Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §227

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 227 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

الأَعْلَی، وَكَبِّرِ الْلَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي عَلَى النُّقْطَةِ الأَوَّلِيَّةِ وَالسِّرِّ الأَحَدِيَّةِ وَالْغَيْبِ الْهُوِيَّةِ وَمَطْلَعِ الأُلُوهِيَّةِ وَمَظْهَرِ الرُّبُوْبِيَّةِ الَّذِيْ بِهِ فَصَّلْتَ عِلْمَ ما كانَ وَما يَكوْنُ، وَظَهَرَتْ لالِئُ عِلْمِكَ الْمَكْنُوْنِ وَسِرُّ اسْمِكَ الْمَخْزُوْنِ وَجَعَلْتَهُ مُبَشِّرًا لِلَّذِيْ بِاسْمِهِ أُلِّفَ الْكافُ بِرُكْنِها النُّونِ، وَبِهِ ظَهَرَتْ سَلْطَنَتُكَ وَعَظَمَتُكَ وَاقْتِدارُكَ وَنُزِّلَتْ آياتُكَ وَفُصِّلَتْ أَحْكامُكَ وَنُشِرَتْ آثارُكَ وَحُقِّقَتْ كَلِمَتُكَ وَبُعِثَتْ قُلُوْبُ أَصْفِيائِكَ وَحُشِرَ مَنْ فِي سَمائِكَ وَأَرْضِكَ، الَّذِيْ سَمَّيْتَهُ بعَلِيِّ قَبْلَ نَبِيْل فِي مَلَكُوتِ أَسْمائِكَ وَبِرُوحِ الرُّوحِ فِي أَلْواحِ قَضائِكَ، وَأَقَمْتَهُ مَقامَ نَفْسِك وَرَجَعَتْ كُلُّ الأَسْماءِ إِلى اسْمِهِ بِأَمْرِكَ وَقُدْرَتِكَ، وَبِهِ انْتَهَتْ أَسْماؤُكَ وَصِفاتُكَ وَلَهُ أَسْماءٌ فِي سُرادِقِ عِفَّتِكَ وَفِي عَوالِمِ غَيْبِكَ وَمَدائِنِ تَقَدِيْسِكَ، وَعَلَى الَّذِيْنَ هُمْ آمَنُوْا

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Magnify Thou, O Lord my God, Him Who is the Primal Point, the Divine Mystery, the Unseen Essence, the Dayspring of Divinity, and the Manifestation of Thy Lordship, through Whom all the knowledge of the past and all the knowledge of the future were made plain, through Whom the pearls of Thy hidden wisdom were uncovered, and the mystery of Thy treasured name disclosed, Whom Thou hast appointed as the Announcer of the One through Whose name the letter B and the letter E have been joined and united, through Whom Thy majesty, Thy sovereignty and Thy might were made known, through Whom Thy words have been sent down, and Thy laws set forth with clearness, and Thy signs spread abroad, and Thy Word established, through Whom the hearts of Thy chosen ones were laid bare, and all that were in the heavens and all that were on the earth were gathered together, Whom Thou hast called ‘Alí-Muḥammad in the kingdom of Thy names, and the Spirit of Spirits in the Tablets of Thine irrevocable decree, Whom Thou hast invested with Thine own title, unto Whose name all other names have, at Thy bidding and through the power of Thy might, been made to return, and in Whom Thou hast caused all Thine attributes and titles to attain their final consummation. To Him also belong such names as lay hid within Thy stainless tabernacles, in Thine invisible world and Thy sanctified cities.

Translation Notes

وَكَبِّرِ
k-b-r “grandeur” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

الْلَّهُمَّ

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

يا

literal: O; or

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w “Him” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

النُّقْطَةِ

literal: point; dot; spot; region; area

الأَوَّلِيَّةِ

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

وَالسِّرِّ

literal: throne; couch; seat of authority

الأَحَدِيَّةِ

literal: oneness; unity; absolute unicity; singleness of divine essence

وَالْغَيْبِ

literal: the unseen; the invisible; the hidden; the unknowable; stranger; foreign; alien; separated

الْهُوِيَّةِ
h-w-w “is” Distinctive

literal: desire; vain desire; inclination; passion; whim; realm; region

وَمَطْلَعِ

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

الأُلُوهِيَّةِ

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

وَمَظْهَرِ

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

الرُّبُوْبِيَّةِ
r-b-b “Lordship” Distinctive

literal: divine; of God; lordly

الَّذِيْ

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

بِهِ

literal: by it; by him; with it

فَصَّلْتَ
f-ṣ-l “separated” Distinctive

literal: detail; distinction; differentiation; to detail; to separate

عِلْمَ

literal: world; universe; the worlds

ما
m-ʾ “of” Distinctive

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

كانَ
k-w-n “past” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

لالِئُ

literal: pearls; gems; precious things

الْمَكْنُوْنِ

literal: to do; to make; to perform

اسْمِكَ

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

الْمَخْزُوْنِ

literal: to store, to treasure; storehouse, depository, treasury

وَجَعَلْتَهُ
j-ʿ-l “appointed” Distinctive

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

مُبَشِّرًا
b-sh-r “Announcer” Distinctive

literal: human; mankind; human nature

لِلَّذِيْ
dh-w-y “and” Distinctive

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

أُلِّفَ

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

الْكافُ

literal: suffice; sufficient; sufficiency

بِرُكْنِها

literal: pillar; cornerstone; support; fundamental element; limb; member

النُّونِ،

literal: letter nun; the letter nun

سَلْطَنَتُكَ

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

وَعَظَمَتُكَ

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَاقْتِدارُكَ

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

وَنُزِّلَتْ

literal: to descend, to be revealed

آياتُكَ

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

أَحْكامُكَ

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom; firm; solid; strengthened

وَنُشِرَتْ

literal: spreading; spread; diffusion

آثارُكَ

literal: effect; trace; influence; imprint; sign; mark; vestige

وَحُقِّقَتْ
ḥ-q-q “truth” Distinctive

literal: truth; right; that which is true or just

كَلِمَتُكَ

literal: words; utterances; locutions

وَبُعِثَتْ
b-ʿ-th “sent down” Distinctive

literal: to send; to raise up; to dispatch

قُلُوْبُ

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

أَصْفِيائِكَ

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite; purity; clarity; sincerity; pure; sincere

وَحُشِرَ

literal: to gather, assemble, congregate; resurrection, Day of Judgment

مَنْ

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

فِي

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

وَأَرْضِكَ،

literal: earth; land; ground; country

قَبْلَ

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

نَبِيْل

literal: noble; exalted; distinguished; the Báb

مَلَكُوتِ

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

وَبِرُوحِ

literal: to go; to depart; to rest; spirit; soul

أَلْواحِ

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

قَضائِكَ،

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

وَأَقَمْتَهُ
q-w-m “people” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

نَفْسِك

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

وَرَجَعَتْ

literal: return; reference; place of return; resort

كُلُّ

literal: for us; to us

إِلى

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

بِأَمْرِكَ
ʾ-m-r “bidding” Distinctive

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

انْتَهَتْ
n-h-y “forbidden” Distinctive

literal: end, limit, utmost, extreme; final; the end, limit, utmost bound; Lote-Tree beyond which there is no passing; end; limit; terminus

وَصِفاتُكَ

literal: attribute; quality; characteristic

وَلَهُ

literal: guardian; protector; friend; ally; lord; helper; first; primary; original

سُرادِقِ

literal: pavilion; tabernacle; canopy; tent

عِفَّتِكَ
ʿ-f-f “virtue” Distinctive

literal: chastity, virtue, integrity, honor

وَمَدائِنِ

literal: religion; faith; creed; belief

تَقَدِيْسِكَ،

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

هُمْ

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

آمَنُوْا

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure; trust; trustworthiness; covenant; deposit; believer, faithful

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 cover

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 ¶