Gleanings — §707

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 707 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

موحّد الیوم نفسیست که حقّ را مقدّس از اشباح و امثال ملاحظه نماید نه آنکه امثال و اشباح را حقّ داند مثلاً ملاحظه کن از صانع صنعی ظاهر میشود و از نقّاش نقشی حال اگر گفته شود این صنعت و نقش نفس صانع و نقّاش است هذا کذب وربّ العرش و الثّری بلکه مدلّند بر ظهور کمالیّهٴ صانع و نقّاش

Shoghi Effendi Translation

He is indeed a true believer in the unity of God who, in this Day, will regard Him as One immeasurably exalted above all the comparisons and likenesses with which men have compared Him. He hath erred grievously who hath mistaken these comparisons and likenesses for God Himself. Consider the relation between the craftsman and his handiwork, between the painter and his painting. Can it ever be maintained that the work their hands have produced is the same as themselves? By Him Who is the Lord of the Throne above and of earth below! They can be regarded in no other light except as evidences that proclaim the excellence and perfection of their author.

Translation Notes

موحّد

w-ḥ-d → “true believer”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

الیوم

y-w-m → “in this Day”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

نفسیست

n-f-s → “He is indeed”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “regard Him as One” Distinctive

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

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

مقدّس

q-d-s → “immeasurably exalted above”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

اشباح

sh-b-ḥ → “shadowy” Distinctive

literal: doubt; uncertainty; suspicion; resemblance; semblance

امثال

m-th-l → “likenesses”

literal: like; example; parable; similitude

ملاحظه

l-ḥ-ẓ → “Consider”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

نماید

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

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

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

آنکه

ʾ-n → “to” Distinctive

literal: that; indeed; that, to

داند

d-ʾ-n → “considered” Distinctive

literal: to know; to understand; to recognize

کن

k-w-n

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

صانع

ṣ-n-ʿ → “craftsman”

literal: to guard; to protect; to preserve

میشود

sh-w-d

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

نقّاش

n-q-sh → “seal” Distinctive

literal: design; pattern; to inscribe; imprint

حال

ḥ-w-l

literal: state; condition; circumstance

اگر

ʾ-g-r

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

گفته

g-f-t

literal: utterance; speech; word; discourse

این

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

است

b-w-d → “is”

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ

literal: this; that

کذب

k-dh-b → “falsehood”

literal: denial; belying; falsification; rejection

وربّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العرش

ʿ-r-sh → “of the Throne above”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

الثّری

th-r-y → “and of earth below”

literal: earth; dust; earth/dust

بلکه

b-l-k

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

مدلّند

d-l-l → “evidences”

literal: proof; indicating; evidence

بر

b-r-r

literal: on; on, upon; upon

ظهور

ẓ-h-r → “proclaim” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

کمالیّهٴ

k-m-l → “excellence and perfection”

literal: perfection; complete; with perfection

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 ¶