Prayers and Meditations — §262

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 262 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي وَسَيِّدِي تَسْمَعُ ضَجِيجَ المُشْتَاقِينَ فِي البُعْدِ وَالفِراقِ وَتَشْهَدُ حَنِينَ العارِفِينَ فِي الهَجْرِ وَالاشْتِياقِ، أَسْئَلُكَ بِالقُلُوبِ الَّتِيْ ما خُزِنَ فِيها إِلاَّ ذِكْرُكَ وَثَنَائُكَ وَما يَظْهَرُ مِنْها إِلاَّ آثارُ عَظَمَتِكَ وَاقْتِدارِكَ بِأَنْ تُقَرِّبَ عِبادَكَ اَلمُرِيدِينَ إِلى مَقَرِّ ظُهُوراتِ أَنْوارِ عِزِّ وَحْدانِيَّتِكَ وَتُدْخِلَ الآمِلينَ فِي سُرادِقِ عِزِّ رَحْمَتِكَ وَأَلْطافِكَ، يا إِلهِي إِنِّي عُرْيانٌ فَأَلْبِسْنِي خِلَعَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God, my Master! Thou hearest the sighing of those who, though they long to behold Thy face, are yet separated from Thee and far distant from Thy court. Thou testifiest to the lamentations which those who have recognized Thee pour forth because of their exile from Thee and their yearning to meet Thee. I beseech Thee by those hearts which contain naught except the treasures of Thy remembrance and praise, and which show forth only the testimonies of Thy greatness and the evidences of Thy might, to bestow on Thy servants who desire Thee power to approach the seat of the revelation of the splendor of Thy glory and to assist them whose hopes are set on Thee to enter into the tabernacle of Thy transcendent favor and mercy.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Praise”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

اللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord my God”

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

وَسَيِّدِي

s-w-d → “my Master”

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

تَسْمَعُ

s-m-ʿ → “hearest”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

ضَجِيجَ

ḍ-j-j → “sighing”

literal: clamor; outcry; noise; tumult

المُشْتَاقِينَ

sh-w-q → “those who, though they long” Distinctive

literal: to encourage; to incite; yearning; enthusiasm

فِي

f-y

literal: in it; in them

البُعْدِ

b-ʿ-d → “far distant” Distinctive

literal: after; behind; distance

وَالفِراقِ

f-r-q → “separated” Distinctive

literal: faction; sect; group; company

وَتَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

حَنِينَ

ḥ-n-n → “lamentations”

literal: trial, tribulation, ordeal, testing

العارِفِينَ

ʿ-r-f → “those who have recognized” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

الهَجْرِ

h-j-r → “remoteness”

literal: to emigrate, migrate, forsake; migration, emigration

أَسْئَلُكَ

s-ʾ-l → “beseech”

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِالقُلُوبِ

q-l-b → “those hearts”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

الَّتِيْ

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

خُزِنَ

kh-z-n → “treasury” Distinctive

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

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

ذِكْرُكَ

dh-k-r → “remembrance”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

وَثَنَائُكَ

th-n-y → “praise”

literal: praise; commendation; eulogy

يَظْهَرُ

ẓ-h-r → “show forth” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مِنْها

m-n

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

آثارُ

ʾ-th-r → “signs”

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

عَظَمَتِكَ

ʿ-ẓ-m → “greatness” Distinctive

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَاقْتِدارِكَ

q-d-r → “might”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

بِأَنْ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُقَرِّبَ

q-r-b → “approach”

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

اَلمُرِيدِينَ

r-y-d → “who desire”

literal: want; desire; will

إِلى

ʾ-l-y

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

مَقَرِّ

q-r-r → “seat”

literal: matter; affair; thing

أَنْوارِ

n-w-r → “splendor”

literal: light; illumination

عِزِّ

ʿ-z-z → “of Thy glory”

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

وَحْدانِيَّتِكَ

w-ḥ-d → “one”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

وَتُدْخِلَ

d-kh-l → “enter”

literal: enter; entered; entering

الآمِلينَ

ʾ-m-l → “whose hopes”

literal: hope; hoping; contemplation

سُرادِقِ

s-r-d-q → “tabernacle”

literal: pavilion; tabernacle; canopy; tent

رَحْمَتِكَ

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

وَأَلْطافِكَ،

l-ṭ-f → “favor”

literal: kindness; grace; gentleness; benevolence

إِنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “Thee”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

عُرْيانٌ

ʿ-r-y

literal: naked; bare; stripped

فَأَلْبِسْنِي

l-b-s

literal: garment; clothe; garment, clothing

خِلَعَ

kh-l-ʿ

literal: robe; garment of honor; investiture

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 ¶