Gleanings — §84

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 84 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

هذا يوم فيه شَاخَصَت الأبصار وفزع من في الأرض إلّا من شاء ربّك العليم الحكيم قد اسْوَدَّت الوجوه إلّا من أتى الرّحمن بقلب منير قد سُكِّرَت أبصار الّذينهم كفروا عن النّظر إلى اللّه العزيز الحميد قل أَمَا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

This is the Day on which all eyes shall stare up with terror, the Day in which the hearts of them that dwell on earth shall tremble, save them whom thy Lord, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise, pleaseth to deliver. All faces have turned black except those to whom the God of Mercy hath vouchsafed a radiant heart. Drunken are the eyes of those men that have openly refused to behold the face of God, the All-Glorious, the All-Praised.

Translation Notes

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This”

literal: this; that

يوم

y-w-m → “Day”

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

فيه

f-y

literal: alas; woe; oh

شَاخَصَت

sh-kh-ṣ → “man”

literal: person, individual, self; movement, stirring

الأبصار

b-ṣ-r → “all eyes”

literal: sight; insight; discernment; spiritual perception

وفزع

f-z-ʿ → “caused” Distinctive

literal: to fear; to be terrified; terror, fright

من

m-n → “them whom” Distinctive

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

الأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

إلّا

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

شاء

sh-y-ʾ → “pleaseth” Distinctive

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

ربّك

r-b-b → “thy Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

العليم

ʿ-l-m → “the All-Knowing”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

الحكيم

ḥ-k-m → “the All-Wise”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

قد

q-d → “We have been”

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

اسْوَدَّت

s-w-d → “turned black”

literal: blackened; dark; tranquil; at peace; undisturbed

الوجوه

w-j-h → “All faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

أتى

ʾ-t-y → “come”

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

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “the God of Mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بقلب

q-l-b → “radiant heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

منير

n-w-r

literal: light; illumination

سُكِّرَت

s-k-r → “inebriated” Distinctive

literal: to become drunk; intoxication; inebriation

الّذينهم

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

كفروا

k-f-r → “repudiated”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

عن

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

النّظر

n-ẓ-r → “to behold”

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

إلى

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “of God”

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

العزيز

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

الحميد

ḥ-m-d → “the All-Praised”

literal: praise; to praise

قل

q-w-l

literal: say; said; saying

أَمَا

ʾ-m-m

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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50 ¶

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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 ¶

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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

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57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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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 ¶