Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §107

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 107 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

تَرَى يا مَحْبُوبَ الآفاقِ مَحْبُوبَكَ تَحْتَ مَخالِبِ المُنْكِرِينَ وَرَجآءَ قَلْبِكَ تَحْتَ سُيُوفِ الظَّالِمِينَ، وَالآنَ يُخاطِبُنِي مِنْ أَعْلى المَقامِ يا أَيُّها المَسْجُونُ نَفْسِي لِسَجْنِكَ الفِدَاءُ، يا أَيُّها المَظْلُومُ ذاتِي لِبَلائِكَ الفِداءُ، أَنْتَ الَّذِيْ لِسَجْنِكَ ظَهَرَتْ أَعْلامُ قُدْرَتِكَ وَأَشْرَقَتْ مِنْ أُفُقِ البَلآءِ شَمْسُ ظُهُورِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ خَضَعَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ لِعَظَمَتِكَ،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thou seest, therefore, O Thou Beloved of the world, Him Who is dear to Thee in the clutches of such as have denied Thee, and beholdest Thy heart’s desire under the swords of the ungodly. Methinks He, from His most exalted station, saith unto me: “Would that my soul, O Prisoner, could be a ransom for Thy captivity, and my being, O wronged One, be sacrificed for the adversities Thou didst suffer! Thou art He through Whose captivity the standards of Thine almighty power were hoisted, and the daystar of Thy revelation shone forth above the horizon of tribulation, in such wise that all created things bowed down before the greatness of Thy majesty.

Translation Notes

تَرَى
r-ʾ-y → “seest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

يا
y-ʾ → “O ye”

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

مَحْبُوبَ
ḥ-b-b → “Beloved”

literal: love; affection

الآفاقِ
ʾ-f-q → “world”

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

تَحْتَ
t-ḥ-t → “in” Distinctive

literal: under; under, beneath; beneath

مَخالِبِ
kh-l-b → “clutches”

literal: talons, claws, clutches

المُنْكِرِينَ
n-k-r → “such as have denied Thee”

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation; wrong; evil; to deny; to reject

وَرَجآءَ
r-j-w → “Thy heart’s desire”

literal: hope; expectation

قَلْبِكَ
q-l-b

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

سُيُوفِ
s-y-f → “swords”

literal: sword

الظَّالِمِينَ،
ẓ-l-m → “Wronged One” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

وَالآنَ
ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

يُخاطِبُنِي
kh-ṭ-b → “addressed” Distinctive

literal: address; addressing; addresses

مِنْ
m-n → “from”

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

أَعْلى
ʿ-l-w → “most exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

المَقامِ
q-w-m → “station”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

أَيُّها
ʾ-y-y

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

المَسْجُونُ
s-j-n → “Prisoner”

literal: prison, imprisonment; to imprison

نَفْسِي
n-f-s → “soul”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

الفِدَاءُ،
f-d-y → “sacrifice”

literal: to sacrifice; to ransom; to redeem; to sacrifice oneself for

ذاتِي
dh-w-t → “being”

literal: essence; self; being

لِبَلائِكَ
b-l-w → “adversities”

literal: affliction; trial; calamity; trial, tribulation, affliction, calamity; yes; indeed; verily

أَنْتَ
ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الَّذِيْ
l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

ظَهَرَتْ
ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

أَعْلامُ
ʿ-l-m → “standards”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

قُدْرَتِكَ
q-d-r → “almighty power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

وَأَشْرَقَتْ
sh-r-q → “shone”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

شَمْسُ
sh-m-s → “daystar”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

شَأْنٍ
sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

خَضَعَ
kh-ḍ-ʿ → “submissiveness” Distinctive

literal: humility; submissiveness; lowliness

كُلُّ
k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

شَيْءٍ
sh-y-ʾ → “things”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

لِعَظَمَتِكَ،
ʿ-ẓ-m → “majesty”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

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 ¶
Gleanings cover

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

A compilation of 166 selections from Bahá’u’lláh’s Tablets, spanning the Baghdad, Adrianople, and ‘Akká periods (1853–1892). George Townshend assisted with English refinement. Shoghi Effendi wrote that it gives the friends a splendid opportunity to acquire knowledge and understanding of the Faith.

729 ¶
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 ¶
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 ¶