Prayers and Meditations — §219

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 219 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

ي الأَيَّامِ وَسَجَدُوا لِوَجْهِكَ فِي اللَّيالِيْ وَكَفَرُوْا بِنَفْسِكَ وَأَنْكَرُوْا آياتِكَ وَجاحَدُوا بُرْهانَكَ وَحَرَّفُوْا كَلِماتِكَ، أَيْ رَبِّ فَافْتَحْ عَيْنِيْ وَعَيْنَ مَنْ أَرادَكَ لِنَعْرِفَكَ بِعَيْنِكَ وَهذا ما أَمَرْتَنا بِهِ فِي الْكِتابِ الَّذِيْ أَنْزَلْتَهُ عَلَى مَنِ اصْطَفَيْتَهُ بِأَمْرِكَ وَاخْتَصَصْتَهُ بَيْنَ بَرِيَّتِكَ وَارْتَضَيْتَهُ لِسَلْطَنَتِكَ وَاجْتَبَيْتَهُ وَأَرْسَلْتَهُ عَلَى بَرِيَّتِكَ، فَلَكَ الْحَمْدُ يا إِلهِي بِما وَفَّقْتَنا عَلَى الإِقْرارِ بِهِ وَالتَّصْدِيْقِ بِما نُزِّلَ عَلَيْهِ وَشَرَّفْتَنا بِلِقاءِ مَنْ وَعَدْتَنا بِهِ فِي كُتُبِكَ وَأَلْوا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Open Thou, O my Lord, mine eyes and the eyes of all them that have sought Thee, that we may recognize Thee with Thine own eyes. This is Thy bidding given us in the Book sent down by Thee unto Him Whom Thou hast chosen by Thy behest, Whom Thou hast singled out for Thy favor above all Thy creatures, Whom Thou hast been pleased to invest with Thy sovereignty, and Whom Thou hast specially favored and entrusted with Thy Message unto Thy people. Praised be Thou, therefore, O my God, inasmuch as Thou hast graciously enabled us to recognize Him and to acknowledge whatsoever hath been sent down unto Him, and conferred upon us the honor of attaining the presence of the One Whom Thou didst promise in Thy Book and in Thy Tablets.

Translation Notes

الأَيَّامِ

y-w-m

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

وَسَجَدُوا

s-j-d

literal: prostrate; mosque; prostrated

لِوَجْهِكَ

w-j-h

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

فِي

f-y → “in the”

literal: in; in-it; in it

اللَّيالِيْ

l-y-l

literal: night; darkness

وَكَفَرُوْا

k-f-r

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

بِنَفْسِكَ

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَأَنْكَرُوْا

n-k-r

literal: denial; rejection; repudiation; wrong; evil; to deny; to reject

آياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token; verses; signs; proofs

وَجاحَدُوا

j-ḥ-d

literal: deny; denied; denier

بُرْهانَكَ

b-r-h

literal: proof, evidence, demonstration, argument

وَحَرَّفُوْا

ḥ-r-f

literal: letter; deviation; word

كَلِماتِكَ،

k-l-m

literal: words; utterances; locutions

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “O my” Distinctive

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token; verses; signs; proofs

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

فَافْتَحْ

f-t-ḥ → “Open”

literal: open; opened; keys

عَيْنِيْ

ʿ-y-n → “mine eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

مَنْ

m-n → “of all them”

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

أَرادَكَ

r-y-d → “have sought”

literal: to will, to intend, to wish, to desire; to want; to intend; to desire

لِنَعْرِفَكَ

ʿ-r-f → “recognize”

literal: knowledge; know; knower

وَهذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is”

literal: this; that

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

أَمَرْتَنا

ʾ-m-r → “Cause” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بِهِ

b-h → “as”

literal: by it; by him; with it

الْكِتابِ

k-t-b → “Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y

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

أَنْزَلْتَهُ

n-z-l → “sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “by Thee” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

اصْطَفَيْتَهُ

ṣ-f-w → “Whom Thou hast chosen”

literal: chosen ones; chosen-ones; purity

بِأَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “by Thy behest” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَاخْتَصَصْتَهُ

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “Whom Thou hast singled out”

literal: special; particular; specific

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “above all” Distinctive

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

بَرِيَّتِكَ

b-r-ʾ → “Thy creatures”

literal: to create; to create anew; to be free from; innocent; free from; clear of; to cure; to heal; to clear

وَارْتَضَيْتَهُ

r-ḍ-y → “Thy pleasure”

literal: pleasure; pleasure/satisfaction; pleasure, satisfaction

لِسَلْطَنَتِكَ

s-l-ṭ → “with Thy sovereignty”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

وَاجْتَبَيْتَهُ

j-b-y → “Whom Thou hast specially favored”

literal: specially favored

وَأَرْسَلْتَهُ

r-s-l → “Apostle” Distinctive

literal: to send; sent

فَلَكَ

f-l-k

literal: ship; ark; orbit; sphere; heaven

الْحَمْدُ

ḥ-m-d → “Praised be”

literal: praise; to praise

يا

y-ʾ → “O my”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

وَفَّقْتَنا

w-f-q → “Thou hast graciously enabled”

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

الإِقْرارِ

q-r-r → “to recognize” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

وَالتَّصْدِيْقِ

ṣ-d-q → “to acknowledge”

literal: to confirm; to verify; to acknowledge; to testify to truth

عَلَيْهِ

ʿ-l-y → “unto Him”

literal: upon; on; exalted

وَشَرَّفْتَنا

sh-r-f → “honored” Distinctive

literal: honor; honored; noble

بِلِقاءِ

l-q-y

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

وَعَدْتَنا

w-ʿ-d → “Whom Thou didst promise”

literal: promised; promise; to promise

وَأَلْوا

l-w-ḥ

literal: tablet; tablets; allusion

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

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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

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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

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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 ¶