Gleanings — §657

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 657 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

لحضرتک ای علی بعنایت ربّ العالمین فائز بوده و هستی بحول و قوّهٴ او بایست مابین عباد بر نصرت امرش و اعلای ذکرش محزون مباش از اینکه صاحب علوم ظاهره و خطّ نیستی ابواب فیوضات کل در قبضهٴ قدرت حقّ است بر وجه عباد گشوده و میگشاید انشآءالله این نفحهٴ لطیفه در کلّ اوان از شطر قلبت در عالم مرور نماید بشأنی که ثمرات آن در کلّ دیار ظاهر شود او است مقتدر بر هر شیء انّه لهو المقتدر العزیز القدیر

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O ‘Alí! The bounty of Him Who is the Lord of all worlds hath been, and is still being, vouchsafed unto thee. Arm thyself with His strength and power, and arise to aid His Cause and to magnify His holy name. Let not thine ignorance in human learning and thy inability to read or write grieve thine heart. The doors of His manifold grace are within the mighty grasp of the power of the one true God. He hath opened, and will continue to open, them in the face of all them that serve Him. I fain would hope that this breeze of Divine sweetness will, at all times, continue to be wafted from the meadow of thine heart upon the whole world, in such wise that its effects may be manifested in every land. He it is that hath power over all things. He, verily, is the Most Powerful, the All-Glorious, the Almighty.

Translation Notes

لحضرتک

ḥ-ḍ-r → “unto thee”

literal: presence; majesty; His/Your Excellency

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

بعنایت

ʿ-n-y → “bounty” Distinctive

literal: bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention

ربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “of all worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace

بوده

b-w-d → “hath been” Distinctive

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

هستی

h-s-t → “is still being”

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

بحول

ḥ-w-l → “now” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

قوّهٴ

q-w-y → “power”

literal: strength; power; might

او

h-w-w → “He it is” Distinctive

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

بایست

b-ʾ-y → “must” Distinctive

literal: in the shade; under the shadow; rested; to be necessary; to behoove; to arise

مابین

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “all them that serve Him” Distinctive

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

بر

b-r-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: on; on, upon; upon

نصرت

n-ṣ-r → “aid”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

امرش

ʾ-m-r → “His Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

ذکرش

dh-k-r → “His holy name” Distinctive

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

محزون

ḥ-z-n → “grieve thine heart”

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish; to grieve; to sorrow; to be sad

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

صاحب

ṣ-ḥ-b

literal: possessor; those who have; companion; followers

خطّ

kh-ṭ-ṭ → “handwriting”

literal: line; writing; path; course

نیستی

n-y-s-t → “is not” Distinctive

literal: nonexistence; nothingness; nullity; to rest; to settle; to lay to rest

ابواب

b-w-b → “doors”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

فیوضات

f-y-ḍ → “manifold grace” Distinctive

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace

کلّ

k-l-l → “at all”

literal: for us; to us

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

قبضهٴ

q-b-ḍ → “mighty grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

قدرت

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “one true God”

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

وجه

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

گشوده

g-sh-ʾ → “Redeemer” Distinctive

literal: to open; to unlock; opened

انشآءالله

sh-y-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

این

ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: that, the fact that, this (demonstrative particle)

نفحهٴ

n-f-ḥ → “breeze”

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

لطیفه

l-ṭ-f → “loving-kindness” Distinctive

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

اوان

ʾ-w-n → “frequently”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

قلبت

q-l-b → “of thine heart”

literal: heart; hearts; turn

مرور

m-r-r → “wafted”

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

نماید

n-m-ʾ → “hath” Distinctive

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

بشأنی

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

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

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

ثمرات

th-m-r → “fruit”

literal: fruit; the fruit

آن

ʾ-n → “its” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

دیار

d-w-r

literal: land; region; place; abode; dwelling

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifested”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

شود

sh-w-d → “may be”

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

هر

h-r

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

انّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

لهو

h-w → “is”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

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 ¶