Prayers and Meditations — §200

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 200 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

َدَمِ، فَلَمَّا جَاءَ أَمْرُكَ المُبْرَمُ قُمْتُ بِحَولِكَ وَدَعَوْتُ مَنْ فِي سَمائكَ وَأَرْضِكَ إِلى شَطْرِ مَواهِبِكَ وَأُفُقِ أَلْطافِكَ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنِ اعْتَرَضَ عَلَيَّ وَقامَ عَلَى ضُرِّي وَقَتْلِي، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ شَرِبَ خَمْرَ إِفضالِكَ وَسَرُعَ إِلى جِهَةِ عَرْشِكَ، أَسْئَلُكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

And when Thine irresistible summons reached me, I arose, fortified by Thy strength, and called all that are in Thy heaven and all that are on Thy earth to turn in the direction of Thy favors and the horizon of Thy bounties. Some caviled at me, and determined to hurt me and slay me. Others drank to the full of the wine of Thy grace, and hastened towards the habitation of Thy throne.

Translation Notes

َدَمِ،

d-m-m

literal: breath; moment; instant

فَلَمَّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

جَاءَ

j-y-ʾ → “come”

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

أَمْرُكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

المُبْرَمُ

b-r-m → “irresistible”

literal: to bind firmly; compelling, irresistible, immovable

قُمْتُ

q-w-m → “arose” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

بِحَولِكَ

ḥ-w-l → “now” Distinctive

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

وَدَعَوْتُ

d-ʿ-w → “called”

literal: call; invitation; claim

مَنْ

m-n → “all that are” Distinctive

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَمائكَ

s-m-w → “Thy heaven”

literal: name; heaven; names

وَأَرْضِكَ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

شَطْرِ

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

مَواهِبِكَ

w-h-b → “Thy favors” Distinctive

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

وَأُفُقِ

ʾ-f-q → “horizon”

literal: horizon; sphere; realm; quarter

أَلْطافِكَ،

l-ṭ-f → “Thy bounties”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

اعْتَرَضَ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “caviled at me”

literal: to object, to protest, to interrupt, to stand in the way

عَلَيَّ

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ضُرِّي

ḍ-r-r → “hurt”

literal: harm; damage; injury; detriment

وَقَتْلِي،

q-t-l → “slay”

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

شَرِبَ

sh-r-b → “quaffed”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

خَمْرَ

kh-m-r → “wine”

literal: wine; dough; wine/intoxication

إِفضالِكَ

f-ḍ-l → “Thy grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وَسَرُعَ

s-r-ʿ → “hastened”

literal: speed; swiftness; haste

جِهَةِ

j-h-h → “side” Distinctive

literal: direction; side; way; quarter; aspect

عَرْشِكَ،

ʿ-r-sh → “Thy throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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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 ¶