Gleanings — §78

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 78 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

الأشرار بكتاب الفجّار كذلك يعملون قل طويت السّماء والأرض في قبضته والمجرمون أُخذوا بناصيتهم ولا يفقهون يشربون الصَّدِيْد ولا يعرفون قل قد أتت الصَّيْحَة وخرج النّاس من الأجداث وهم قيام ينظرون ومنهم مسرع إلى شطر الرّحمن ومنهم مكبّ على وجهه في النّار ومنهم متحيّرون قد نزّلت الآيات وهم عنها معرضون وأتى البرهان وهم عنه غافلون إذا رأَوا وجه الرّحمن سيئَتْ وجوههم وهم يلعبون يهطعون إلى النّار ويحسبون أنّها نور فتعالى اللّه عمّا يظنّون قل لو تفرحون أو تتميّزون من الغيظ قد شقّت السّماء وأتى اللّه بسلطان مبين تنطق الأشيآء

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: The heavens have been folded together, and the earth is held within His grasp, and the corrupt doers have been held by their forelock, and still they understand not. They drink of the tainted water, and know it not. Say: The shout hath been raised, and the people have come forth from their graves, and arising, are gazing around them. Some have made haste to attain the court of the God of Mercy, others have fallen down on their faces in the fire of Hell, while still others are lost in bewilderment. The verses of God have been revealed, and yet they have turned away from them. His proof hath been manifested, and yet they are unaware of it. And when they behold the face of the All-Merciful, their own faces are saddened, while they are disporting themselves. They hasten forward to Hell Fire, and mistake it for light. Far from God be what they fondly imagine! Say: Whether ye rejoice or whether ye burst for fury, the heavens are cleft asunder, and God hath come down, invested with radiant sovereignty. All created things are heard exclaiming: “The Kingdom is God’s, the Almighty, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”

Translation Notes

الأشرار

sh-r-r

literal: evil; harm; wickedness

بكتاب

k-t-b

literal: book; scripture; writing

الفجّار

f-j-r

literal: dawn; dayspring; to break (of dawn)

كذلك

dh-l-k

literal: thus; likewise; also

يعملون

ʿ-m-l

literal: deed; deeds; work

قل

q-w-l → “Say”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

طويت

ṭ-w-y → “shall be folded up”

literal: fold; folded; the letter Ṭá

السّماء

s-m-w → “The heavens”

literal: heaven; sky

والأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

في

f-y → “within”

literal: in; in-it; in it

قبضته

q-b-ḍ → “His grasp”

literal: grasp; grip; control; seize

والمجرمون

j-r-m → “crime” Distinctive

literal: crime; sin; boldness

أُخذوا

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp

بناصيتهم

n-ṣ-y → “by their forelock”

literal: forelock; front of head; prominent position

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

يفقهون

f-q-h

literal: to understand; to comprehend; insight; jurisprudence

يشربون

sh-r-b → “They drink”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

الصَّدِيْد

ṣ-d-d → “arisen to” Distinctive

literal: intention; purpose; direction; to intend; to aim at

يعرفون

ʿ-r-f

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

قد

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

أتت

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

الصَّيْحَة

ṣ-y-ḥ → “cry out” Distinctive

literal: to cry out; to shout; to clamor; cry, shout, outcry

وخرج

kh-r-j → “have come forth” Distinctive

literal: bringing out, taking out, expulsion, extraction

النّاس

n-ʾ-s → “the people”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

من

m-n → “from”

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

الأجداث

j-d-th → “graves”

literal: graves, tombs, sepulchers

وهم

w-h-m → “and”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

قيام

q-w-m → “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

ينظرون

n-ẓ-r → “are gazing around them”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

مسرع

s-r-ʿ → “have made haste”

literal: hasten; hastened; hasten/hurry

إلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

شطر

sh-ṭ-r → “court” Distinctive

literal: side, direction; half; to split

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the God of Mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

مكبّ

k-b-b → “have fallen down”

literal: prostrate; prostrated; fall-prostrate

على

ʿ-l-w → “on” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وجهه

w-j-h → “their faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

النّار

n-ʾ-r → “the fire of Hell”

literal: light; illumination

متحيّرون

ḥ-y-r → “perplexed” Distinctive

literal: bewildered; perplexed; confused; astounded; amazed; bewilderment; perplexity; wonder; amazement

نزّلت

n-z-l → “been revealed” Distinctive

literal: to descend, to be revealed

الآيات

ʾ-y-y → “The verses”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

عنها

ʿ-n-n → “from them”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

معرضون

ʿ-r-ḍ → “have turned away”

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

البرهان

b-r-h-n → “His proof” Distinctive

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

عنه

ʿ-n → “of it”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

غافلون

gh-f-l → “are unaware” Distinctive

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

إذا

ʾ-dh-n → “ears”

literal: when; if; whenever; then suddenly

رأَوا

r-ʾ-y → “they behold”

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

سيئَتْ

s-w-ʾ → “evil” Distinctive

literal: evil; evil_deeds; evil deeds

يلعبون

l-ʿ-b → “disportest” Distinctive

literal: to play; to sport; to jest

يهطعون

h-ṭ-ʿ → “They hasten”

literal: they hasten

ويحسبون

ḥ-s-b → “accounted” Distinctive

literal: according to; according; reckoned

أنّها

null → “it” Distinctive

literal: that, it; to be; indeed

نور

n-w-r → “for light”

literal: light; illumination

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “from God”

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

يظنّون

ẓ-n-n → “they fondly imagine”

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

لو

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

تفرحون

f-r-ḥ → “ye rejoice”

literal: to rejoice; to be glad; joy

أو

h-w-w → “is”

literal: he; it (third person pronoun); refuge; shelter; dwelling place; abode; lamentation, cry, woe; melody, song

تتميّزون

m-y-z → “distinguish” Distinctive

literal: distinction; distinguished; distinguish

الغيظ

gh-y-ẓ

literal: wrath; fury; rage

شقّت

sh-q-q → “discord” Distinctive

literal: hardship; difficulty; toil

بسلطان

s-l-ṭ → “with radiant sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

مبين

b-y-n

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

تنطق

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

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

الأشيآء

sh-y-ʾ → “All created things”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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 ¶

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

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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

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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 ¶