Gleanings — §661

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 661 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

عمري سوف نطوي الدّنیا وما فیها ونبسط بساطًا آخَر إنّه کان علی کلّ شيء قدیرًا قدّس قلبک لذکري وأُذنک لاستماع آیاتي ثمّ أَقْبِل إلی المقرّ الّذي استقرّ فیه عرش ربّک الرّحمن قل أي ربّ لک الحمد بما وفّقتني علی عرفان مظهر نفسک وجعلتني مقبلا إلی کعبة وصلک ولقائک أسألک باسمک الّذي منه انفطرت السّمآء وانشقّت الأرض بأن تکتب لي ما کتبته لمن أعرض عن دونک وأَقْبَل إلیک وقدّر لي مقعد صدق عندک في سرادق الأبهی إنّک أنت فعّال لما تشآء لا إله إلّا أنت العزیز الحکیم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Sanctify thine heart, that thou mayest remember Me; and purge thine ear, that thou mayest hearken unto My words. Set then thy face towards the Spot wherein the throne of thy Lord, the God of Mercy, hath been established, and say: Praise be to Thee, O my Lord, for having enabled me to recognize the Manifestation of Thine own Self, and aided me to fix mine heart on the court of Thy presence, the object of my soul’s adoration. I beseech Thee, by Thy name that caused the heavens to be rent and the earth to be cleft asunder, to ordain for me what Thou didst ordain for them that have turned away from all else but Thee, and rested their hearts firmly upon Thee. Grant that I may be seated in Thy presence on the seat of truth, within the Tabernacle of Glory. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou willest. There is none other God but Thee, the All-Glorious, the All-Wise.

Translation Notes

عمري

ʿ-m-r

literal: life; age; duration; by the life of (oath)

سوف

s-w-f

literal: shall; will (future marker)

نطوي

ṭ-w-y

literal: to fold; to conceal

الدّنیا

d-n-w

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

ونبسط

b-s-ṭ

literal: carpet; mat; carpet of realm; expanse; table; surface

کان

k-w-n

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

علی

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: all; every; all, every

قدیرًا

q-d-r → “Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

قدّس

q-d-s → “Sanctify” Distinctive

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

قلبک

q-l-b → “thine heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

لذکري

dh-k-r → “remember Me” Distinctive

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

وأُذنک

ʾ-dh-n → “purge thine ear”

literal: ear; permission; leave; to permit; to allow; to listen

لاستماع

s-m-ʿ → “hearken unto”

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

آیاتي

ʾ-y-y → “verse”

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token; verses; signs; proofs

ثمّ

th-m-m → “Set then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أَقْبِل

q-b-l → “thy face” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards the”

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

المقرّ

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: matter; affair; thing

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

عرش

ʿ-r-sh → “throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the God of Mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

قل

q-w-l → “say”

literal: say; said; saying

أي

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token; verses; signs; proofs

لک

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الحمد

ḥ-m-d → “Praise be”

literal: praise; to praise

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

وفّقتني

w-f-q → “enabled”

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

عرفان

ʿ-r-f → “to recognize”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

مظهر

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

نفسک

n-f-s → “Thine own Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وجعلتني

j-ʿ-l → “make” Distinctive

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

کعبة

k-ʿ-b → “adored sanctuary”

literal: Kaaba; cube/Kaaba; Kaaba/lodestar

وصلک

w-ṣ-l → “of Thy presence”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

ولقائک

l-q-y

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

أسألک

s-ʾ-l → “I beseech Thee”

literal: question; problem; issue; matter; asking; petition; request

باسمک

s-m-w → “by Thy name”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

انفطرت

f-ṭ-r → “true Faith” Distinctive

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

وانشقّت

sh-q-q → “discord” Distinctive

literal: discord; dissension; rebellion; strife

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

بأن

ʾ-n-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

تکتب

k-t-b → “Book” Distinctive

literal: book; scripture; writing

لي

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

لمن

m-n → “for them” Distinctive

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

أعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “have turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دونک

d-w-n → “all else but Thee”

literal: below; lower than; beneath

مقعد

q-ʿ-d → “seat”

literal: rule; principle; foundation; basis

صدق

ṣ-d-q → “of truth”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

عندک

ʿ-n-d → “in Thy presence”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

في

f-y → “within”

literal: in it; in them

سرادق

s-r-d-q → “Tabernacle”

literal: pavilion; tabernacle; canopy; tent

الأبهی

b-h-w → “of Glory” Distinctive

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

إنّک

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

أنت

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

فعّال

f-ʿ-l → “do”

literal: do; deed; do/act

لما

l-m-ʾ

literal: when; certainly-not; when, since

تشآء

sh-y-ʾ → “what Thou willest”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إله

ʾ-l-h → “other God”

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

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

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

الحکیم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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 ¶