Prayers and Meditations — §301

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 301 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لَكَ الحَمْدُ يا إِلهِي بما أَظْهَرْتَ سُلْطانَ الأَيَّامِ الَّذِيْ بَشَّرْتَ بِهِ أَصْفِيائَكَ وَأَنْبِيَائَكَ فِي أَلْوَاحِ عِزِّ أَحَدِيَّتِكَ، وَفِيهِ تَجَلَّيْتَ عَلَى كُلِّ الأَشْياءِ بِكُلِّ الأَسْمآءِ، طُوبى لِمَنْ أَقْبَلَ إِلَيْكَ وَفازَ بِلِقائِكَ وَسَمِعَ نَغَماتِكَ، أَيْ ربِّ أَسْئَلُكَ بِاسْمِ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Magnified be Thy name, O my God, for that Thou hast manifested the Day which is the King of Days, the Day which Thou didst announce unto Thy chosen Ones and Thy Prophets in Thy most excellent Tablets, the Day whereon Thou didst shed the splendor of the glory of all Thy names upon all created things. Great is his blessedness whosoever hath set himself towards Thee, and entered Thy presence, and caught the accents of Thy voice.

Translation Notes

لَكَ

l → “His is”

literal: for us; to us

الحَمْدُ

ḥ-m-d → “Magnified be” Distinctive

literal: praise; to praise

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

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

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

بما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

أَظْهَرْتَ

ẓ-h-r → “manifested”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

سُلْطانَ

s-l-ṭ → “King”

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

الأَيَّامِ

y-w-m → “Days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which is the”

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

بَشَّرْتَ

b-sh-r → “didst announce”

literal: human; glad-tidings; herald

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

أَصْفِيائَكَ

ṣ-f-w → “Thy chosen Ones”

literal: pure one; chosen one; selected one; elite

وَأَنْبِيَائَكَ

n-b-ʾ → “Thy Prophets”

literal: prophet; prophets

فِي

f-y → “in”

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

أَلْوَاحِ

l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

عِزِّ

ʿ-z-z → “most excellent” Distinctive

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

أَحَدِيَّتِكَ،

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

تَجَلَّيْتَ

literal: effulgence; manifestation; revelation; manifestation, revelation, appearance

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

كُلِّ

k-l-l → “all created”

literal: for us; to us

الأَشْياءِ

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

الأَسْمآءِ،

s-m-w → “all Thy names”

literal: heaven; sky

طُوبى

ṭ-w-b → “Great is” Distinctive

literal: happiness; blessedness; felicity

لِمَنْ

m-n → “whosoever” Distinctive

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

أَقْبَلَ

q-b-l → “hath set himself towards” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلَيْكَ

ʾ-l-y → “towards” Distinctive

literal: one; a single

وَفازَ

f-w-z → “attain”

literal: to attain; to gain; to succeed; to win

بِلِقائِكَ

l-q-y → “Thy presence”

literal: opposite; facing; in front of; towards

وَسَمِعَ

s-m-ʿ → “heard”

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

نَغَماتِكَ،

n-gh-m → “accents of Thy” Distinctive

literal: melody; tone; note

أَيْ

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

ربِّ

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أَسْئَلُكَ

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

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 ¶