Prayers and Meditations — §210

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 210 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهِي وَفِّقْ عِبادَكَ وَإِمائَكَ عَلَى ذِكْرِكَ وَالاسْتِقامَةِ عَلَى حُبِّكَ، كَمْ مِنْ أَوْراقٍ سَقَطَتْ مِنْ أَرْياحِ الافْتِتانِ وَكَمْ مِنْها تَمَسَّكَتْ بِسِدْرَةِ الأَمْرِ عَلَى شأْنٍ ما حَرَّكَها الامْتِحانُ يا رَبَّنا الرَّحْمنَ، لَكَ الحَمْدُ بِما أَرَيْتَنِي عِبادًا كَسَّرُوا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lauded be Thy name, O my God! Aid Thou by Thy strengthening grace Thy servants and Thy handmaidens to recount Thy virtues and to be steadfast in their love towards Thee. How many the leaves which the tempests of trials have caused to fall, and how many, too, are those which, clinging tenaciously to the tree of Thy Cause, have remained unshaken by the tests that have assailed them, O Thou Who art our Lord, the Most Merciful!

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Lauded be Thy name”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

وَفِّقْ

w-f-q → “Aid”

literal: accord, agreement, harmony; to agree, accord with

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

وَإِمائَكَ

ʾ-m-y → “Thy handmaidens”

literal: mother; to lead; to head; matter; affair; people; nation; community; female servant; handmaiden; umma

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ذِكْرِكَ

dh-k-r → “Thy virtues” Distinctive

literal: remembrance; mention; memory; invocation; reminders; commemorations

وَالاسْتِقامَةِ

q-w-m → “to be steadfast” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

حُبِّكَ،

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

كَمْ

k-m-m → “How many”

literal: how many; how much

أَوْراقٍ

w-r-q → “leaves”

literal: leaf, page, sheet, parchment, document

سَقَطَتْ

s-q-ṭ → “have caused to fall”

literal: dropping; omitting; falsifying; interpolating

أَرْياحِ

r-w-ḥ → “spirit” Distinctive

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility

الافْتِتانِ

f-t-n → “of trials”

literal: to give a legal judgment; to decree; to issue a fatwa

مِنْها

m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

تَمَسَّكَتْ

m-s-k → “clinging tenaciously”

literal: hold fast; clinging; cling

بِسِدْرَةِ

s-d-r → “tree”

literal: lote-tree; divine tree

الأَمْرِ

ʾ-m-r → “of Thy Cause”

literal: command; matter; cause

شأْنٍ

sh-ʾ-n → “in such wise”

literal: affair; concern; matter; aspect; quality; state; affairs; matters; conditions; circumstances; affair, matter, station, rank, dignity; station; rank; importance; matter, affair, concern, dignity, rank

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

حَرَّكَها

ḥ-r-k

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

الامْتِحانُ

m-ḥ-n → “by the tests”

literal: trial; tribulation; affliction; test

رَبَّنا

r-b-b → “our Lord”

literal: Lord; Master; Sustainer; Cherisher