Skip to main content

Gleanings — §381

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 381 of 729.

Source (Arabic)

دو قسم است یک قسم آن محیط بر کلّ است و کلّ را تربیت میفرماید و رزق میدهد چنانچه خود را ربّ العالمین فرموده و قسم دیگر مخصوص بنفوسی است که در ظلّ این اسم در این ظهور اعظم وارد شده‌اند ولکن نفوس خارجه از این مقام محروم و از مائدهٴ احدیّه که از سماء فضل این اسم اعظم نازل ممنوعند چه نسبت است آن نفوس را مع این نفوس لو کشف الغطآء لینصعق من فی الأکوان من مقامات الّذین توجّهوا الی الله و انقطعوا فی حبّه عن العالمین و موحّد در این دو طائفه تجلّی این دو اسم را ملاحظه مینماید بقسمی که مذکور شد چه که اگر اخذ تجلّی شود کلّ هالک خواهند بود و همچنین در تجلّی شمس اسم احد ملاحظه

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Consider, for instance, the revelation of the light of the Name of God, the Educator. Behold, how in all things the evidences of such a revelation are manifest, how the betterment of all beings dependeth upon it. This education is of two kinds. The one is universal. Its influence pervadeth all things and sustaineth them. It is for this reason that God hath assumed the title, “Lord of all worlds.” The other is confined to them that have come under the shadow of this Name, and sought the shelter of this most mighty Revelation. They, however, that have failed to seek this shelter, have deprived themselves of this privilege, and are powerless to benefit from the spiritual sustenance that hath been sent down through the heavenly grace of this Most Great Name. How great the gulf fixed between the one and the other! If the veil were lifted, and the full glory of the station of those that have turned wholly towards God, and have, in their love for Him, renounced the world, were made manifest, the entire creation would be dumbfounded. The true believer in the Unity of God will, as it hath already been explained, recognize, in the believer and the unbeliever, the evidences of the revelation of both of these Names. Were this revelation to be withdrawn, all would perish.

Translation Notes

میدهد
mídhd d-h

literal: give; to give; given

SE rendered تربیت (trbít)میفرماید (mífrmáyd)رزق (rzq)میدهد (mídhd)چنانچه (chnánchh)ربّ (rbb)العالمین (al-ʿálmín) as “education, sustenance, Consider, “Lord, all worlds.””

will 67% admit 33%
خارجه
khárjh kh-r-j

literal: go out; outside

SE rendered اعظم (iʿẓm)وارد (wárd)شده‌اند (shdh‌ánd)ولکن (wlkn)نفوس (nfús)خارجه (khárjh)از (iz)مقام (mqám)محروم (mḥrúm) as “most mighty, have come, been, They, however, have deprived”

foreign 14% describe 14% went 14% far 14% concealed 14% forsaken 14% out 14%
از
iz ʾ-z

literal: from

SE rendered وارد (wárd)شده‌اند (shdh‌ánd)ولکن (wlkn)نفوس (nfús)خارجه (khárjh)از (iz)مقام (mqám)محروم (mḥrúm)از (iz)مائدهٴ (máʾdhٴ)احدیّه (iḥdídh) as “have come, been, They, however, have deprived, of God”

23 occurrences in corpus

مائدهٴ
máʾdhٴ m-w-d

literal: table; table/banquet; table, banquet

SE rendered مقام (mqám)محروم (mḥrúm)از (iz)مائدهٴ (máʾdhٴ)احدیّه (iḥdídh)از (iz)سماء (smáʾ)فضل (fḍl)اسم (ism) as “have deprived, of God, heavenly, grace, Name”

bread 67% table 33%
ممنوعند
mmnúʿnd m-n-ʿ

literal: prevent; prevented; prevention

SE rendered سماء (smáʾ)فضل (fḍl)اسم (ism)اعظم (iʿẓm)نازل (názl)ممنوعند (mmnúʿnd)چه (chh)نسبت (nsbt)نفوس (nfús) as “heavenly, grace, Name, Most Great, sent down”

hinder 18% have 17% withhold 13% hindered 11% deter 9% kept 8% powerless 7% hath 7% withheld 5% may 5%
چه
chh ch-h

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

SE rendered فضل (fḍl)اسم (ism)اعظم (iʿẓm)نازل (názl)ممنوعند (mmnúʿnd)چه (chh)نسبت (nsbt)نفوس (nfús) as “grace, Name, Most Great, sent down”

what 50% whatsoever 50%
نسبت
nsbt n-s-b

literal: attribution; relation; attributed

SE rendered اسم (ism)اعظم (iʿẓm)نازل (názl)ممنوعند (mmnúʿnd)چه (chh)نسبت (nsbt)نفوس (nfús)نفوس (nfús)لو (lú) as “Name, Most Great, sent down, If”

کشف
kshf k-sh-f

literal: unveiling

SE rendered نفوس (nfús)نفوس (nfús)لو (lú)کشف (kshf)الغطآء (al-ghṭáʾ)لینصعق (línṣʿq)الأکوان (al-ʾakúán) as “If, veil, dumbfounded, the entire creation”

made 11% conceal 11% pierce 11% removal 11% unfolding 11% rend 11% rent 11% unveiled 11% unfoldeth 11%
الغطآء
al-ghṭáʾ gh-ṭ-w “veil”

literal: the veil/cover

1 occurrence in corpus

طائفه
ṭáʾfh ṭ-w-f

literal: circle; circling; circumambulate

SE rendered العالمین (al-ʿálmín)موحّد (múḥḥd)دو (dú)طائفه (ṭáʾfh)تجلّی (tjllí)دو (dú)اسم (ism)ملاحظه (mláḥẓh) as “world, The true believer, sought, revelation, Names, recognize”

circle 38% circleth 13% gathered 13% revolveth 13% christian 13% hath 13%
شمس
shms sh-m-s

literal: sun; suns; the sun

SE rendered خواهند (khúáhnd)همچنین (hmchnín)تجلّی (tjllí)شمس (shms)اسم (ism)احد (iḥd)ملاحظه (mláḥẓh) as “would, revelation, Behold”

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 ¶