Prayers and Meditations — §255

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 255 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لُ إِلَيْكَ أَظْهَرْتَ مَظاهِرَ نَفْسِكَ بِأَمْرِكَ وَمَشِيَّتِكَ وَأَرْسَلْتَهُمْ إِلى بَرِيَّتِكَ وَجَعَلْتَهُمْ مَشارِقَ إِلْهامِكَ وَمَطالِعَ وَحْيِكَ وَمَخازِنَ عِلْمِكَ وَمَكامِنَ أَمْر

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Having barred the way that leadeth unto Thee, Thou hast, by virtue of Thine authority and through the potency of Thy will, called into being Them Who are the Manifestations of Thy Self, and hast entrusted Them with Thy message unto Thy people, and caused Them to become the Daysprings of Thine inspiration, the Exponents of Thy Revelation, the Treasuries of Thy Knowledge and the Repositories of Thy Faith, that all men may, through Them, turn their faces towards Thee, and may draw nigh unto the kingdom of Thy Revelation and the heaven of Thy grace.

Translation Notes

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

أَظْهَرْتَ

ẓ-h-r → “called into being” Distinctive

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

نَفْسِكَ

n-f-s → “of Thy Self” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بِأَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

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

وَمَشِيَّتِكَ

sh-y-ʾ → “will”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

وَأَرْسَلْتَهُمْ

r-s-l → “Apostle” Distinctive

literal: to send; sent

بَرِيَّتِكَ

b-r-ʾ → “Thy people”

literal: high; exalted; upper

وَجَعَلْتَهُمْ

j-ʿ-l → “caused Them to become”

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

مَشارِقَ

sh-r-q → “Daysprings”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

إِلْهامِكَ

l-h-m → “of Thine inspiration”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

وَمَطالِعَ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Exponents” Distinctive

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

وَحْيِكَ

w-ḥ-y → “of Thy Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

وَمَخازِنَ

kh-z-n → “Treasuries”

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

عِلْمِكَ

ʿ-l-m → “of Thy Knowledge”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وَمَكامِنَ

k-m-n → “repository” Distinctive

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

أَمْر

ʾ-m-r → “of Thy Faith” Distinctive

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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

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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

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 ¶