Gleanings — §74

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 74 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

الّا من شاء اللّه هر روز ارض در بلای جديدی مشاهده ميشود و آناً فآناً در تزايد است از حين نزول سوره رئيس تا اين يوم نه ارض بسکون فائز است و نه عباد باطمينان مزيّن گاهی مجادله گاهی محاربه گاهی امراض مزمنه مرض عالم بمقامی رسيده که نزديک بيأس است چه که طبيب ممنوع و متطبّب مقبول و مشغول ... غبار نفاق قلوب را اخذ نموده و ابصار را احاطه کرده سوف يرون ما عملوا فی ايّام اللّه کذلک ينبّئک الخبير من لدن مقتدر قدير ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every day. Its tribulation is continually deepening. From the moment the Súriy-i-Ra’ís (Tablet to Ra’ís) was revealed until the present day, neither hath the world been tranquillized, nor have the hearts of its peoples been at rest. At one time it hath been agitated by contentions and disputes, at another it hath been convulsed by wars, and fallen a victim to inveterate diseases. Its sickness is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the true Physician is debarred from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are regarded with favor, and are accorded full freedom to act.… The dust of sedition hath clouded the hearts of men, and blinded their eyes. Erelong, they will perceive the consequences of what their hands have wrought in the Day of God. Thus warneth you He Who is the All-Informed, as bidden by One Who is the Most Powerful, the Almighty.

Translation Notes

الّا

ʾ-kh-r

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

من

m-n

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

شاء

sh-y-ʾ

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “in the Day of God”

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

هر

h-r → “every day”

literal: whatever; all that; whatever thing

روز

r-w-z → “every day”

literal: day; today; that-day

ارض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “world” Distinctive

literal: earth; land; ground; country

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

بلای

b-l-w → “fresh calamity”

literal: no; not; negation particle

جديدی

j-d-d

literal: new, novel, renewed; novelty, innovation

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “Witness how”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

ميشود

sh-w-d → “be” Distinctive

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

آناً

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

فآناً

ʾ-n-ʾ → “am I”

literal: I

تزايد

z-y-d

literal: increase; excess; more; additional

است

b-w-d → “been tranquillized”

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

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

حين

ḥ-y-n → “From the moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

نزول

n-z-l → “revealed”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

سوره

s-w-r → “riding” Distinctive

literal: chapter (of Qurʾan); surah

رئيس

r-ʾ-s

literal: chief; leader; head; president; beginning

تا

t-y-y

literal: so that/until

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

يوم

y-w-m → “present day”

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

نه

n-h-y

literal: end; ended; utmost

بسکون

s-k-n → “inmates” Distinctive

literal: stillness, rest, quietude, tranquility

فائز

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: benefit, profit, advantage; usefulness; bounty; effusion; grace

عباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

باطمينان

ṭ-m-n → “confidence”

literal: to be at peace; to be reassured; to settle down

مزيّن

z-y-n

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty; adornment; embellishment; decoration

گاهی

g-ʾ-h → “At one time”

literal: sometimes; at times; occasionally

مجادله

j-d-l → “agitated by contentions and disputes”

literal: to argue; to dispute; to contend; argument

محاربه

ḥ-r-b → “convulsed by wars”

literal: warfare; combat; fighting; hostility

امراض

m-r-ḍ → “ills”

literal: illness, disease; sickness

مزمنه

z-m-n → “earth” Distinctive

literal: time; age; era; period

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge” Distinctive

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بمقامی

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

رسيده

r-s-d

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

نزديک

n-z-d

literal: near; beside; with; in the presence of

بيأس

y-ʾ-s → “sea of despair and of hopelessness”

literal: in the shade; under the shadow; rested; to be necessary; to behoove; to arise

چه

ch-h

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

طبيب

ṭ-b-b → “true Physician”

literal: physician, doctor; one who practices medicine

ممنوع

m-n-ʿ

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

مقبول

q-b-l → “before” Distinctive

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

مشغول

sh-gh-l

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

غبار

gh-b-r → “dust”

literal: dust; particles

نفاق

n-f-q → “of sedition”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

قلوب

q-l-b → “hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

اخذ

ʾ-kh-dh → “arrested”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath clouded”

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

ابصار

b-ṣ-r → “their eyes”

literal: sight; insight; eyes

احاطه

ḥ-w-ṭ

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

کرده

k-r-d → “hath”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; deed; action; conduct; behavior

سوف

s-w-f → “Erelong, they will perceive”

literal: shall; will (future marker)

يرون

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look

ما

m-ʾ

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

عملوا

ʿ-m-l → “act” Distinctive

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

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

کذلک

dh-l-k → “Thus warneth you”

literal: thus; likewise; also

ينبّئک

n-b-ʾ → “Prophets” Distinctive

literal: prophet; prophets; news

الخبير

kh-b-r → “He Who is the All-Informed”

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

لدن

l-d-n → “by”

literal: from; on the part of; from before; near

مقتدر

q-d-r → “Almighty”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

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 ¶