Gleanings — §638

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 638 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

موا أنفسکم من خلع الحلم والعدل لیهبّ من شطر قلوبکم علی الممکنات روایح قدس محبوبًا قل إیّاکم یا ملأ البهآء لا تکونوا بمثل الّذین یقولون ما لا یفعلونه في أنفسهم أن اجهدوا بأن یظهر منکم علی الأرض آثار الله وأوامره ثمّ اهدوا النّاس بأفعالکم لأنّ في الأقوال یشارکون أکثر العباد من کلّ وضیع وشریفًا ولکنّ الأعمال یمتازکم عن دونکم ویظهر أنوارکم علی من علی الأرض فطوبی لمن یسمع نصحي ویتّبع ما أمر به من لدن علیم حکیما.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

That which beseemeth you is the love of God, and the love of Him Who is the Manifestation of His Essence, and the observance of whatsoever He chooseth to prescribe unto you, did ye but know it. Say: Let truthfulness and courtesy be your adorning. Suffer not yourselves to be deprived of the robe of forbearance and justice, that the sweet savors of holiness may be wafted from your hearts upon all created things. Say: Beware, O people of Bahá, lest ye walk in the ways of them whose words differ from their deeds. Strive that ye may be enabled to manifest to the peoples of the earth the signs of God, and to mirror forth His commandments. Let your acts be a guide unto all mankind, for the professions of most men, be they high or low, differ from their conduct. It is through your deeds that ye can distinguish yourselves from others. Through them the brightness of your light can be shed upon the whole earth. Happy is the man that heedeth My counsel, and keepeth the precepts prescribed by Him Who is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Translation Notes

موا

m-w-y

literal: hair

أنفسکم

n-f-s → “yourselves”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

من

m-n → “of”

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

خلع

kh-l-ʿ → “robe”

literal: robe; garment of honor; investiture

الحلم

ḥ-l-m → “forbearance”

literal: forbearance; clemency; dream

والعدل

ʿ-d-l → “and justice”

literal: justice; equity

لیهبّ

h-b-b → “wafted”

literal: blowing; onset; rushing of wind

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

قلوبکم

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

علی

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الممکنات

m-k-n → “all created things”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

روایح

r-w-ḥ → “sweet savors”

literal: narration; tradition; fragrance; to grow; to spring forth; to sprout

قدس

q-d-s → “holiness”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

محبوبًا

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

إیّاکم

w-q-y → “Fear” Distinctive

literal: beware; take heed; woe to you

یا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

ملأ

m-l-ʾ → “people of” Distinctive

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

البهآء

b-h-w → “the All-Glorious” Distinctive

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تکونوا

k-w-n → “ye walk” Distinctive

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

بمثل

m-th-l → “as”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

یفعلونه

f-ʿ-l → “their deeds”

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

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

أن

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

اجهدوا

j-h-d → “Strive”

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

بأن

ʾ-n-n → “that ye may be enabled to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یظهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifest”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the peoples of the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

آثار

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

وأوامره

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اهدوا

h-d-y → “guide”

literal: guidance; guide; guided

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “all mankind” Distinctive

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

لأنّ

ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یشارکون

sh-r-k

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

أکثر

k-th-r → “most”

literal: majority; multitude; abundance; multiplicity

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

وضیع

w-ḍ-ʿ → “low”

literal: lawgiver; one who establishes; founder

وشریفًا

sh-r-f → “high”

literal: honor; nobility; eminence; to honor

ولکنّ

l-k-n

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

الأعمال

ʿ-m-l → “your deeds”

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

یمتازکم

m-y-z → “distinguish”

literal: distinction; distinguished; distinguish

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دونکم

d-w-n → “others”

literal: to know; to understand

أنوارکم

n-w-r → “your light”

literal: type; kind; species

فطوبی

ṭ-w-b → “Happy”

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

یسمع

s-m-ʿ → “heard”

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

نصحي

n-ṣ-ḥ → “My counsel”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

ویتّبع

t-b-ʿ → “follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

أمر

ʾ-m-r → “prescribed” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

به

b-h → “by” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

لدن

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

علیم

ʿ-l-m → “All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

حکیما.

ḥ-k-m → “All-Wise”

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

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 ¶