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Gleanings — §710

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 710 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

این مقام ثابت باشید و ناس را بسلطان معلوم که بهیکل مخصوص ظاهر و بکلمات مخصوصه ناطقست هدایت کنید اینست جوهر ایمان و ایقان نفوسی که باوهام خود معتکف شده‌اند و اسم آن را باطن گذاشته‌اند فی‌الحقیقه عبدهٴ اصنامند کذلک شهد الرّحمن فی الألواح انّه لهو العلیم الحکیم

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Do thou beseech God to enable thee to remain steadfast in this path, and to aid thee to guide the peoples of the world to Him Who is the manifest and sovereign Ruler, Who hath revealed Himself in a distinct attire, Who giveth utterance to a Divine and specific Message. This is the essence of faith and certitude. They that are the worshipers of the idol which their imaginations have carved, and who call it Inner Reality, such men are in truth accounted among the heathen. To this hath the All-Merciful borne witness in His Tablets. He, verily, is the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

Translation Notes

این
ʾ-y-n → “this”

literal: this; these

مقام
q-w-m → “path” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ثابت
th-b-t → “steadfast”

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

باشید
b-w-d → “is” Distinctive

literal: to be; to exist; to remain

ناس
n-ʾ-s → “peoples”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

را
r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بسلطان
s-l-ṭ → “sovereign Ruler” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

معلوم
ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

که
k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

بهیکل
h-y-k-l → “form”

literal: Bahá’í; of Bahá; splendor; glory; splendor, glory, radiance, majesty; Bahá (the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh)

مخصوص
kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled out” Distinctive

literal: specific matter; particularity; especially; in this matter

ظاهر
ẓ-h-r → “hath revealed Himself”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

بکلمات
k-l-m → “utterance”

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

ناطقست
n-ṭ-q

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

هدایت
h-d-y → “guide”

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

کنید
k-r-d → “hath” Distinctive

literal: do; to do; do, make

اینست
h-s-t → “This”

literal: is; be; are

جوهر
j-w-h-r → “essence”

literal: jewel; essence; gem; substance

ایمان
ʾ-m-n → “faith”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

ایقان
y-q-n → “certitude”

literal: certainty; certitude; conviction; faith

نفوسی
n-f-s → “They that are”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

باوهام
w-h-m → “imaginations”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

خود
kh-w-d → “their”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

معتکف
ʿ-k-f → “Seclude not yourselves” Distinctive

literal: to seclude oneself; to devote oneself; to be occupied with

شده‌اند
sh-d

literal: become; turned into; has become; to become; to be

اسم
s-m-w

literal: name; title; designation

آن
ʾ-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

باطن
b-ṭ-n → “Inner Reality”

literal: inner; hidden; inward; esoteric

گذاشته‌اند
g-dh-r → “renounced”

literal: did not leave; did not allow; left no room for

فی‌الحقیقه
ḥ-q-q → “in truth”

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

عبدهٴ
ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

اصنامند
ṣ-n-m → “idols” Distinctive

literal: idol; statue

کذلک
dh-l-k

literal: thus; likewise; also

شهد
sh-h-d → “borne witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

الرّحمن
r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

فی
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الألواح
l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

انّه
ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

لهو
h-w → “is”

literal: to distract; to divert; to amuse

الحکیم
ḥ-k-m → “All-Wise”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 ¶
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Fire Tablet

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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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Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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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 ¶
Kitáb-i-Íqán cover

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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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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 ¶
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‘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 ¶