Prayers and Meditations — §117

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 117 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

أَيْ رَبِّ نَشْهَدُ بِأَنَّكَ أَنْتَ اللّهُ لا إِلهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ لَمْ تَزَلْ كُنْتَ فِيْ عُلُوِّ الاقْتِدارِ وَلا تَزالُ تَكُونُ فِيْ سُمُوِّ الاخْتِيارِ لا يَمْنَعُكَ عَمَّا أَرَدْتَهُ جُنُودُ العالَمِ وَلا يَرُدُّكَ عَمَّا أَرَدْتَهُ مَنْ فِيْ السَّمواتِ وَالأَرَضِينَ، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ المُقْتَدِرُ العَلِيُّ العَظِيمُ صَلِّ اللَّهُمَّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

We testify, O my Lord, that Thou art God and that there is none other God besides Thee. From everlasting Thou wast enthroned on the inaccessible heights of Thy power, and wilt unto everlasting continue to exercise Thy transcendent and unrestrained dominion. The hosts of the world are powerless to frustrate Thy will, nor can all the dwellers of the earth and all the inmates of heaven annul Thy decree. Thou truly art the Almighty, the Most Exalted, the Most Great.

Translation Notes

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O”

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

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

نَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “We testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

بِأَنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

اللّهُ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إِلهَ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

literal: God; Allah; deity; Divinity; divine nature; godhood

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

literal: except; but; if not; lo; now; at this time; save; only; unless

لَمْ

l-y-s → “From” Distinctive

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

تَزَلْ

z-w-l → “everlasting”

literal: to pass away; to vanish; to disappear; to cease

كُنْتَ

k-w-n → “Thou wast”

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

فِيْ

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

عُلُوِّ

ʿ-l-w → “heights” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الاقْتِدارِ

q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

وَلا

w-l-y → “and”

literal: friend; lord; guardian

سُمُوِّ

s-m-w → “heaven” Distinctive

literal: heaven; sky

الاخْتِيارِ

kh-y-r → “good” Distinctive

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

يَمْنَعُكَ

m-n-ʿ → “to frustrate”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

عَمَّا

ʿ-n

literal: with them; in their company

أَرَدْتَهُ

r-y-d → “desire”

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

جُنُودُ

j-n-d → “hosts”

literal: hosts, armies, troops

العالَمِ

ʿ-l-m → “world”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

يَرُدُّكَ

r-d-d → “reject” Distinctive

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

مَنْ

m-n → “all the dwellers” Distinctive

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

وَالأَرَضِينَ،

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

إِنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

العَظِيمُ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

صَلِّ

ṣ-l-w

literal: root, origin, principle, foundation

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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.

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Fire Tablet

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

‘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 ¶