Gleanings — §97

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 97 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

ای سلمان سبيل کلّ بذات قِدَم مسدود بوده و طريق کلّ مقطوع خواهد بود و محض فضل و عنايت شموس مشرقه از فق احديّه را بين ناس ظاهر فرموده و عرفان اين انفس مقدّسه را عرفان خود قرار فرموده مَنْ عَرَفهم فقد عرف اللّه ومَن سمع کلماتِهم فقد سمع کلماتِ اللّه ومَن أقرّ بهم فقد أقرّ باللّه ومَن أعرض عنهم فقد أعرض عن اللّه ومَن کفر بهم فقد کفر باللّه وهم صراطُ اللّه بين السّموات والأرض وميزانُ اللّه في ملکوت الأمر والخلق وهم ظهورُ اللّه وحُججهُ بين عباده ودلائلهُ بين بريّته ...

Shoghi Effendi Translation

O Salmán! The door of the knowledge of the Ancient Being hath ever been, and will continue forever to be, closed in the face of men. No man’s understanding shall ever gain access unto His holy court. As a token of His mercy, however, and as a proof of His loving-kindness, He hath manifested unto men the Daystars of His divine guidance, the Symbols of His divine unity, and hath ordained the knowledge of these sanctified Beings to be identical with the knowledge of His own Self. Whoso recognizeth them hath recognized God. Whoso hearkeneth to their call, hath hearkened to the Voice of God, and whoso testifieth to the truth of their Revelation, hath testified to the truth of God Himself. Whoso turneth away from them, hath turned away from God, and whoso disbelieveth in them, hath disbelieved in God. Every one of them is the Way of God that connecteth this world with the realms above, and the Standard of His Truth unto every one in the kingdoms of earth and heaven. They are the Manifestations of God amidst men, the evidences of His Truth, and the signs of His glory.

Translation Notes

ای

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

سلمان

s-l-m → “resignation”

literal: resignation; submission; surrender; submissiveness

سبيل

s-b-l → “path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

کلّ

k-l-l

literal: for us; to us

بذات

dh-w-t → “of the Ancient Being” Distinctive

literal: essence, self, being, substance; with preposition ‘by’

قِدَم

q-d-m

literal: ancientness; antiquity; foot; to come forward

مسدود

s-d-d → “closed”

literal: threshold; barrier; seat of authority

بوده

b-w-d → “hath ever been”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

طريق

ṭ-r-q

literal: path; way; road; method

مقطوع

q-ṭ-ʿ

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

خواهد

kh-w-h → “will continue forever” Distinctive

literal: will; to wish; to want

محض

m-ḥ-ḍ → “wholly”

literal: pure; unmixed; absolute; sheer

فضل

f-ḍ-l → “mercy” Distinctive

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

عنايت

ʿ-n-y → “loving-kindness”

literal: to concern; to mean; to turn away from; bounty; loving-kindness; grace; divine care; attention; meaning; significance; inner sense

شموس

sh-m-s → “Daystars” Distinctive

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

مشرقه

sh-r-q

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

از

ʾ-z → “of”

literal: from

فق

ʾ-f-q → “world” Distinctive

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

احديّه

ʾ-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: oneness; uniqueness; absolute unity; singularity of God

را

r-ʾ-ʾ

literal: object marker; object-marker; to

بين

b-y-n → “utterance” Distinctive

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

ناس

n-ʾ-s → “men”

literal: companionship; fellowship; familiarity; to keep company

ظاهر

ẓ-h-r → “manifested”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

فرموده

f-r-m → “He” Distinctive

literal: to say; to decree; to ordain; to command

عرفان

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

اين

ʾ-y-n → “this Chapter”

literal: this; these

انفس

n-f-s → “souls”

literal: self; soul; souls

مقدّسه

q-d-s → “sanctified”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

خود

kh-w-d → “His own Self”

literal: self; himself; herself; itself; own

قرار

q-r-r → “ordained”

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

مَنْ

m-n → “Whoso” Distinctive

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

فقد

q-d-d → “hath”

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

اللّه

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

سمع

s-m-ʿ → “hearkeneth” Distinctive

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

کلماتِهم

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

کلماتِ

k-l-m → “words”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

بهم

h-m → “all”

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

أعرض

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turneth away”

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

عنهم

ʿ-n-d → “possess”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

عن

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

کفر

k-f-r → “repudiated”

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

وهم

w-h-m → “vain imaginings”

literal: to imagine, suppose; fancy, idle imagination

صراطُ

ṣ-r-ṭ → “Way” Distinctive

literal: path, way, straight path

السّموات

s-m-w → “the realms above” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

والأرض

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وميزانُ

w-z-n → “Standard”

literal: weight; measure; to weigh

في

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

ملکوت

m-l-k → “kingdoms”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

الأمر

ʾ-m-r

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

والخلق

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

وحُججهُ

ḥ-j-j → “evidences” Distinctive

literal: path, way; clear path

عباده

ʿ-b-d → “men”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

ودلائلهُ

d-l-l → “proof”

literal: to argue; to demonstrate; proof

بريّته

b-r-ʾ → “men” Distinctive

literal: creation; creation/creatures; creatures

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 ¶