Gleanings — §684

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 684 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

حال ای عباد از سراج قدس منير صمدانی که در مشکاة عزّ ربّانی مشتعل و مضیء است خود را ممنوع ننمائيد و سراج حبّ الهی را بدُهن هدايت در مشکاة استقامت در صدر منير خود بر افروزيد و بزجاج توکّل و انقطاع از ما سوی اللّه از هبوب انفاس مشرکين حفظش نمائيد ای بندگان مَثَل ظهور قدس احديّتم مِثلِ بحريست که در قعر و عمق آن لئالی لطيفه منيره ازيد از احصاء مستور باشد و هر طالبی البتّه بايد کمر جهد و طلب بسته بشاطی آن بحر در آيد تا قسمت مقدّره در الواح محتومه مکنونه را علی قدر طلبه و جهده اخذ نمايد حال اگر احدی بشاطی قدسش قدم نگذارد و در طلب او قيام ننمايد هيچ از آن بحر و لئالی آن کم شود و يا نقصی بر او وارد آيد فبئس ما توهّمتم فی انفسکم و ساء ما انتم تتوهّمون ای بندگان تاللّه الحقّ آن بحر اعظم لجّی و موّاج بسی نزديک و قريب است بلکه اقرب از حبل وريد . بآنی بآن فيض صمدانی و فضل سبحانی وَ جود رحمانی و کرم عزّ ابهائی واصل شويد و فائز گرديد

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O My servants! Deprive not yourselves of the unfading and resplendent Light that shineth within the Lamp of Divine glory. Let the flame of the love of God burn brightly within your radiant hearts. Feed it with the oil of Divine guidance, and protect it within the shelter of your constancy. Guard it within the globe of trust and detachment from all else but God, so that the evil whisperings of the ungodly may not extinguish its light. O My servants! My holy, My divinely ordained Revelation may be likened unto an ocean in whose depths are concealed innumerable pearls of great price, of surpassing luster. It is the duty of every seeker to bestir himself and strive to attain the shores of this ocean, so that he may, in proportion to the eagerness of his search and the efforts he hath exerted, partake of such benefits as have been preordained in God’s irrevocable and hidden Tablets. If no one be willing to direct his steps towards its shores, if every one should fail to arise and find Him, can such a failure be said to have robbed this ocean of its power or to have lessened, to any degree, its treasures? How vain, how contemptible, are the imaginations which your hearts have devised, and are still devising! O My servants! The one true God is My witness! This most great, this fathomless and surging Ocean is near, astonishingly near, unto you. Behold it is closer to you than your life-vein! Swift as the twinkling of an eye ye can, if ye but wish it, reach and partake of this imperishable favor, this God-given grace, this incorruptible gift, this most potent and unspeakably glorious bounty.

Translation Notes

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

سراج

s-r-j → “lamp”

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

قدس

q-d-s → “holy”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

منير

n-w-r → “resplendent”

literal: light; illumination

صمدانی

ṣ-m-d → “everlasting”

literal: eternal, self-sufficient, divine, the Eternal

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

در

d-r-r → “in”

literal: in; in, at; radiant

مشکاة

sh-k-w → “complain” Distinctive

literal: niche; chamber; recess

عزّ

ʿ-z-z → “glorious bounty” Distinctive

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

ربّانی

r-b-b

literal: education; upbringing; training; cultivation

مشتعل

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to burn; to be inflamed; to kindle; burning; blazing

مضیء

ḍ-w-ʾ → “Light” Distinctive

literal: to pass, go by; have passed; past; bygone

خود

kh-w-d → “their own”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

ممنوع

m-n-ʿ

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

ننمائيد

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show; to display; to make; to render; to perform; display; show; emblem; reflection

حبّ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بدُهن

d-h-n → “oil”

literal: they give; they provide; they attribute

هدايت

h-d-y → “Divine guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

استقامت

q-w-m → “shelter of your constancy”

literal: sickness; disease; ailment

صدر

ṣ-d-r → “breasts”

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

افروزيد

f-r-w-z → “kindle” Distinctive

literal: to kindle; to light; to ignite; to inflame

بزجاج

z-j-j → “globe”

literal: glass

توکّل

w-k-l → “trust”

literal: agency; representation; trusteeship; delegated authority; to rely; to trust; to place trust in

انقطاع

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detachment”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

سوی

s-w-y → “all else” Distinctive

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

هبوب

h-b-b → “wafted” Distinctive

literal: blowing; onset; rushing of wind

انفاس

n-f-s → “souls” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

مشرکين

sh-r-k → “ungodly” Distinctive

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

حفظش

ḥ-f-ẓ → “protect it”

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

بندگان

b-n-d → “servants”

literal: servants; bondsmen; slaves

مَثَل

m-th-l → “likened” Distinctive

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

احديّتم

ʾ-ḥ-d → “divinely ordained” Distinctive

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

بحريست

b-ḥ-r → “ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

قعر

q-ʿ-r → “been uprooted” Distinctive

literal: to be torn up, uprooted; to be overturned

عمق

ʿ-m-q

literal: depth; to go deep, fathom

آن

ʾ-n → “this” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

لئالی

l-ʾ-l → “pearls”

literal: night; darkness

لطيفه

l-ṭ-f

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

ازيد

z-y-d

literal: increase; excess; more; additional; to increase; to grow; to be added

احصاء

ḥ-ṣ-y → “countless” Distinctive

literal: unnumbered, innumerable, countless, beyond count; to count; to enumerate; to be reckoned

مستور

s-t-r → “concealed”

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

باشد

b-w-d → “may be”

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

هر

h-r → “every”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

طالبی

ṭ-l-b → “seeker”

literal: seeker, one who seeks; those who seek

البتّه

b-t-t

literal: certainly; certainly, definitely; absolute

بايد

b-y-d → “should”

literal: by hand; with hands; eternal; perpetual; everlasting

کمر

k-m-r

literal: loins; waist; to gird

جهد

j-h-d → “strive”

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

بسته

b-s-t

literal: bound; tied; dependent; fastened

بشاطی

sh-ṭ-ʾ → “shores”

literal: shore; bank; coast; beach

آيد

ʾ-y-d

literal: come; support; may aid

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

قسمت

q-s-m

literal: oath; division; kind; type

مقدّره

q-d-r → “power” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

الواح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

محتومه

ḥ-t-m → “irrevocable”

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

مکنونه

k-n-n → “hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

علی

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh

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

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

احدی

ʾ-ḥ-d → “no one be” Distinctive

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

قدم

q-d-m → “steps” Distinctive

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

نگذارد

g-dh-r → “renounced” Distinctive

literal: to deem; to regard; to consider; to hold

او

h-w-w → “is”

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

هيچ

h-y-ch → “any”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

کم

k-m-m → “How many”

literal: how many

يا

y-ʾ

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

نقصی

n-q-ṣ

literal: deficiency; lack; diminution

فبئس

b-ʾ-s → “Wretched”

literal: wretched; adversity; harm

توهّمتم

w-h-m → “imaginations”

literal: illusion; fancy; illusions

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

ساء

s-w-ʾ → “thy sins” Distinctive

literal: worst; evil; bad; other than; besides; save; except

انتم

n-t-m

literal: you

الحقّ

ḥ-q-q → “true” Distinctive

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “most great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

لجّی

l-j-j → “ocean” Distinctive

literal: depth; ocean; depths

موّاج

m-w-j → “surging”

literal: wave; billows; surge

بسی

b-s-y → “greatly” Distinctive

literal: many; much; very

نزديک

n-z-d → “unto” Distinctive

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

بلکه

b-l-k

literal: nay; but rather; on the contrary; but

اقرب

q-r-b → “nearness” Distinctive

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

حبل

ḥ-b-l

literal: cord; rope; bond; connection

وريد

w-r-d → “hath befallen” Distinctive

literal: to enter, to come, to befall, to arrive

بآنی

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

فيض

f-y-ḍ → “favor, this God-given grace”

literal: flood; abundance; overflow; emanation; grace; overflowing; emanating; surplus

فضل

f-ḍ-l

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

سبحانی

s-b-ḥ

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

جود

j-w-d

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

رحمانی

r-ḥ-m

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

کرم

k-r-m → “glorious bounty”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

ابهائی

b-h-ʾ

literal: glory; to; splendor

واصل

w-ṣ-l → “reach and partake”

literal: reunion; union; meeting; connection

شويد

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

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

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

گرديد

g-r-d

literal: Persian verb گردیدن (to become/turn), not from Arabic ك-ر-د

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 ¶