Gleanings — §79

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 79 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

كلّها الملك للّه المقتدر العليم الحكيم اعلم إنّا في سجن عظيم وأحاطتنا جُنود الظّلم بما اكتسبت أيدي المشركين ولكنّ الغلام في بهجة لا يعادلها ما في الأرض كلّها تاللّه في سبيل اللّه لا يحزنه ضرّ الّذين ظلموا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Know thou, moreover, that We have been cast into an afflictive Prison, and are encompassed with the hosts of tyranny, as a result of what the hands of the infidels have wrought. Such is the gladness, however, which the Youth hath tasted that no earthly joy can compare unto it. By God! The harm He suffereth at the hands of the oppressor can never grieve His heart, nor can He be saddened by the ascendancy of such as have repudiated His truth.

Translation Notes

كلّها

k-l-l

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

الملك

m-l-k

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

المقتدر

q-d-r

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

الحكيم

ḥ-k-m

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

اعلم

ʿ-l-m → “Know thou”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

إنّا

ʾ-n → “that We”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

سجن

s-j-n → “afflictive Prison”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

عظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

وأحاطتنا

ḥ-w-ṭ → “are encompassed”

literal: to encompass; to surround; to encircle

جُنود

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

الظّلم

ẓ-l-m → “of tyranny”

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

بما

m-ʾ

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

اكتسبت

k-s-b → “have wrought”

literal: to acquire, earn, gain; to bring upon (oneself); to gain; to acquire; earning; livelihood

أيدي

y-d-y → “hands”

literal: hand; power; action; possession

المشركين

sh-r-k → “the infidels”

literal: partner; associate; sharer; companion

ولكنّ

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

الغلام

gh-l-m → “the Youth”

literal: youth; boy; servant; the Youth (Bahá’u’lláh)

بهجة

b-h-j → “rejoice” Distinctive

literal: rejoice; rejoicing; gladness

لا

l-ʾ → “no”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يعادلها

ʿ-d-l → “justice” Distinctive

literal: justice; equity

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earthly”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

تاللّه

ʾ-l-h → “By God”

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

سبيل

s-b-l

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

يحزنه

ḥ-z-n → “saddened”

literal: sorrow; grief; sadness; anguish

ضرّ

ḍ-r-r → “harm”

literal: harm; hardship; affliction

الّذين

l-dh-y → “such as have repudiated” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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 ¶