Gleanings — §666

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 666 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

إنّا نحبّ أن نری کلّ واحد منکم مبدأ کلّ خیر ومشرق الصّلاح بین العالمین آثروا إخوانکم علی أنفسکم فانظروا إلی هیکل الله في الأرض إنّه أنفق نفسه لاصلاح العالم إنّه لهو المنفق العزیز المنیع إن ظهرت کدورة بینکم فانظروني أمام وجوهکم وغضّوا البصر عمّا ظهر خالصًا لوجهي وحبًّا لأمري المشرق المنیر إنّا نحبّ أن نراکم في کلّ الأحیان في جنّة رضائي بالرَّوح والرّیحان ونجد منکم عرف الألفة والوداد والمحبّة والاتّحاد کذلک ینصحکم العالم الأمین إنّا نکون بینکم في کلّ الأوان إذا وجدنا عرف الوداد نفرح ولا نحبّ أن نجد سواه یشهد بذلک کلّ عارف بصیر...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

It is Our wish and desire that every one of you may become a source of all goodness unto men, and an example of uprightness to mankind. Beware lest ye prefer yourselves above your neighbors. Fix your gaze upon Him Who is the Temple of God amongst men. He, in truth, hath offered up His life as a ransom for the redemption of the world. He, verily, is the All-Bountiful, the Gracious, the Most High. If any differences arise amongst you, behold Me standing before your face, and overlook the faults of one another for My name’s sake and as a token of your love for My manifest and resplendent Cause. We love to see you at all times consorting in amity and concord within the paradise of My good-pleasure, and to inhale from your acts the fragrance of friendliness and unity, of loving-kindness and fellowship. Thus counseleth you the All-Knowing, the Faithful. We shall always be with you; if We inhale the perfume of your fellowship, Our heart will assuredly rejoice, for naught else can satisfy Us. To this beareth witness every man of true understanding.

Translation Notes

إنّا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

نحبّ

ḥ-b-b → “wish and desire”

literal: love; affection

نری

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

کلّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

واحد

w-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

منکم

m-n → “from” Distinctive

literal: from you; among you

مبدأ

b-d-ʾ → “source”

literal: beginning; source; origin, beginning

خیر

kh-y-r → “goodness”

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

ومشرق

sh-r-q → “Dayspring”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

الصّلاح

ṣ-l-ḥ → “betterment” Distinctive

literal: peace; reconciliation

العالمین

ʿ-l-m → “unto men” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

آثروا

ʾ-th-r → “prefer”

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

إخوانکم

ʾ-kh-w → “neighbors”

literal: blood

علی

ʿ-l-w → “above” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أنفسکم

n-f-s → “yourselves”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

فانظروا

n-ẓ-r → “Fix your gaze” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

إلی

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

هیکل

h-y-k-l → “Temple”

literal: temple; structure; form; body

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “amongst men” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

أنفق

n-f-q → “sacrificed” Distinctive

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

لهو

h-w → “is the”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

العزیز

ʿ-z-z → “Gracious” Distinctive

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

المنیع

m-n-ʿ → “the Most High”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

ظهرت

ẓ-h-r → “arise” Distinctive

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

کدورة

k-d-r → “sullied” Distinctive

literal: turbidity; turbidness; cloudiness; murkiness

بینکم

b-y-n → “amongst you”

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

أمام

ʾ-m-m → “before”

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

وجوهکم

w-j-h → “your face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

وغضّوا

gh-ḍ-ḍ → “chosen” Distinctive

literal: lower, close; lower/overlook

عمّا

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: with them; in their company

خالصًا

kh-l-ṣ

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

لأمري

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

المنیر

n-w-r → “resplendent”

literal: light; illumination

نراکم

r-ʾ-y → “see”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

الأحیان

ḥ-y-n → “times”

literal: greeting; salutation; tribute; to make alive; to revive

جنّة

j-n-n → “paradise”

literal: garden; paradise; heaven

رضائي

r-ḍ-y → “of My good-pleasure”

literal: pleasure; pleasure/satisfaction; pleasure, satisfaction

بالرَّوح

r-w-ḥ → “spirit”

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

ونجد

w-j-d → “inhale” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

عرف

ʿ-r-f → “fragrance”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

الألفة

ʾ-l-f → “a thousand”

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

ینصحکم

n-ṣ-ḥ → “counseleth”

literal: counsel; advice; admonition

الأمین

ʾ-m-n → “Faithful” Distinctive

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

نکون

k-w-n → “be”

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

الأوان

ʾ-w-n

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

إذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

الوداد

w-d-d → “fellowship”

literal: affection; love; friendship

نفرح

f-r-ḥ → “rejoice”

literal: rejoice; joy; joy, gladness

ولا

w-l-y

literal: no; not; negation particle

سواه

s-w-y → “for naught else” Distinctive

literal: other than; other-than; besides

یشهد

sh-h-d → “beareth witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بصیر...

b-ṣ-r → “eyes” Distinctive

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

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

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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 ¶