''Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh''

Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh is a compilation of selected tablets and extracts from tablets by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Bahá'í Faith. Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith from 1921 to 1957, made the selection and performed the translation, which was first published 1935.

The work consists of "a selection of the most characteristic and hitherto unpublished passages from the outstanding works of the Author of the Bahá'í Revelation," according to Shoghi Effendi.[1] The passages come from the whole range of Bahá'u'lláh's writings, dated from about 1853 to 1892.

The book can be divided in five parts:[2]

  • The "Day of God" (sec. 1-18)
  • The Manifestation of God (sec. 19-69)
  • The soul and its immortality (sec. 70-99)
  • The World Order and the Most Great Peace (sec. 100-121)
  • The duties of the individual and the spiritual meaning of life (sec. 122-166)

Among others, passages from the following works are included:

In addition, works partially translated in Gleanings were published more completely in the following compilations:

The book was published without a list of which passages were derived from which works of Bahá'u'lláh, but such a list has been reconstructed subsequently and is on the web.[3]

Because of its broad selection, Gleanings is one of the first works of Bahá'u'lláh many people read. Rúḥíyyih Rabbání, Shoghi Effendi's widow, called it "a magnificent gift" to the Western Bahá'ís.[4] Queen Marie of Romania wrote that "even doubters would find a powerful strength in it, if they would read it alone, and would give their souls time to expand."[4] The work has been translated into many languages.

Notes

  1. ↑ Shoghi Effendi, quoted in Rúḥíyyih Rabbání, The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith (London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1988), 93.
  2. ↑ W. Kenneth Christian (1952). Introduction to the Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. p. xv.
  3. ↑ Sources of Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah
  4. 1 2 Rabbani 1988, p. 93.

References

  • Bahá'u'lláh (1976). Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh. Translated by Shoghi Effendi. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-187-6.
  • Hatcher, John (1997). The Ocean of His Words: A Reader's Guide to the Art of Bahá'u'lláh. Wilmette, Illinois, USA: Bahá'í Publishing Trust. ISBN 0-87743-259-7.
  • Rabbani, Ruhiyyih (1988). The Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith. London: Baha'i Publishing Trust.
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1976). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 1: Baghdad 1853-63. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-270-8.
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1977). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 2: Adrianople 1863-68. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-071-3.
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1984). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 3: `Akka, The Early Years 1868-77. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-144-2.
  • Taherzadeh, Adib (1987). The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, Volume 4: Mazra'ih & Bahji 1877-92. Oxford, UK: George Ronald. ISBN 0-85398-270-8.

Further reading


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