Gleanings — §81

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 81 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ولا ظنون المعتدين اتّبع موليك ثمّ ذكر العباد كما إنّه يذكرك تحت السّيف وما منعه نعاق الغافلين ... انشر نفحات ربّك في الأطراف ولا توقّف في أمره أقلّ من آنٍ سوف يأتي نصرة ربّك الغفور الكريم ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Follow thou the footsteps of thy Lord, and remember His servants even as He doth remember thee, undeterred by either the clamor of the heedless ones or the sword of the enemy.… Spread abroad the sweet savors of thy Lord, and hesitate not, though it be for less than a moment, in the service of His Cause. The day is approaching when the victory of thy Lord, the Ever-Forgiving, the Most Bountiful, will be proclaimed.

Translation Notes

ولا

w-l-y → “Lord” Distinctive

literal: no; not; negation particle

ظنون

ẓ-n-n

literal: fancy; supposition; vain imagination; idle conjecture

المعتدين

ʿ-d-w → “enemy” Distinctive

literal: transgressor; insolent; arrogant one

اتّبع

t-b-ʿ → “Follow”

literal: to follow; to obey; to pursue

ثمّ

th-m-m → “and” Distinctive

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ذكر

dh-k-r → “remember” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

العباد

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

كما

k-m → “loss” Distinctive

literal: as; like; how much; lane; street; quarter; abode

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

تحت

t-ḥ-t

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

السّيف

s-y-f → “the sword”

literal: sword

وما

m-ʾ

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

منعه

m-n-ʿ

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

نعاق

n-ʿ-q → “clamor”

literal: to cry out; to call; crier; bleater

الغافلين

gh-f-l → “the heedless ones”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

انشر

n-sh-r → “Spread abroad”

literal: to scatter; to spread; to unfold; to disseminate

نفحات

n-f-ḥ → “sweet savors” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

ربّك

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

في

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الأطراف

ṭ-r-f

literal: extremity; end; edge; outskirt; periphery

توقّف

w-q-f → “hesitate not” Distinctive

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

أمره

ʾ-m-r → “service of His Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

أقلّ

q-l-l → “less”

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

من

m-n → “from”

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

آنٍ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

سوف

s-w-f → “Ere long will”

literal: shall; will (future marker)

يأتي

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to approach; verse; sign; miracle

نصرة

n-ṣ-r → “victory”

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

الغفور

gh-f-r → “the Ever-Forgiving”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

الكريم

k-r-m → “the Most Bountiful”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

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 ¶