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Gleanings — §677

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 677 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

چشم ودیعهٴ من است او را بغبار نفس و هوی تیره مکن و گوش مظهر جود من است او را باعراض مشتهیهٴ نفسیّه از اصغاء کلمهٴ جامعه بازمدار قلب خزینهٴ من است لآلی مکنونهٴ آن را بنفس سارقه و هوس خائن مسپار دست علامت عنایت من است آن را از اخذ الواح مستورهٴ محفوظه محروم منما...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its luster. Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My Word that encompasseth all creation. Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets.… Unasked, I have showered upon thee My grace.

Translation Notes

چشم
ch-sh-m → “eye”

literal: eye; vision; sight

ودیعهٴ
w-d-ʿ → “trust”

literal: deposit, trust, pledge

من
m-n → “My” Distinctive

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

است
b-w-d → “is”

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

او
h-w-w

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بغبار
gh-b-r → “dust of vain desires”

literal: dust; particles

هوی
h-w-y

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

تیره
t-y-r → “obscured”

literal: arrow; dark; gloomy

مکن
k-r-d → “suffer not”

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

گوش
g-w-sh → “ear”

literal: ear; hearing; to listen

مظهر
ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

جود
j-w-d → “bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

باعراض
ʿ-r-ḍ → “turn it away” Distinctive

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

مشتهیهٴ
sh-h-w → “unseemly motives”

literal: desired; lusted for; coveted

نفسیّه
n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

از
ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

اصغاء
ṣ-gh-w → “hear”

literal: to listen, hear; to give ear

کلمهٴ
k-l-m → “Word”

literal: word; words; speak

جامعه
j-m-ʿ → “encompasseth all creation”

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

بازمدار
d-r → “in”

literal: cycle; dispensation; age; turn; round

قلب
q-l-b → “heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

خزینهٴ
kh-z-n → “treasury”

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

لآلی
l-ʾ-l → “pearls”

literal: pearls; gems; precious things

مکنونهٴ
k-n-n → “concealed” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform

آن
ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

سارقه
s-r-q → “stolen” Distinctive

literal: thief; robber; stealer

هوس
h-w-s

literal: passion; lust; inordinate desire; whim; folly

خائن
kh-w-n

literal: betrayal, treachery, disloyalty; betraying; treachery; betrayal; unfaithfulness

مسپار
s-p-r-d → “rob thee”

literal: to entrust; to commit; to deliver

دست
d-s-t → “hand”

literal: hand; control, power, authority

علامت
ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

عنایت
ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness”

literal: bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention

اخذ
ʾ-kh-dh → “arrested”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

الواح
l-w-ḥ → “Tablets.…”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

مستورهٴ
s-t-r → “hidden”

literal: hidden; concealed; veil

محفوظه
ḥ-f-ẓ → “guarded”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

محروم
ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: sanctity, inviolability, dignity, honor, respect

منما...
n-m-ʾ

literal: to show, display, exhibit; to grow, develop

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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5 ¶
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Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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57 ¶
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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 ¶
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59 ¶