Gleanings — §692

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 692 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

إنّ الّذين أوتوا بصآئر من الله يرون حدود الله السّبب الأعظم لنظم العالم وحفظ الأمم والّذي غفل إنّه من همج رعاع إنّا أمرناكم بكسر حدودات النّفس والهوى لا ما رقم من القلم الأعلى إنّه لروح الحيوان لمن في الإمكان قد ماجت بحور الحكمة والبيان بما هاجت نسمة الرّحمن اغتنموا يا أولي الألباب إن الّذين نكثوا عهد الله في أوامره ونكصوا على أعقابهم أولئك من أهل الضّلال لدى الغنيّ المتعال

Shoghi Effendi Translation

They whom God hath endued with insight will readily recognize that the precepts laid down by God constitute the highest means for the maintenance of order in the world and the security of its peoples. He that turneth away from them, is accounted among the abject and foolish. We, verily, have commanded you to refuse the dictates of your evil passions and corrupt desires, and not to transgress the bounds which the Pen of the Most High hath fixed, for these are the breath of life unto all created things. The seas of Divine wisdom and divine utterance have risen under the breath of the breeze of the All-Merciful. Hasten to drink your fill, O men of understanding! They that have violated the Covenant of God by breaking His commandments, and have turned back on their heels, these have erred grievously in the sight of God, the All-Possessing, the Most High.

Translation Notes

إنّ

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الّذين

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

أوتوا

ʾ-t-y → “come” Distinctive

literal: to be able; to can

بصآئر

b-ṣ-r → “insight”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

من

m-n → “from”

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

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

يرون

r-ʾ-y → “recognize”

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

حدود

ḥ-d-d → “precepts”

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

السّبب

s-b-b → “highest means” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

الأعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

لنظم

n-ẓ-m → “maintenance of order”

literal: order; arrangement; organization; system

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وحفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “security” Distinctive

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

الأمم

ʾ-m-m → “peoples”

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

والّذي

dh-w-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: who; which; that which

غفل

gh-f-l → “heedless” Distinctive

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: I, verily; behold I

همج

h-m-j → “abject”

literal: vain; base-born; worthless; confused rabble

رعاع

r-ʿ-ʿ → “foolish”

literal: rabble; base people; contemptible; foolish; vile

أمرناكم

ʾ-m-r → “have commanded you”

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

بكسر

k-s-r → “degradation” Distinctive

literal: breaking; ravening; destructive

النّفس

n-f-s → “your” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

والهوى

h-w-y → “passions and corrupt desires”

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

رقم

r-q-m → “recorded”

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

القلم

q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

الأعلى

ʿ-l-w → “Most High”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

لروح

r-w-ḥ → “breath” Distinctive

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

الحيوان

ḥ-y-w → “life”

literal: life; living being; animal

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الإمكان

m-k-n → “created things”

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

قد

q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

ماجت

m-w-j → “surged” Distinctive

literal: wave; waves; surge

بحور

b-ḥ-r → “seas”

literal: sea; ocean

الحكمة

ḥ-k-m → “wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

والبيان

b-y-n → “utterance”

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

هاجت

h-y-j

literal: to set in motion, to excite, to stir; to blow (of winds)

نسمة

n-s-m → “breath of the breeze”

literal: heaven; sky

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

اغتنموا

gh-n-m → “flock” Distinctive

literal: booty; spoil; gain; treasure; advantage

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

أولي

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

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

الألباب

l-b-b → “understanding”

literal: core; essence; intellect; hearts (of understanding)

نكثوا

n-k-th → “violated”

literal: one who breaks covenant; covenant-breaker

عهد

ʿ-h-d → “Covenant”

literal: covenant; testament; promise; command

ونكصوا

n-k-ṣ → “turned back”

literal: to turn back; to recoil; to retreat

أعقابهم

ʿ-q-b → “retribution” Distinctive

literal: behind; heels; height

أهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

الضّلال

ḍ-l-l → “error”

literal: error; straying; misguidance; delusion; falsehood

لدى

l-d-y → “at”

literal: with; in the presence of; from; by

الغنيّ

gh-n-y → “All-Possessing”

literal: to be independent of; to be in no need of; to dispense with; rich; wealthy; needless

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 ¶