Skip to main content

Gleanings — §676

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 676 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

دیگر چاره از دست رود و امور از شصت شمع باقی بی‌فانوس روشن و منیر گشته و تمام حجبات فانی را سوخته ای پروانگان بی‌پروا بشتابید و بر آتش زنید و ای عاشقان بیدل و جان بر معشوق بیائید و بی‌رقیب نزد محبوب دوید گل مستور ببازار آمد بی ستر و حجاب آمد و بکلّ ارواح مقدّسه ندای وصل میزند چه نیکو است اقبال مقبلین فهنیئاً للفائزین بأنوار حسن بدیع

Shoghi Effendi Translation

The everlasting Candle shineth in its naked glory. Behold how it hath consumed every mortal veil. O ye moth-like lovers of His light! Brave every danger, and consecrate your souls to its consuming flame. O ye that thirst after Him! Strip yourselves of every earthly affection, and hasten to embrace your Beloved. With a zest that none can equal make haste to attain unto Him. The Flower, thus far hidden from the sight of men, is unveiled to your eyes. In the open radiance of His glory He standeth before you. His voice summoneth all the holy and sanctified beings to come and be united with Him. Happy is he that turneth thereunto; well is it with him that hath attained, and gazed on the light of so wondrous a countenance.

Translation Notes

دیگر

literal: home; place; land; abode

چاره

literal: remedy; cure; solution; means; way

از

literal: from

دست

literal: hand; control, power, authority

رود

literal: to go; to come; to proceed

امور

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

شصت

literal: sixty (numeral)

شمع

literal: candle, lamp, light

باقی

literal: remaining; everlasting; eternal; immortal

روشن

literal: light; illumination; brilliance; clarity

منیر
n-w-r “light” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

گشته

literal: become; became; to become

تمام

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

حجبات

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

فانی

literal: annihilation; perishing; extinction; cessation; the threshold

را

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

سوخته

literal: to burn; to consume; to be inflamed

ای
ʾ-y-y “signs” Distinctive

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

بشتابید

literal: to hasten; to hurry; hastily

بر

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

آتش

literal: fire; flame

بیدل

literal: heart; core; courage

جان

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

معشوق

literal: love, passion, ardor

نزد

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

محبوب

literal: love; affection

دوید
d-w

literal: to run; to hasten; to strive; ran; rushed

گل
g-l “Flower” Distinctive

literal: rose-garden; garden of flowers

مستور

literal: to veil; to conceal; to cover; veil; covering

ببازار

literal: free from, disgusted with, weary of, averse to

آمد

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

بی
b-y

literal: without; is; to

بکلّ

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

ارواح

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

مقدّسه

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

ندای

literal: call; voice; cry; summons

وصل

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

چه

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

نیکو
n-y-k “well is it with” Distinctive

literal: good, well, proper, beautiful

است

literal: to be; are (third person plural present copula)

اقبال
q-b-l “turneth” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

فهنیئاً

literal: there; in that place; happy; congratulation

للفائزین
f-w-z “hath attained” Distinctive

literal: triumphant; victorious; successful

حسن
ḥ-s-n “most excellent” Distinctive

literal: goodness; beauty; excellence; good deed

بدیع

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶