Prayers and Meditations — §128

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 128 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

بِذَيْلِ رِداءِ مَكْرُمَتِكَ، فَأَنْزِلْ عَلَيَّ مِنْ سَحابِ كَرَمِكَ ما يُطَهِّرُنِيْ عَنْ ذِكْرِ دُونِكَ وَيَجْعَلُنِي مُقْبِلَةً إِلى قِبْلَةِ الآفاقِ الَّذِيْ اجْتَمَعَ عَلَيْهِ أَهْلُ النِّفاقِ الَّذِينَ نَقَضُوا المِيثاقَ وَكَفَرُوا بِكَ وَبِآياتِكَ، أَيْ رَبِّ لا تَحْرِمْنِي مِنْ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I have laid hold, O my Lord, on the handle of Thy bounty, and clung steadfastly to the hem of the robe of Thy favor. Send down, then, upon me, out of the clouds of Thy generosity, what will purge out from me the remembrance of any one except Thee, and make me able to turn unto Him Who is the Object of the adoration of all mankind, against Whom have been arrayed the stirrers of sedition, who have broken Thy covenant, and disbelieved in Thee and in Thy signs.

Translation Notes

بِذَيْلِ

dh-y-l → “hem”

literal: hem; skirt; tail; border

رِداءِ

r-d-y → “robe”

literal: rejected; repudiated

مَكْرُمَتِكَ،

k-r-m → “Thy favor”

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field; honor; generosity; nobility

فَأَنْزِلْ

n-z-l → “Send down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

عَلَيَّ

ʿ-l-w → “upon me” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

سَحابِ

s-ḥ-b → “clouds”

literal: cloud; clouds

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

literal: what; which; that which; relative pronoun; interrogative

يُطَهِّرُنِيْ

ṭ-h-r → “pure” Distinctive

literal: to purify; to cleanse

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from me”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ذِكْرِ

dh-k-r → “remembrance” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

دُونِكَ

d-w-n → “any one except Thee”

literal: below; lower than; beneath

وَيَجْعَلُنِي

j-ʿ-l → “and make me able to”

literal: make; made; to make

مُقْبِلَةً

q-b-l → “turn” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

الآفاقِ

ʾ-f-q → “horizon” Distinctive

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

اجْتَمَعَ

j-m-ʿ → “all” Distinctive

literal: to gather; to assemble; group; number

عَلَيْهِ

ʿ-l-y

literal: upon; on; exalted

أَهْلُ

ʾ-h-l → “people”

literal: people; inhabitants; family; kin; worthy; deserving; my family; my people; my kin

النِّفاقِ

n-f-q → “of sedition”

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

نَقَضُوا

n-q-ḍ → “have broken”

literal: breaker; violator; one who breaks (covenant); covenant-breaker

المِيثاقَ

w-th-q → “Thy covenant”

literal: covenant; compact; pact; agreement

وَكَفَرُوا

k-f-r → “and disbelieved”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

وَبِآياتِكَ،

ʾ-y-y → “and in Thy signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “my Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَحْرِمْنِي

ḥ-r-m

literal: deprived; deprive; sanctuary

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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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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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 ¶