Prayers and Meditations — §23

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 23 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي تَرَى مَقَرِّيْ وَمَحْبَسِي وَابْتِلاَئِي، فَوَعِزَّتِكَ قَدْ عَجِزَ القَلَمُ عَنْ ذِكْرِهَا، وَالبَيانُ عَنْ بَيانِهَا وَشَرْحِهَا، لَمْ أَدْرِ يا إِلهِي بِأَيِّ جِهَةٍ تَرَكْتَنِي بَيْنَ أَعادِي نَفْسِكَ، فَوَعِزَّتِكَ لا أَجْزَعُ عَنِ الشَّدائِدِ فِيْ حُبِّكَ وَلا أَضْطَرِبُ عَن

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glorified be Thy name, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest my dwelling-place, and the prison into which I am cast, and the woes I suffer. By Thy might! No pen can recount them, nor can any tongue describe or number them. I know not, O my God, for what purpose Thou hast abandoned me to Thine adversaries. Thy glory beareth me witness! I sorrow not for the vexations I endure for love of Thee, nor feel perturbed by the calamities that overtake me in Thy path. My grief is rather because Thou delayest to fulfill what Thou hast determined in the Tablets of Thy Revelation, and ordained in the books of Thy decree and judgment.

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Glorified be”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

اللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord” Distinctive

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

يا

y-ʾ

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

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou beholdest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

مَقَرِّيْ

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: village; town; hamlet

وَمَحْبَسِي

ḥ-b-s → “cast Him into prison”

literal: imprison; prison; imprisoned

وَابْتِلاَئِي،

b-l-w → “and the woes I suffer”

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

فَوَعِزَّتِكَ

ʿ-z-z → “By Thy might”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

قَدْ

q-d

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

عَجِزَ

ʿ-j-z → “No pen can recount” Distinctive

literal: to be unable; to fail; to be exhausted; impotence

القَلَمُ

q-l-m

literal: pen; writing instrument

عَنْ

ʿ-n

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

ذِكْرِهَا،

dh-k-r → “mention” Distinctive

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

وَالبَيانُ

b-y-n → “utterance”

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

وَشَرْحِهَا،

sh-r-ḥ

literal: explanation; commentary; to explain; to open

لَمْ

l-y-s → “I know not” Distinctive

literal: to reproach; blame; censure

أَدْرِ

d-r-y

literal: know; in; sea

بِأَيِّ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

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

جِهَةٍ

j-h-h

literal: direction; side; way; quarter; aspect

تَرَكْتَنِي

t-r-k → “renounce” Distinctive

literal: leave; leave/abandon; abandon

أَعادِي

ʿ-d-w → “Thine adversaries”

literal: enemy; enemies; enmity

نَفْسِكَ،

n-f-s

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

أَجْزَعُ

j-z-ʿ

literal: be-impatient; dismay; to be impatient/distressed

الشَّدائِدِ

sh-d-d → “tribulations”

literal: strong; severe; intense; violent

فِيْ

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

حُبِّكَ

ḥ-b-b → “for love of Thee”

literal: love; affection

وَلا

w-l-y → “nor” Distinctive

literal: friend; lord; guardian

أَضْطَرِبُ

ḍ-r-b → “tremble”

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

‘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 ¶