Gleanings — §718

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 718 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

بگو آبشخور این طیور، صحرائی دیگر و مقامی دیگر است. من یقدر أن یطفيء ما أناره الله بیده البیضآء و من یستطیع أن یخمد ما اشعلته ید قدرة ربّک القویّ الغالب القدیر. اشتعال نار فتنه را ید قدرت خاموش نمود، إنّه هو المقتدر علی ما یشآء بقوله: کن فیکون. قل إنّ جبل سکون أصفیائی لا یتزعزع من أریاح العالم و لا من قواصف الأمم. سبحان ‌الله این قوم را چه بر آن داشت که اولیای حقّ را اسیر نمایند و بحبس فرستند… سوف یرون المخلصون شمس العدل مشرقة من أفق العلآء کذلک یخبرک مولی الوری فی سجنه المتین...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: The springs that sustain the life of these birds are not of this world. Their source is far above the reach and ken of human apprehension. Who is there that can put out the light which the snow-white Hand of God hath lit? Where is he to be found that hath the power to quench the fire which hath been kindled through the might of thy Lord, the All-Powerful, the All-Compelling, the Almighty? It is the Hand of Divine might that hath extinguished the flames of dissension. Powerful is He to do that which He pleaseth. He saith: Be; and it is. Say: The fierce gales and whirlwinds of the world and its peoples can never shake the foundation upon which the rocklike stability of My chosen ones is based. Gracious God! What could have prompted these people to enslave and imprison the loved ones of Him Who is the Eternal Truth?… The day, however, is approaching when the faithful will behold the Daystar of justice shining in its full splendor from the Dayspring of glory. Thus instructeth thee the Lord of all being in this, His grievous Prison.

Translation Notes

بگو

g-w-y → “Say”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

این

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

طیور،

ṭ-y-r → “birds”

literal: bird; birds; flying creature

صحرائی

ṣ-ḥ-r → “wilds” Distinctive

literal: desert; wilderness

دیگر

d-g-r

literal: home; place; land; abode

است.

b-w-d

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

من

m-n → “Who” Distinctive

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

یقدر

q-d-r → “can”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

أن

ʾ-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

یطفيء

ṭ-f-ʾ → “put out”

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

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أناره

n-w-r → “light” Distinctive

literal: light; illumination

الله

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بیده

y-d-y → “Hand of”

literal: hand; power; control

البیضآء

b-y-ḍ → “snow-white”

literal: white; pure

یستطیع

ṭ-w-ʿ → “obey” Distinctive

literal: obedience; obeyed; obedient

یخمد

kh-m-d → “quench”

literal: to extinguish, quench, suppress

اشعلته

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to kindle, burn, be inflamed; to blaze

ید

y-d-y → “Hand”

literal: hand; power; control

ربّک

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: Lord; lord; divine

القویّ

q-w-y → “All-Powerful”

literal: strength; power; might; piety; fear of God; godliness

الغالب

gh-l-b → “ascendancy” Distinctive

literal: to overcome, overpower, vanquish, prevail

نار

n-ʾ-r → “fire”

literal: light; illumination

فتنه

f-t-n → “sedition”

literal: trial; tribulation; temptation; sedition; discord; strife

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

خاموش

kh-m-sh → “extinguished”

literal: to extinguish; to quench; to silence; silent

نمود،

n-m-ʾ → “will” Distinctive

literal: to become; to be

إنّه

ʾ-n-n

literal: I, verily; behold I

هو

h-w → “He”

literal: He; He is

یشآء

sh-y-ʾ → “pleaseth” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

بقوله:

q-w-l → “saith”

literal: speech; utterance; saying; word

کن

k-w-n → “Be”

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

فیکون.

k-w-n → “is”

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

جبل

j-b-l → “mountains”

literal: mountain; nature, constitution; to create, to form

سکون

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

أصفیائی

ṣ-f-w → “chosen ones”

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

یتزعزع

z-ʿ-z-ʿ → “trembled” Distinctive

literal: to be shaken; to tremble; to shake

أریاح

r-w-ḥ → “spirit” Distinctive

literal: to throw; to cast; Aramaic/Persian proper name reference; to throw, cast, shoot; to pelt; to shoot

العالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

قواصف

q-ṣ-f → “gales” Distinctive

literal: breaking; violent winds; destroying forces

الأمم.

ʾ-m-m → “peoples”

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

سبحان

s-b-ḥ → “Gracious”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

قوم

q-w-m → “people”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

چه

ch-h

literal: what; what/for; whatsoever, that which

بر

b-r-r → “upon”

literal: on; on, upon; upon

داشت

d-ʾ-sh-t → “hath”

literal: to have; to possess; to hold

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

اولیای

w-l-y → “loved ones”

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

حقّ

ḥ-q-q → “Eternal Truth?…”

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

اسیر

ʾ-s-r → “captives”

literal: captive; exile; captives

بحبس

ḥ-b-s → “cast Him into prison” Distinctive

literal: to confine; to detain; prison

سوف

s-w-f → “Ere long will”

literal: shall; will (future marker)

یرون

r-ʾ-y → “behold” Distinctive

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

المخلصون

kh-l-ṣ → “faithful”

literal: sincere; devoted; pure one

شمس

sh-m-s → “Daystar”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

العدل

ʿ-d-l → “justice”

literal: justice; equity

مشرقة

sh-r-q → “shining”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

أفق

ʾ-f-q

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

العلآء

ʿ-l-w → “glory”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus”

literal: thus; likewise; also

یخبرک

kh-b-r → “All-Informed” Distinctive

literal: all-knowing; aware; well-informed; omniscient

الوری

w-r-y → “all being” Distinctive

literal: mankind; people; human beings; behind; after

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

سجنه

s-j-n → “Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

المتین...

m-t-n → “mighty”

literal: firm, strong, robust, steadfast

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 ¶