Prayers and Meditations — §32

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 32 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي قَدْ أَخَذَتِ الظُّلْمَةُ كُلَّ الأَقْطارِ وَأَحاطَتِ الْفِتْنَةُ كُلَّ الأَشْطَارِ، وَلكِنْ إِنِّي أَرَى فِيها بَيْضآءَ حِكْمَتِكَ وَأَنْوارَ تَدْبِيرِكَ، وَالَّذِينَ احْتَجَب

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lauded be Thy name, O Lord my God! Darkness hath fallen upon every land, and the forces of mischief have encompassed all the nations. Through them, however, I perceive the splendors of Thy wisdom, and discern the brightness of the light of Thy providence.

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Lauded be”

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

اللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

قَدْ

q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

أَخَذَتِ

ʾ-kh-dh → “laid hold”

literal: to take; to seize; to affect

الظُّلْمَةُ

ẓ-l-m → “Darkness” Distinctive

literal: wrongedness, oppression, meekness; state of being wronged or oppressed

كُلَّ

k-l-l → “every”

literal: for us; to us

الأَقْطارِ

q-ṭ-r → “land”

literal: drop; region; country; rainfall

وَأَحاطَتِ

ḥ-w-ṭ → “have encompassed”

literal: to encompass, surround, envelop, embrace

الْفِتْنَةُ

f-t-n → “sedition”

literal: trial; tribulation; temptation; sedition; discord; strife

الأَشْطَارِ،

sh-ṭ-r → “the direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

وَلكِنْ

l-k-n → “however”

literal: but; however; yet; nevertheless

إِنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “I”

literal: I, verily; behold I

أَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou seest” Distinctive

literal: Persian form from آراستن (ārāstan) ‘to adorn/invest’, root ا-ر-ا, not ر-ء-ي (to see)

فِيها

f-y → “in”

literal: in it; in them

بَيْضآءَ

b-y-ḍ → “snow-white”

literal: white; pure; bright; radiant; clear

حِكْمَتِكَ

ḥ-k-m → “Thy wisdom”

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

وَأَنْوارَ

n-w-r → “splendors”

literal: light; illumination

تَدْبِيرِكَ،

d-b-r → “Thy providence”

literal: deliberation; consideration; prudence; management; planning; counsel

وَالَّذِينَ

l-dh-y

literal: those who; the ones who (relative pronoun)

احْتَجَب

ḥ-j-b

literal: to veil oneself, to be veiled

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

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

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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

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

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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 ¶