Gleanings — §697

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 697 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

وجه حقّ از افق اعلی باهل بها توجه نموده میفرماید در جمیع احوال بآنچه سبب آسایش خلق است مشغول باشید همّت را در تربیت اهل عالم مصروف دارید که شاید نفاق و اختلاف از مابین امم باسم اعظم محو شود و کل اهل یک بساط و یک مدینه مشاهده شوند قلب را منوّر دارید و از خار و خاشاک ضغینه و بغضا مطهّر نمائید کل اهل یک عالمید و از یک کلمه خلق شده‌اید نیکوست حال نفسی که بمحبّت تمام با عموم انام معاشرت نماید

Shoghi Effendi Translation

He Who is the Eternal Truth hath, from the Dayspring of Glory, directed His eyes towards the people of Bahá, and is addressing them in these words: “Address yourselves to the promotion of the well-being and tranquillity of the children of men. Bend your minds and wills to the education of the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply the dissensions that divide it may, through the power of the Most Great Name, be blotted out from its face, and all mankind become the upholders of one Order, and the inhabitants of one City. Illumine and hallow your hearts; let them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.”

Translation Notes

وجه

w-j-h → “face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “Eternal Truth”

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

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

افق

ʾ-f-q → “Dayspring” Distinctive

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

اعلی

ʿ-l-w → “of Glory” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

باهل

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

بها

b-h-w → “All-Glorious” Distinctive

literal: by it; by him; with it

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

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

میفرماید

f-r-m → “saith”

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

در

d-r-r → “to” Distinctive

literal: in; in, at; radiant

جمیع

j-m-ʿ

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

احوال

ḥ-w-l

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

بآنچه

b-ch-h

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

سبب

s-b-b

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

آسایش

ʾ-s-y → “well-being”

literal: shadow; shade; shelter; protection

خلق

kh-l-q → “children of men” Distinctive

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

است

b-w-d

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

مشغول

sh-gh-l → “busied”

literal: to occupy; to engage; to busy; occupation

همّت

h-m-m → “endeavor”

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

تربیت

r-b-y → “education”

literal: education; upbringing; training; cultivation

اهل

ʾ-h-l → “peoples”

literal: supplication; earnest entreaty; imploring

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “of the earth” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

مصروف

ṣ-r-f

literal: pure; absolute; to turn away; to expend

دارید

d-ʾ-r

literal: to have; to hold; to possess; to maintain

که

k-h → “that”

literal: that; who; who, that

شاید

sh-y-d → “haply”

literal: perhaps, perchance, haply, maybe, possibly; to become; to be; to happen; to occur

نفاق

n-f-q → “sacrificed” Distinctive

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

اختلاف

kh-l-f

literal: opposing; contrary; conflicting

مابین

b-y-n

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

امم

ʾ-m-m → “before” Distinctive

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

باسم

s-m-w → “heaven” Distinctive

literal: harm; strength; blame; hardship, adversity, tribulation, distress

اعظم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great Name”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

محو

m-ḥ-w → “be blotted out” Distinctive

literal: to efface; to obliterate; to blot out; to cause to disappear

کل

k-l-l → “all mankind”

literal: for us; to us

یک

y-k → “one Order”

literal: one; a single

بساط

b-s-ṭ

literal: carpet; mat; carpet of realm; expanse; table; surface

مدینه

m-d-n → “City”

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

مشاهده

sh-h-d

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

قلب

q-l-b → “your hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

منوّر

n-w-r → “Illumine”

literal: light; illumination

خار

kh-y-r → “good” Distinctive

literal: thornland; place of thorns; wilderness

خاشاک

kh-sh-k → “thorns and briars”

literal: chaff; refuse; sweepings

ضغینه

ḍ-gh-n → “hate”

literal: rancor, hatred, malice, spite

بغضا

b-gh-ḍ → “malice” Distinctive

literal: hatred; enmity; animosity

مطهّر

ṭ-h-r → “pure” Distinctive

literal: to purify; to cleanse

نمائید

n-m-ʾ → “may” Distinctive

literal: to show, to display, to manifest, to exhibit; to manifest; to display; to show

کلمه

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

شده‌اید

sh-w-d → “have been”

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

نیکوست

n-y-k → “Well is it”

literal: good, well, proper, beautiful

نفسی

n-f-s → “he” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بمحبّت

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

تمام

t-m-m

literal: most complete; to complete; perfect; fullness

با

b-ʾ-ʾ

literal: to; with; by

عموم

ʿ-m-m → “all men”

literal: universal; general; public; comprehensive

انام

ʾ-n-m

literal: to sleep; to slumber

معاشرت

ʿ-sh-r → “associated”

literal: association; companionship; social interaction

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 ¶