Prayers and Meditations — §251

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 251 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لَى أَمْرِكَ وَعَلَى ما أَمَرْتَهُ فِي أَلْواحِ قَضائِكَ ظَهَرَ الفَزَعُ الأَكْبَرُ بَيْنَ بَرِيَّتِكَ وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكَ مُنْقَطِعًا عَنْ دُوْنِكَ وَمُقَدَّسًا عَمَّنْ عَلَى الأَرْضِ كُلِّها وَأَخَذَهُ حَلاوَةُ نِدائِكَ عَلَى شَأْنٍ نَبَذَ عَنْ وَرائِه ما خُلِقَ فِي مَلَكُوتِ الإِنْشآءِ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكَ مَرَّةً وَتَوَقَّفَ مَرَّةً أُخْرى، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنْ مَنَعَتْهُ الدُّنْيَا عَنْكَ وَحَالَتْ بَيْنَهُ وَبَيْنَكَ، وَمِنْهُمْ مَنِ اسْتَكْبَرَ وَأَعْرَضَ وَأَرادَ أَنْ يَمْنَعَكَ عَمَّا أَرَدْتَ بَعْدَ الَّذِيْ كُلٌّ يَدْعُونَكَ وَيَنْتَظِرُونَ ما وُعِدُوا بِهِ فِي أَلْواحِكَ، فَلَمَّا جاءَهُمْ ما عَرَفُوا بِآياتِكَ وَبَيِّناتِكَ كَفَرُوا وَأَعْرَضُوا إِلى أَنْ قَتَلُوا عِبادَكَ الَّذِينَ اسْتَضائَتْ بِوُجُوهِهِمْ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

No sooner had He proclaimed Thy Cause, and risen up to carry out the things prescribed unto Him in the Tablets of Thy decree, than the Great Terror fell upon Thy creatures. Some turned towards Thee, and detached themselves from all except Thee, and sanctified their souls from the world and all that is therein, and were so enravished by the sweetness of Thy voice that they forsook all Thou hadst created in the kingdom of Thy creation. Others recognized Thee and then hesitated, others allowed the world to come in between them and Thee and to withhold them from recognizing Thee. Others disdained Thee, and turned back from Thee, and wished to prevent Thee from achieving Thy purpose. And yet behold how all of them are calling upon Thee, and are expecting the things they were promised in Thy Tablets. And when the Promised One came unto them, they recognized Him not, and disbelieved in Thy signs, and repudiated Thy clear tokens, and strayed so grievously from Thy path that they slew Thy servants, through the brightness of whose faces the countenances of the Concourse on high have been illumined.

Translation Notes

لَى

ʿ-l-y

literal: upon; on; exalted

أَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

وَعَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَلْواحِ

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

قَضائِكَ

q-ḍ-y → “decree”

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

ظَهَرَ

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

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

الفَزَعُ

f-z-ʿ → “caused” Distinctive

literal: to fear; to be terrified; terror, fright

الأَكْبَرُ

k-b-r → “Great”

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

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “upon” Distinctive

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

بَرِيَّتِكَ

b-r-ʾ → “creatures”

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

وَمِنْهُمْ

m-n → “from” Distinctive

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

أَقْبَلَ

q-b-l → “turned towards”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

مُنْقَطِعًا

q-ṭ-ʿ → “detached themselves”

literal: to be severed; to be cut off; to detach oneself; to abstain

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

دُوْنِكَ

d-w-n → “except Thee”

literal: below; lower than; beneath

وَمُقَدَّسًا

q-d-s → “sanctified”

literal: holy, sacred, sanctified

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

كُلِّها

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

وَأَخَذَهُ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to affect; to grasp

حَلاوَةُ

ḥ-l-w → “sweetness”

literal: sweetest; most sweet; most pleasant

نِدائِكَ

n-d-y → “voice”

literal: call; voice; cry; summons

شَأْنٍ

sh-ʾ-n → “that they”

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

نَبَذَ

n-b-dh → “cast away”

literal: to cast; to reject; to abandon; to throw away

وَرائِه

w-r-ʾ → “them”

literal: standard; banner; flag; ensign; opinion; counsel; judgment; to see; to view; to perceive

خُلِقَ

kh-l-q → “created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

مَلَكُوتِ

m-l-k → “kingdom”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty

الإِنْشآءِ،

n-sh-ʾ → “creation”

literal: creation; bringing into existence; establishment; God willing; if God wishes; please God

مَرَّةً

m-r-r → “At one time”

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

وَتَوَقَّفَ

w-q-f → “hesitated”

literal: to stop; to halt; to pause; to hesitate

أُخْرى،

ʾ-kh-r

literal: the hereafter, the next life, the world to come; last, latter; the next life, the hereafter; delay; postponement

مَنَعَتْهُ

m-n-ʿ → “withhold” Distinctive

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

الدُّنْيَا

d-n-w → “world”

literal: this world; earthly life; temporal realm; lowest; base; mean; of little account; to know; to be acquainted with

وَحَالَتْ

ḥ-w-l → “come in between”

literal: states; conditions; circumstances; situations; affairs

وَأَعْرَضَ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned back” Distinctive

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

وَأَرادَ

r-y-d → “wished” Distinctive

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

أَنْ

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَرَدْتَ

r-w-d → “desire”

literal: will; want; desire

بَعْدَ

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

يَدْعُونَكَ

d-ʿ-w → “summoned” Distinctive

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

وَيَنْتَظِرُونَ

n-ẓ-r → “expecting”

literal: look; looking; view

وُعِدُوا

w-ʿ-d → “promised”

literal: hostility, aggression, enmity, transgression

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

فَلَمَّا

l-m-m → “No sooner”

literal: when; as soon as; thereupon

جاءَهُمْ

j-y-ʾ → “come” Distinctive

literal: to come; to arrive; to happen

عَرَفُوا

ʿ-r-f → “recognized Him not” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

بِآياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof

كَفَرُوا

k-f-r → “disbelieved”

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

قَتَلُوا

q-t-l → “death” Distinctive

literal: slayer; killer; murderer

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

اسْتَضائَتْ

ḍ-w-ʾ → “glory hath irradiated” Distinctive

literal: evening; night

بِوُجُوهِهِمْ

w-j-h → “faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

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 ¶