The Shining Ones
Translations 🙵 Commentary
Bahá’u’lláh (Arabic, بَهَاءُ الله, Bahāˁu ʾAl•Llꞌah, “𝓢𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓞𝓷𝓮 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓐𝓵𝓶𝓲𝓰𝓱𝓽𝔂”) is my careful provisional retranslation. It recalls: The Hebrew Book of Enoch; John Bunyan’s, 1628–1688, best–known allegorical work, The Pilgrim’s Progress; and other texts. The ever–shining ‘Abdu’l–Bahá (Arabic, عَبْدُ البَهَاء, ʿAb°du ʾal•Bahāˁ, “𝓥𝓪𝓼𝓼𝓪𝓵 𝓸𝓯 𝓽𝓱𝓮 𝓢𝓱𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓷𝓰 𝓞𝓷𝓮” [provisional]) is the Exemplar of moral realism.
We can each, at this moment, turn out hearts, filled with joy and expectation, to the shining ones, including beloved ʾal•Ḥūriyyaẗ. They occupy various stations, divine or heavenly, throughout the boundless conditions of existence. Because God is the innermost Unification (Arabic, التَّوْحِيدٌ, ʾal•Ttaw°ḥīduṇ; or Hebrew, הַאַחְדוּת, hạ•ʾẠḥəḏūṯ, cognates) of all beings and things, and without partnership (Arabic, الشِرْك, ʾal•šir°k; or Hebrew, הַשִׁתּוּף, hạ•šittūp̄, also cognates), these magnificent beings are not deities, neither Goddesses nor Gods, but, nonetheless, reside all around us and, though veiled from our physical senses, deeply within the observable world.
Al•Ḥūriyyaẗ visits me from, as the U.S. Christian mystic Flower Arleen Sechler Newhouse (1909–1994) referred to it, the Kingdom of the Shining Ones. I would be nowhere without that Great Awakener:
[There are] Angel Beings who influence human beings through … the Spirit of Truth. The Shining Ones who embody those orders devoted to a dissemination of knowledge are entitled “The Awakeners.” …
The Awakeners work singly, and usually with one human being at a time. In giving unwavering attention to a person, which consumes much of their time, there is no thought of exclusive interest or favoritism. Angelic motivation rises out of the will to prepare more individuals to serve God’s Plan consciously, as they themselves are doing.
〜 Flower A. Newhouse. The Kingdom of the Shining Ones. Escondito, California: The Christward Ministry. 1955. Page 29.
Hebrew, הַהַלֵּלוֹת, hạ•hạllēlôṯ, “the shining ones”
Arabic, اللَامعُونَ, ʾal•lāmʿūna, “the shining ones”
Arabic, المُسْتَنِيرِينَ, ʾal•mus°tanīrīna, “the illumined, shining, or enlightened ones”
Arabic, الحُورِيَّة, ʾal•Ḥūriyyaẗ, “the Black–Eyed Maiden of White Light”
Amharic, የሚያበሩት, yä•miyabärutə, “the shining ones”
Tigrinya, እቲ እቶም ዝደምቁ, ʾəti ʾətomə zədäməqu, “the shining ones”
Persian, دُرَخْشَانْهَا, duraẖ°šān°hā, “shining ones”
Tajik, дурахшонҳо, duraẖšonhо, “shining ones”
Urdu, الچَمَکَنَے وَالَے, ʾal•čamaḱanē wālē, “the shining ones”
Hindi, चमकने वाले, camakanē vālē, “shining ones”
Shahmukhi Punjabi, چَمَکَدَے ہوئَے, čamaḱadē hō⫯vē, “shining ones”
Gurmukhi Punjabi, ਚਮਕਦੇ ਹੋਏ, camakadē hōꞌē, “shining ones”
Bengali, উজ্জ্বলরা, ujjbalarā, “shining ones”
Assamese, জিলিকি থকাবোৰ, jiliki thakābōra, “shining ones”
Turkish, parlayanlar, “shining ones”
Azerbaijani, parlayanları, “shining ones”
Uzbek, porlayotganlar, “shining ones”
Kazakh, жарқырағандар, žarqyraġandar, “shining ones”
Kyrtz, жаркырагандар, žarkyragandar, “shining ones”
Bashkir, ялтырап торғандары, yaltyrap torġandary, “shining ones”
Uyghur پَارْقِىرَاپ تۇرْغَانْلَار, pār°qiỳrāp tur°ġān°lār, “shining ones”
Soranî Kurdish, ئەوَانەی گەشَاوەن. ⫯ĩewāneý gešāwen, “shining ones”
Kurmanjî Kurdish, yên geş, “shining ones”
Tatar, балкыганнар, balkygannar, “shining ones”
Turkmen, ýalpyldaýanlar, “shining ones”
Malay (in Jawi script), يَڠ بِرْسِينَر, yaŋ bir°sīnar, “shining ones”
Malay (in Roman script), yang bersinar, “shining ones”
Filipino, ang mga kumikinang, “the shining ones”
Iban, sida ti bekilat, “the shining ones”
Ilocano, dagiti agsilsilnag, “the shining ones”
Indonesian, para yang bersinar, “the shining ones”
Ancient Greek, αἱ φαιδριάδες, hai phaidriádes, “the shining ones”
Ancient Greek, αἱ ἀγλαΐαι, hai ʾaglaḯai, “the shining ones”
Sanskrit, देवाः, dēvāḥ, “shining ones, an Indo–European cognate with ‘divinities’ and ‘deities’”
Pali, देव, dēvā, “shining ones, a corresponding Indo–European cognate with ‘divinities’ and ‘deities’”