Gleanings — §662

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 662 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

قد قدّر لکلّ نفس تبلیغ هذا الأمر من القلم الأعلی...إنّه یلهم الّذین انقطعوا عمّا سواه ویجري من قلوبهم سلسبیل الحکمة والبیان إنّ ربّک الرّحمن لهو المقتدر علی ما یشآء والحاکم علی ما یرید لو تتفکّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The Pen of the Most High hath decreed and imposed upon every one the obligation to teach this Cause.… God will, no doubt, inspire whosoever detacheth himself from all else but Him, and will cause the pure waters of wisdom and utterance to gush out and flow copiously from his heart. Verily, thy Lord, the All-Merciful, is powerful to do as He willeth, and ordaineth whatsoever He pleaseth.

Translation Notes

قد

q-d

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

قدّر

q-d-r → “hath decreed” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لکلّ

k-l-l → “upon every one”

literal: for each; for every; to each

نفس

n-f-s → “upon every one” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

تبلیغ

b-l-gh → “to teach”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الأمر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause.…”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

من

m-n → “from”

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

القلم

q-l-m → “The Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الأعلی...إنّه

ʿ-l-w → “of the Most High”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

یلهم

l-h-m → “inspire”

literal: inspiration; divine inspiration; revelation

الّذین

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

انقطعوا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detacheth himself” Distinctive

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from all else but”

literal: with them; in their company

سواه

s-w-y → “Him”

literal: other than; other-than; besides

ویجري

j-r-y → “gush out and flow”

literal: trade; commerce; business

قلوبهم

q-l-b → “his heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

سلسبیل

s-l-s → “chains” Distinctive

literal: Salsabil; a spring in Paradise; easy to drink

الحکمة

ḥ-k-m → “of wisdom”

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

والبیان

b-y-n → “and utterance”

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

إنّ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

ربّک

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

لهو

h-w → “is”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

یشآء

sh-y-ʾ → “He willeth”

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

یرید

r-y-d → “He pleaseth”

literal: will; intention; to will; to intend; to wish

لو

l-w

literal: if; would that; O that

تتفکّ

f-k-r

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

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 ¶