Gleanings — §67

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 67 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

يا أيّها العبد الّذي أردت رضاء اللّه وحبّه بعد الّذي كلّ انفضّوا عن جماله إلّا عدّة من أولي الأبصار فجزاك اللّه من فضله جزاء حسنًا باقيًا دائمًا بما أردته في يوم عمت فيه الأنظار ثمّ اعلم بأنّا لو نلقي عليك رشحًا عمّا رشّ علينا من رشحات أبحر القضاء من أولي الغلّ والبغضاء لتبكي وتنوح في العشيّ والأبكار فيا ليت نجد في الأرض من منصف ذي بصر ليعرف ما ظهر في هذا الظّهور من سلطنة اللّه وإقتداره ويذكر النّاس خالصًا لوجه اللّه بالسّرّ والاجهار لعلّ النّاس يقومنّ وينصرنّ هذا المظلوم الّذي ابتلي بين يدي هؤلاء الفجّار إذًا روح القدس ينطق عن

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O My servant, who hast sought the good-pleasure of God and clung to His love on the Day when all except a few who were endued with insight have broken away from Him! May God, through His grace, recompense thee with a generous, an incorruptible and everlasting reward, inasmuch as thou hast sought Him on the Day when eyes were blinded. Know thou that if We reveal to thee but a sprinkling of the showers which, through God’s decree, and at the hands of the envious and the malicious, have rained upon Us, thou wouldst weep with a great weeping, and wouldst bewail day and night Our plight. Oh, would that a discerning and fair-minded soul could be found who would recognize the wonders of this Revelation — wonders that proclaim the sovereignty of God and the greatness of its power. Would that such a man might arise and, wholly for the sake of God, admonish, privately and openly, the people, that haply they may bestir themselves and aid this wronged One Whom the workers of iniquity have so sorely afflicted.

Translation Notes

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

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

أيّها

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

العبد

ʿ-b-d → “servant”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

الّذي

l-dh-y → “which”

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

أردت

r-w-d → “hast sought”

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

رضاء

r-ḍ-y → “good-pleasure” Distinctive

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

وحبّه

ḥ-b-b → “His love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

بعد

b-ʿ-d → “on” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

كلّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

انفضّوا

f-ḍ-ḍ → “silver” Distinctive

literal: to break away; to scatter; to disperse

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

جماله

j-m-l → “Beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

عدّة

ʿ-d-d → “few”

literal: numerous; many; multiple

من

m-n → “who” Distinctive

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

أولي

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

الأبصار

b-ṣ-r → “insight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

فضله

f-ḍ-l

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

جزاء

j-z-y → “recompense thee”

literal: part; portion; component; section; volume

حسنًا

ḥ-s-n → “most excellent” Distinctive

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

باقيًا

b-q-y → “incorruptible”

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal; permanence; duration; continuance

دائمًا

d-w-m → “everlasting”

literal: always; continually; perpetually; constantly

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

أردته

r-y-d → “hast sought” Distinctive

literal: want; desire; will

في

f-y → “on” Distinctive

literal: alas; woe; oh

يوم

y-w-m → “Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

عمت

ʿ-m-y → “Blind” Distinctive

literal: with them; in their company

الأنظار

n-ẓ-r → “eyes”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

ثمّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

اعلم

ʿ-l-m → “Know”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بأنّا

ʾ-n → “that if We”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

نلقي

l-q-y → “Presence” Distinctive

literal: meeting; cast; meeting, encounter

عليك

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

رشحًا

r-sh-ḥ → “but a sprinkling”

literal: emanations; outpourings; effusions

رشّ

r-sh-sh → “showers”

literal: sprinkle/spray

أبحر

b-ḥ-r

literal: sea; ocean

القضاء

q-ḍ-y → “decree”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

الغلّ

gh-l-l → “envious”

literal: one who envies; envious; malicious

والبغضاء

b-gh-ḍ → “hate”

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

لتبكي

b-k-y → “wouldst weep”

literal: to weep; to cry; to lament

وتنوح

n-w-ḥ → “bewail”

literal: to wail; to lament; lamentation

العشيّ

ʿ-sh-w → “the daytime”

literal: evening; daytime; afternoon

والأبكار

b-k-r → “at morn” Distinctive

literal: repetition; repeatedly; time and again; pulley; virgin; early morning

ليت

l-y-t → “would”

literal: would that; oh that; expressing a wish

نجد

w-j-d

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ

literal: earth; land; ground; country

منصف

n-ṣ-f → “discerning and fair-minded”

literal: justice; fairness; equity

ذي

dh-w-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

ليعرف

ʿ-r-f → “recognize”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

ظهر

ẓ-h-r → “proclaim” Distinctive

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

سلطنة

s-l-ṭ → “sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

وإقتداره

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

ويذكر

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

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

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

خالصًا

kh-l-ṣ → “wholly”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

لوجه

w-j-h → “for the sake”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

بالسّرّ

s-r-r → “mysteries” Distinctive

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

والاجهار

j-h-r → “openly”

literal: to proclaim openly; manifest; public

لعلّ

l-ʿ-l → “haply”

literal: perhaps; perchance; hopefully

يقومنّ

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: station; people; place

وينصرنّ

n-ṣ-r → “aid”

literal: help; victory; helper

المظلوم

ẓ-l-m → “wronged One”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

ابتلي

b-l-w → “afflicted”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity

بين

b-y-n

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

يدي

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; action; possession

هؤلاء

h-ʾ-l

literal: these

الفجّار

f-j-r → “the workers of iniquity”

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

إذًا

ʾ-dh-n

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

روح

r-w-ḥ

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

القدس

q-d-s

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ينطق

n-ṭ-q

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶