Gleanings — §711

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 711 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

جهد کن که شاید نفسی را بشریعهٴ رحمن وارد نمائی این از افضل اعمال عند غنیّ متعال مذکور و بشأنی بر امر الهی مستقیم باش که هیچ امری تو را از خدمتی که بآن مأموری منع ننماید اگرچه من علی الأرض بمعارضه و مجادله

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Gird up the loins of thine endeavor, that haply thou mayest guide thy neighbor to the law of God, the Most Merciful. Such an act, verily, excelleth all other acts in the sight of God, the All-Possessing, the Most High. Such must be thy steadfastness in the Cause of God, that no earthly thing whatsoever will have the power to deter thee from thy duty. Though the powers of earth be leagued against thee, though all men dispute with thee, thou must remain unshaken.

Translation Notes

جهد

j-h-d

literal: effort; striving; exertion; endeavor

کن

k-w-n

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

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

شاید

sh-y-d → “haply”

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

نفسی

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بشریعهٴ

sh-r-ʿ → “to the law” Distinctive

literal: law; legislation; religious law; canon; ordinance

رحمن

r-ḥ-m → “Most Merciful” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

وارد

w-r-d → “hath befallen” Distinctive

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

نمائی

n-m-ʾ → “mayest”

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

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

از

ʾ-z → “from”

literal: from

افضل

f-ḍ-l → “excelleth”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

اعمال

ʿ-m-l → “all other acts”

literal: to work; to act; to do; to perform

عند

ʿ-n-d → “in the sight” Distinctive

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

غنیّ

gh-n-y → “All-Possessing”

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

متعال

ʿ-l-w → “Most High”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مذکور

dh-k-r → “mentioned”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

بشأنی

sh-ʾ-n → “Such must be thy steadfastness”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

بر

b-r-r → “in” Distinctive

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

الهی

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

مستقیم

q-w-m

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

باش

b-w-d

literal: be, exist; do not be (in negative imperative)

هیچ

h-y-ch → “any”

literal: nothing; any; not a single

امری

ʾ-m-r

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

تو

t-w-w → “thou”

literal: you

خدمتی

kh-d-m → “serve”

literal: service; servitude; to serve

بآن

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

منع

m-n-ʿ → “deter” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

من

m-n

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

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “the powers of earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

بمعارضه

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

مجادله

j-d-l → “conflict” Distinctive

literal: justice; equity

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 ¶