Prayers and Meditations — §134

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 134 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

ْجُلٍ حَدِيدَةٍ لإِظْهارِ أَمْرِكَ بَيْنَ خَلْقِكَ وَإِبْرازِ سَلْطَنَتِكَ فِيْ مَمْلَكَتِكَ، ما أَعْظَمَ يا إِلهِي هذا الصُّنْعَ الأَكْبَرَ وَما أَكْمَلَ هذا الخَلْقَ الَّذِيْ مِنْهُ تَحَيَّرَتْ أَفْئِدَةُ أَهْلِ العِبَرِ وَالفِكْرِ، فَلَمَّا أَتَى المِيقاتُ وَظَهَرَ القَضآءُ بَعْدَ القَدَرِ بِالإمْضاءِ أَنْطَقْتَهُ بِثَنائِكَ وَأَسْرارِكَ بَيْنَ مَلإِ الإِنْشآءِ يا مالِكَ الأَسْمآءِ وَفاطِرَ الأَرْضِ وَالسَّمآءِ، وَبِهِ نَطَقَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ بِذِكْرِكَ وَثَنائِكَ وَتَوَجَّهَ كُلُّ نَفْسٍ إِلى مَلَكُوتِ أَمْرِكَ وَسُلْطان

Shoghi Effendi Translation

How great, O my God, is this Thy most excellent handiwork, and how consummate Thy creation, which hath caused every understanding heart and mind to marvel! And when the set time was fulfilled, and what had been preordained came to pass, Thou didst unloose His tongue to praise Thee, and to lay bare Thy mysteries before all Thy creation, O Thou Who art the Possessor of all names, and the Fashioner of earth and heaven! Through Him all created things were made to glorify Thee, and to celebrate Thy praise, and every soul was directed towards the kingdom of Thy revelation and Thy sovereignty.

Translation Notes

ْجُلٍ

j-l-l

literal: exalted; glory; majesty

حَدِيدَةٍ

ḥ-d-d

literal: iron; sharp, keen, acute

أَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “revelation” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “before” Distinctive

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

وَإِبْرازِ

b-r-z

literal: appearance; manifestation; coming forth

فِيْ

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أَعْظَمَ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “Most Great”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “this”

literal: this; that

الصُّنْعَ

ṣ-n-ʿ → “handiwork”

literal: fashioning; making; creation; artifice

الأَكْبَرَ

k-b-r → “most excellent” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

أَكْمَلَ

k-m-l → “consummate” Distinctive

literal: perfection; completeness; fully; with full; in complete; to complete, perfect, fulfill

الخَلْقَ

kh-l-q → “creation”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

مِنْهُ

m-n

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

تَحَيَّرَتْ

ḥ-y-r → “perplexed”

literal: bewildered; perplexed; confused; astounded; amazed; bewilderment; perplexity; wonder; amazement

أَفْئِدَةُ

f-ʾ-d → “understanding heart” Distinctive

literal: heart, innermost soul, mind; heart; inner consciousness; mind; one who benefits; advantageous

أَهْلِ

ʾ-h-l → “people”

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

العِبَرِ

ʿ-b-r

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

وَالفِكْرِ،

f-k-r → “Ponder” Distinctive

literal: thoughts; ideas; fancies; opinions; to think; to reflect; to contemplate

فَلَمَّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

أَتَى

ʾ-t-y → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to bring; to go; coming; arrival; the one coming; to give; Revelation; came; gave; brought

المِيقاتُ

w-q-t → “the set time”

literal: time; occasion; moment; period

وَظَهَرَ

ẓ-h-r → “was fulfilled” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

القَضآءُ

q-ḍ-y

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for

بَعْدَ

b-ʿ-d

literal: after; behind; distance

القَدَرِ

q-d-r → “what had been preordained”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

بِالإمْضاءِ

m-ḍ-y

literal: pass; execution; past

أَنْطَقْتَهُ

n-ṭ-q → “spoken” Distinctive

literal: to speak; to utter; to pronounce; to articulate

بِثَنائِكَ

th-n-y → “to praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy; glorification; praise, commendation, eulogy

وَأَسْرارِكَ

s-r-r → “mysteries”

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

مَلإِ

m-l-ʾ → “Concourse”

literal: assembly; multitude; chiefs; to fill; people of rank; fullness, assembly

الإِنْشآءِ

n-sh-ʾ → “creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

مالِكَ

m-l-k → “Thou Who art the Possessor” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

الأَسْمآءِ

s-m-w → “of all names”

literal: heaven; sky

وَفاطِرَ

f-ṭ-r → “true Faith” Distinctive

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “of earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَبِهِ

b-h → “as”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

كُلُّ

k-l-l → “all created things”

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

بِذِكْرِكَ

dh-k-r → “to glorify Thee” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

وَتَوَجَّهَ

w-j-h → “and every soul was directed” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

نَفْسٍ

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards the kingdom”

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

وَسُلْطان

s-l-ṭ → “Thy sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘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 ¶