Prayers and Meditations — §305

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 305 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لا تَدَعْ عِبادَكَ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ فَاجْذِبْهُمْ بِآياتِكَ إِلى مَطْلَعِ وَحْيِكَ وَمَشْرِقِ إِلْهامِكَ وَمَخْزَنِ عِلْمِكَ، أَنْتَ الَّذِيْ شَهِدَ كُلُّ شَيْءٍ بِقُدْرَتِكَ وَاقْتِدارِكَ وَما مَنَعَكَ مِنْ اَمْرِكَ ما خُلِقَ فِي أَرْضِكَ وَسَمائِكَ، فَانْصُرْ يا إِلهِي

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Leave not Thy servants to themselves, O my Lord! Draw them through the influence of Thine utterances unto the Dawning-Place of Thine inspiration, and to the Fountain of Thy Revelation, and to the Treasury of Thy wisdom. Thou art He to Whose strength and power all things have testified, Whose Purpose nothing whatsoever of all that hath been created in Thy heaven and on Thy earth hath been able to frustrate.

Translation Notes

لا

l-ʾ → “not”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَدَعْ

w-d-ʿ → “entrusted” Distinctive

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

عِبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ

n-f-s → “to themselves”

literal: self; soul; psyche

فَاجْذِبْهُمْ

j-dh-b → “Draw”

literal: attract; attraction; attract, draw

بِآياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “Thine utterances”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

مَطْلَعِ

ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dawning-Place”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

وَحْيِكَ

w-ḥ-y → “Thy Revelation”

literal: revelation; inspiration; divine communication

وَمَشْرِقِ

sh-r-q → “Dayspring”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

إِلْهامِكَ

l-h-m → “Thine inspiration”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

وَمَخْزَنِ

kh-z-n → “Treasury”

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

عِلْمِكَ،

ʿ-l-m → “Thy wisdom”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y

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

شَهِدَ

sh-h-d → “have testified”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

كُلُّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

شَيْءٍ

sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

بِقُدْرَتِكَ

q-d-r → “strength” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

وَما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

مَنَعَكَ

m-n-ʿ → “able to frustrate”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

مِنْ

m-n → “of”

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

اَمْرِكَ

ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

خُلِقَ

kh-l-q → “hath been created”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَرْضِكَ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “Thy earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

وَسَمائِكَ،

s-m-w → “Thy heaven”

literal: name; heaven; names

فَانْصُرْ

n-ṣ-r

literal: help; victory; helper

يا

y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “my Lord” Distinctive

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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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16 ¶

Kitáb-i-Íqán

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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

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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

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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

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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 ¶