Prayers and Meditations — §225

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 225 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

إِلهِي كَبِّرْ عَلَيْهِمْ وَعَلَى الَّذِيْنَ طافُوْا فِي حَوْلِهِمْ فِي حَياتِهِمْ وَمَماتِهِمْ ثُمَّ ارْزُقْهُمْ ما قَدَّرْتَهُ لِخِيْرَةِ خَلْقِكَ، إِنَّكَ أَنْتَ الْمُقْتَدِرُ عَلَى ما تَشآءُ لا إِلهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ الْمُقْتَدِرُ الْمُهَيْمِنُ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Proclaim, therefore, O my God, their greatness and the greatness of those who while living or after death have circled round them. Supply them with that which Thou hast ordained for the righteous among Thy creatures. Potent art Thou to do all things. There is no God but Thee, the All-Powerful, the Help in Peril, the Almighty, the Most Bountiful.

Translation Notes

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

كَبِّرْ

k-b-r

literal: great; grand; mighty; large

عَلَيْهِمْ

ʿ-l-y → “upon”

literal: exalted; highest; supreme; most high; upon you; on; over; Ali (name); upon

وَعَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “greatness” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

الَّذِيْنَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

طافُوْا

ṭ-w-f → “have circled”

literal: circle; circling; circumambulate

فِي

f-y

literal: in; in-it; in it

حَوْلِهِمْ

ḥ-w-l → “round them”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

حَياتِهِمْ

ḥ-y-y → “life” Distinctive

literal: life; vitality; living

وَمَماتِهِمْ

m-w-t → “death”

literal: death; dead; die

ثُمَّ

th-m-m → “then”

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

ارْزُقْهُمْ

r-z-q → “Supply them”

literal: provide; sustenance; provided

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

قَدَّرْتَهُ

q-d-r → “ordained” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لِخِيْرَةِ

kh-y-r → “righteous” Distinctive

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

خَلْقِكَ،

kh-l-q → “Thy creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

إِنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

تَشآءُ

sh-y-ʾ → “to do” Distinctive

literal: thing; something

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إِلهَ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “but” Distinctive

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

الْمُهَيْمِنُ

h-m-n → “the Help in Peril”

literal: the Protector; the Overseer; the Guardian

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶

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‘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 ¶