Skip to main content

Gleanings — §125

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 125 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

طوبی لنفسٍ قام علی خدمة أمری و نطق بثنائی الجمیل خذ کتابی بقوّتی و تمسّک بما فیه من أوامر ربّک الآمر الحکیم یا محمّد اعمال و اقوال حزب شیعه عوالم روح و ریحان را تغییر داده مکدّر نموده در اوّل ایّام که باسم سیّد انام متمسّک بودند هر یوم نصری ظاهر و فتحی باهر و چون از مولای حقیقی و نور الهی و توحید معنوی گذشته و بمظاهر کلمهٴ او تمسّک جستند قدرت بضعف و عزّت بذلّت و جرئت بخوف تبدیل شد تا آنکه امر بمقامی رسید که مشاهده نموده و مینمایند از برای نقطهٴ توحید شریکهای متعدّده ترتیب دادند و عمل نمودند آنچه را که در یوم قیام حائل شد مابین آن حزب و عرفان حقّ جلّ جلاله امید آنکه از بعد خود را از اوهام و ظنون حفظ نمایند و بتوحید حقیقی فائز شوند

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Happy is the man who will arise to serve My Cause, and glorify My beauteous Name. Take hold of My Book with the power of My might, and cleave tenaciously to whatsoever commandment thy Lord, the Ordainer, the All-Wise, hath prescribed therein. Behold, O Muḥammad, how the sayings and doings of the followers of S̱hí‘ih Islám have dulled the joy and fervor of its early days, and tarnished the pristine brilliancy of its light. In its primitive days, whilst they still adhered to the precepts associated with the name of their Prophet, the Lord of mankind, their career was marked by an unbroken chain of victories and triumphs. As they gradually strayed from the path of their Ideal Leader and Master, as they turned away from the Light of God and corrupted the principle of His Divine unity, and as they increasingly centered their attention upon them who were only the revealers of the potency of His Word, their power was turned into weakness, their glory into shame, their courage into fear. Thou dost witness to what a pass they have come. Behold, how they have joined partners with Him Who is the Focal-Point of Divine unity. Behold how their evil doings have hindered them from recognizing, in the Day of Resurrection, the Word of Truth, exalted be His glory. We cherish the hope that this people will henceforth shield themselves from vain hopes and idle fancies, and will attain to a true understanding of the meaning of Divine unity.

Translation Notes

الجمیل
al-jmíl j-m-l

literal: beauty; beautiful

SE rendered خدمة (khdmh), أمری (ʾamrí), نطق (nṭq), بثنائی (bthnáʾí), الجمیل (al-jmíl), خذ (khdh), کتابی (ktábí), بقوّتی (bqúqtí), تمسّک (tmssk) as “serve, Cause, glorify, My beauteous, Take hold, Book, the power, cleave”

عوالم
ʿúálm ʿ-l-m

literal: world; worlds

SE rendered محمّد (mḥmmd), اعمال (iʿmál), اقوال (iqúál), حزب (ḥzb), شیعه (shíʿh), عوالم (ʿúálm), روح (rúḥ), ریحان (ríḥán), تغییر (tghíyr), داده (dádh) as “Muḥammad, doings, sayings, followers, S̱hí‘ih, joy, fervor, dulled, have”

worlds 44% domain 15% world 15% realm 15% peoples 7% universe 4%
مکدّر
mkddr k-d-r

literal: troubled; turbidity; became turbid/sullied

SE rendered روح (rúḥ), ریحان (ríḥán), تغییر (tghíyr), داده (dádh), مکدّر (mkddr), نموده (nmúdh), اوّل (iwwl), ایّام (iyyám), باسم (básm) as “joy, fervor, dulled, have, early, days, name”

angry 33% tarnished 33% resented 33%
فتحی
ftḥí f-t-ḥ

literal: open; opened; keys

SE rendered متمسّک (mtmssk), بودند (búdnd), هر (hr), یوم (yúm), نصری (nṣrí), ظاهر (ẓáhr), فتحی (ftḥí), باهر (báhr), چون (chún), از (iz), مولای (múláy), حقیقی (ḥqíqí) as “adhered, was, as, triumphs, victories, As, strayed, Ideal Leader”

open 31% unlocked 15% opened 15% keys 11% key 7% unlock 7% flung 4% did 4% set 4% wide 4%
باهر
báhr b-h-r

literal: brilliant; share; portion

SE rendered بودند (búdnd), هر (hr), یوم (yúm), نصری (nṣrí), ظاهر (ẓáhr), فتحی (ftḥí), باهر (báhr), چون (chún), از (iz), مولای (múláy), حقیقی (ḥqíqí), نور (núr) as “was, as, triumphs, victories, As, strayed, Ideal Leader, Light”

revealed 40% do 20% disclosed 20% resplendent 20%
جستند
jstnd jstn

literal: seek; sought; to seek

SE rendered گذشته (gdhshth), بمظاهر (bmẓáhr), کلمهٴ (klmhٴ), تمسّک (tmssk), جستند (jstnd), قدرت (qdrt), بضعف (bḍʿf), عزّت (ʿzzt), بذلّت (bdhllt), جرئت (jrʾt) as “away, centered, Word, increasingly, power, weakness, glory, shame, courage”

have 33% fill 33% turned 33%

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶