Gleanings — §9

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 9 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

و بما ينبغی عامل اينست امری که اگر يک قطره در سبيلش کم شود صد هزار بحر مکافات آنرا مشاهده نمايد يعنی مالک شود بگو ای دوستان اين شأن عظيم را از دست مدهيد و از اين مقام بلند غافل مشويد عباد عالم بتصوّر موهوم چه مقدار جانها انفاق نموده و مينمايند و شما الحمد للّه بمقصود فائزيد و بموعود رسيده‌ايد باعانت حق جلّ جلاله اين مقام را حفظ نمائيد و بآنچه سبب و علّت ارتفاع امر است تمسّک جوئيد إنّه يأمرکم بالمعروف و بما يرتفع به مقام الإنسان فی الإمکان تعالی الرّحمن منزل هذا اللّوح البديع ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Say: O ye lovers of the One true God! Strive, that ye may truly recognize and know Him, and observe befittingly His precepts. This is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense. Take heed, O friends, that ye forfeit not so inestimable a benefit, or disregard its transcendent station. Consider the multitude of lives that have been, and are still being, sacrificed in a world deluded by a mere phantom which the vain imaginations of its peoples have conceived. Render thanks unto God, inasmuch as ye have attained unto your heart’s Desire, and been united to Him Who is the Promise of all nations. Guard ye, with the aid of the one true God — exalted be His glory — the integrity of the station which ye have attained, and cleave to that which shall promote His Cause. He, verily, enjoineth on you what is right and conducive to the exaltation of man’s station. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Revealer of this wondrous Tablet.

Translation Notes

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

ينبغی

n-b-gh → “behooveth”

literal: it is proper; it is fitting; it is necessary; it behooves

عامل

ʿ-m-l → “deeds” Distinctive

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

اينست

h-s-t → “This”

literal: is; be; are

امری

ʾ-m-r → “is a Revelation” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

که

k-h

literal: that; who; who, that

اگر

ʾ-g-r → “were they”

literal: although; even if; though; notwithstanding

يک

y-k → “one”

literal: one; a single

قطره

q-ṭ-r → “one drop”

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

در

d-r-r

literal: in; in, at; radiant

سبيلش

s-b-l → “for its sake”

literal: path; way; path/way

کم

k-m-m → “How many”

literal: how many

شود

sh-w-d

literal: to come; to go; to arrive; came

صد

ṣ-d

literal: hundred

هزار

h-z-r → “myriads”

literal: thousand

بحر

b-ḥ-r → “oceans”

literal: sea; ocean

مکافات

k-f-ʾ → “recompense”

literal: recompense; reward; requital; equal, match, peer; worthy, suitable

آنرا

n-w-r → “his” Distinctive

literal: light; lights; luminous

مشاهده

sh-h-d → “truly recognize” Distinctive

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

نمايد

n-m-ʾ → “will be” Distinctive

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

يعنی

ʿ-n-y

literal: that is; meaning; i.e.

مالک

m-l-k

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

بگو

g-w-y → “Say”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

ای

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

دوستان

d-w-s-t → “friends”

literal: friend; beloved

اين

ʾ-y-n → “its” Distinctive

literal: this; these

شأن

sh-ʾ-n → “station”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

عظيم

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

از

ʾ-z

literal: from

دست

d-s-t

literal: hand; control, power, authority

مدهيد

d-ʾ-d → “of equity”

literal: give; to give; given

مقام

q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

بلند

b-l-n-d → “lofty”

literal: high; lofty; raised; to raise

غافل

gh-f-l → “heedless”

literal: heedlessness; negligence; inattention

مشويد

sh-d-n

literal: become; to become; became

عباد

ʿ-b-d

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

عالم

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بتصوّر

ṣ-w-r

literal: to imagine; to conceive; to suppose

موهوم

w-h-m → “imaginations” Distinctive

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

چه

ch-h

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

مقدار

q-d-r → “multitude”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

جانها

j-ʾ-n → “lives”

literal: soul; life; spirit; self

انفاق

n-f-q → “sacrificed”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

نموده

n-m-ود → “hath”

literal: do; to do; do/make

شما

sh-m-ʾ → “ye”

literal: you (plural); your

الحمد

ḥ-m-d → “thanks”

literal: praise; to praise

للّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

بمقصود

q-ṣ-d → “Desire”

literal: intention; purpose; aim; goal; to seek; to direct oneself

فائزيد

f-w-z → “have attained”

literal: successful; victorious; attain

بموعود

w-ʿ-d → “Promise”

literal: promised; the Promised One

رسيده‌ايد

r-s-y-d → “been united”

literal: reach; reached; arrive

باعانت

ʿ-w-n → “aid”

literal: help; aid; helper; supporter

حق

ḥ-q-q → “one true God”

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

جلّ

j-l-l → “exalted”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

حفظ

ḥ-f-ẓ → “Guard” Distinctive

literal: guardian; preserver; keeper

بآنچه

b-ch-h → “that which shall promote His”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

سبب

s-b-b

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

علّت

ʿ-l-l

literal: for us; to us

ارتفاع

r-f-ʿ → “exaltation”

literal: to be raised, elevated, exalted, lifted up

امر

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

است

b-w-d

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

تمسّک

m-s-k → “cleave”

literal: musk; to seize; grip

جوئيد

j-s-t

literal: seek; sought; to seek

إنّه

ʾ-n-n → “He”

literal: I, verily; behold I

بالمعروف

ʿ-r-f → “right”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

به

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

الإنسان

ʾ-n-s → “man’s”

literal: familiar; intimate; companionship; to be acquainted with; companion; intimate friend; to be intimate with; to keep company; to console

فی

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

الإمکان

m-k-n

literal: establishment; confirmation; empowerment; firm settlement; place; possibility; being (negated as ‘non-being’)

تعالی

ʿ-l-w → “Glorified”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الرّحمن

r-ḥ-m → “All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

منزل

n-z-l → “Revealer”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

اللّوح

l-w-ḥ → “Tablet”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

البديع

b-d-ʿ → “wondrous”

literal: to create; most wondrous; excel

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 ¶