Skip to main content

Gleanings — §651

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 651 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ونفسی الحقّ یا نبیل قبل علی احتراق قلب بها از تو بیشتر است و نالهٴ او عظی متر هر حین که اظهار عصیان از نفسی در ساحت اقدس شده هیکل قدم از حیا ارادهٴ ستر جمال خود نموده چه که لا زال ناظر بوفا بوده و عامل بشرایط آن چون کلماتت تلقاء وجه مذکور شد قد تموّج بحر وفائی و مرّت نسمات

Shoghi Effendi Translation

By Myself, the True One, O ‘Alí! The fire that hath inflamed the heart of Bahá is fiercer than the fire that gloweth in thine heart, and His lamentation louder than thy lamentation. Every time the sin committed by anyone amongst them was breathed in the Court of His Presence, the Ancient Beauty would be so filled with shame as to wish He could hide the glory of His countenance from the eyes of all men, for He hath, at all times, fixed His gaze on their fidelity, and observed its essential requisites.

Translation Notes

ونفسی
n-f-s → “By Myself”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

الحقّ
ḥ-q-q → “the True One” Distinctive

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

یا
y-ʾ → “O”

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

نبیل
n-b-l → “Báb”

literal: noble; exalted; distinguished; the Báb

قبل
q-b-l

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

علی
ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

احتراق
ḥ-r-q → “consumed” Distinctive

literal: to burn; to be consumed by fire; burning

قلب
q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

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

literal: by it; by him; with it

از
ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

تو
t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

بیشتر
b-y-sh → “gain” Distinctive

literal: increase; abundance; more; greater; excess

نالهٴ
n-w-ḥ → “His lamentation”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

او
h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

عظی
ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; great; greatness

هر
h-r → “Every time”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

حین
ḥ-y-n → “Every time”

literal: time; moment; while; season

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

اظهار
ẓ-h-r → “breathed”

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

عصیان
ʿ-ṣ-y → “transgressed”

literal: disobey; transgress; rebel

در
d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

ساحت
s-w-ḥ → “Court”

literal: court; presence; domain; vicinity

اقدس
q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

شده
sh-d → “was”

literal: to become; to be

هیکل
h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

قدم
q-d-m

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

حیا
ḥ-y-y → “with shame”

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

ارادهٴ
r-w-d

literal: will; want; desire

ستر
s-t-r → “hide” Distinctive

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

جمال
j-m-l → “glory” Distinctive

literal: beauty; comeliness

خود
kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

نموده
n-m-ود → “hath”

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

چه
ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

لا
l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

زال
z-w-l → “at all times”

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

ناظر
n-ẓ-r → “fixed His gaze”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

بوفا
w-f-y → “their fidelity”

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity

بوده
b-w-d → “hath”

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

عامل
ʿ-m-l → “observed” Distinctive

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

بشرایط
sh-r-ṭ → “essential conditions”

literal: condition; requirement; clause

آن
ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

چون
ch-w-n

literal: since; when; as

کلماتت
k-l-m

literal: word; words; speak

تلقاء
l-q-y

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

وجه
w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

مذکور
dh-k-r

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

قد
q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

تموّج
m-w-j

literal: wave; waves; surge

بحر
b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

مرّت
m-r-r

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

نسمات
n-s-m

literal: breeze; gentle wind; fragrance

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶