Prayers and Meditations — §204

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 204 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

عَبْدُكَ وَابْنُ عَبْدِكَ قَدْ تَمَسَّكْتُ بِعُرْوَةِ فَضْلِكَ وَحَبْلِ عِنايَتِكَ قَدِّرْ لِي ما هُوَ خَيْرٌ عِنْدَكَ، ثُمَّ ارْزُقْنِي مائِدَةَ الَّتِيْ نَزَّلْتَها مِنْ سَحابِ جُودِكَ وَسَمآءِ كَرَمِكَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I am Thy servant and the son of Thy servant, O my God! I have laid hold on the handle of Thy grace, and clung to the cord of Thy tender mercy. Ordain for me the good things that are with Thee, and nourish me from the Table Thou didst send down out of the clouds of Thy bounty and the heaven of Thy favor.

Translation Notes

عَبْدُكَ

ʿ-b-d → “servant”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

وَابْنُ

b-n-y → “son”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

قَدْ

q-d

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

تَمَسَّكْتُ

m-s-k → “have laid hold”

literal: hold fast; clinging; cling

بِعُرْوَةِ

ʿ-r-w → “which is afflicted” Distinctive

literal: handle; rope; firm bond; connection

فَضْلِكَ

f-ḍ-l → “grace”

literal: grace; bounty; generosity; excellence

وَحَبْلِ

ḥ-b-l → “cord”

literal: cord; rope; bond; connection

عِنايَتِكَ

ʿ-n-y → “tender mercy” Distinctive

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

قَدِّرْ

q-d-r → “Ordain”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لِي

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: for us; to us

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

هُوَ

h-w

literal: He; He is

خَيْرٌ

kh-y-r → “good”

literal: good; goodness; benefit; better; best

عِنْدَكَ،

ʿ-n-d → “with Thee”

literal: obstinacy; opposition; enmity

ثُمَّ

th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ارْزُقْنِي

r-z-q → “partake” Distinctive

literal: provide; sustenance; provided

مائِدَةَ

m-y-d → “bread”

literal: extended; outstretched; sustained

الَّتِيْ

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

نَزَّلْتَها

n-z-l → “didst send down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

سَحابِ

s-ḥ-b → “clouds”

literal: cloud; clouds

جُودِكَ

j-w-d → “bounty”

literal: generosity; bounty; liberality

وَسَمآءِ

s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

كَرَمِكَ

k-r-m → “favor” Distinctive

literal: Carmel (Mount Carmel); vineyard, fruitful field

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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

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

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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 ¶