Gleanings — §647

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 647 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بین المقرّبین تشبّث بذیل الله وتمسّک بحبله المتین إیّاک أن یمنعک ضجیج الّذین کفروا بهذا النّبأ العظیم بلّغ ما أمرت به في اللّوح ولو یعترض علیک العباد إنّ ربّک لهو القويّ الحفیظ والبهآء

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Cling thou to the hem of the Robe of God, and take thou firm hold on His Cord, a Cord which none can sever. Beware that the clamor of them that have repudiated this Most Great Announcement shall not deter thee from achieving thy purpose. Proclaim what hath been prescribed unto thee in this Tablet, though all the peoples arise and oppose thee. Thy Lord is, verily, the All-Compelling, the Unfailing Protector.

Translation Notes

بین

b-y-n

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

المقرّبین

q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

تشبّث

sh-b-th → “clung”

literal: to cling to; to grasp; to hold fast

بذیل

dh-y-l → “hem”

literal: hem; skirt; tail; border

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

وتمسّک

m-s-k → “take thou firm hold” Distinctive

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

بحبله

ḥ-b-l → “Cord”

literal: cord; rope; bond; connection

المتین

m-t-n → “mighty”

literal: firm, strong, robust, steadfast

إیّاک

ʾ-y-y → “Beware”

literal: beware (imperative); you; would that, I wish, if only (optative particle)

أن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یمنعک

m-n-ʿ → “shall not deter”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

ضجیج

ḍ-j-j → “sighing”

literal: clamor; outcry; noise; tumult

الّذین

l-dh-y → “them that”

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

کفروا

k-f-r → “repudiated”

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

بهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

النّبأ

n-b-ʾ → “Announcement”

literal: prophet

العظیم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

بلّغ

b-l-gh → “Proclaim”

literal: to reach; to attain; to deliver; to proclaim

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أمرت

ʾ-m-r → “prescribed” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

اللّوح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

ولو

l-w → “If”

literal: were it not for; if not for; save for

یعترض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “oppose”

literal: objection, protest, denial; cavil

علیک

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “peoples”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ربّک

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

لهو

h-w → “is”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

القويّ

q-w-y → “power”

literal: strength; power; might; piety; fear of God; godliness

الحفیظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “Unfailing Protector”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

والبهآء

b-h-w

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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

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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 ¶