند

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Know thou that We have annulled the rule of the sword, as an aid to Our Cause, and substituted for it the power born of the utterance of men. Thus have We irrevocably decreed, by virtue of Our grace. Say: O people! Sow not the seeds of discord among men, and refrain from contending with your neighbor, for your Lord hath committed the world and the cities thereof to the care of the kings of the earth, and made them the emblems of His own power, by virtue of the sovereignty He hath chosen to bestow upon them. He hath refused to reserve for Himself any share whatever of this world’s dominion. To this He Who is Himself the Eternal Truth will testify. The things He hath reserved for Himself are the cities of men’s hearts, that He may cleanse them from all earthly defilements, and enable them to draw nigh unto the hallowed Spot which the hands of the infidel can never profane. Open, O people, the city of the human heart with the key of your utterance. Thus have We, according to a preordained measure, prescribed unto you your duty.

Translation Notes

ثمّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اعلم

ʿ-l-m → “Know thou”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بأنّا

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أرفعنا

r-f-ʿ → “raised” Distinctive

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

حکم

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

السّیف

s-y-f → “sword”

literal: sword

وقدّرنا

q-d-r → “power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

النّصر

n-ṣ-r → “of” Distinctive

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

باللّسان

l-s-n → “tongue”

literal: tongue; language

وما

m-ʾ → “and” Distinctive

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

یظهر

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

من

m-n → “for it” Distinctive

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

البیان

b-y-n → “utterance”

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

وکذلک

k-dh-l → “Thus”

literal: that; thus; likewise

کان

k-w-n → “be”

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

الأمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

عن

ʿ-n → “from all”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

جهة

j-h-h → “side” Distinctive

literal: direction; side; way; quarter; aspect

الفضل

f-ḍ-l → “by virtue of Our grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

مقضیًّا

q-ḍ-y → “irrevocably decreed”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

یا

y-ʾ → “O”

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

قوم

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تفسدوا

f-s-d → “mischief” Distinctive

literal: corruption; ruin; discord; mischief; decay

في

f-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: in it; in them

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

ولا

w-l-y → “with” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

تحاربوا

ḥ-r-b → “contended”

literal: warfare; combat; fighting; hostility

مع

m-ʿ

literal: with; together with; alongside

لأنّ

ʾ-n → “for” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ربّک

r-b-b → “your Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أودع

w-d-ʿ → “hath committed”

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

مداین

m-d-n → “world and the cities”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

کلّها

k-l-l

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

بید

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: it is necessary; it behooves; one must

الملوک

m-l-k → “of the kings”

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

وجعلهم

j-ʿ-l → “of”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “by virtue of the sovereignty” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

هم

h-m-m → “endeavor” Distinctive

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

علیه

ʿ-l-y → “them” Distinctive

literal: upon; on; exalted

أراد

r-y-d → “He hath refused to reserve” Distinctive

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

لنفسه

n-f-s → “for Himself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

شیئًا

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “the Eternal Truth”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

ذلک

dh-l-k → “this He”

literal: abasement; humiliation; lowliness; to be abased

شهیدًا

sh-h-d → “will testify” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بل

b-l

literal: rather; but; rather/nay

القلوب

q-l-b → “of men’s hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

لیطهّرهم

ṭ-h-r → “may cleanse”

literal: purify; pure; purified

دنس

d-n-s → “imagine that” Distinctive

literal: to know; to consider; to suppose; known

ویقرّبهم

q-r-b → “nigh”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

مقرّ

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: matter; affair; thing

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

مسّ

m-s-s → “touch” Distinctive

literal: touch; touch/afflict; touched

المشرکین

sh-r-k → “of the infidel”

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

محفوظًا

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protect”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

افتحوا

f-t-ḥ → “Open”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

نزّلنا

n-z-l

literal: to descend, to be revealed

تالله

ʾ-l-h

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

الدّنیا

d-n-w

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

وزخرفها

z-kh-r-f

literal: ornament; adornment; decoration; falsehood

آلائها

ʾ-l-w

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

لم

l-y-s

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

عند

ʿ-n-d

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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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

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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

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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.

858 ¶

Tablet of Aḥmad

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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 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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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

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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 ¶