Prayers and Meditations — §38

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 38 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهِي تَرَى كُلَّ ذِي اسْتِقامَةٍ حَرَّكَتْهُ أَرْياحُ الامْتِحانِ، وَكُلَّ ذِي اسْتِقْرارٍ انْقَلَبَتْهُ نَفَحاتُ الافْتِتانِ، إِلاَّ الَّذِينَ أَخَذُوا خَمْرَ الحَيَوانِ مِنْ يَدِ مَظْهَرِ اسْمِكَ الرَّحْمنِ، أُولئِكَ لا يُؤَثِّرُ فِيهِمْ كَلِمَةٌ إِلاَّ كَلِمَتُكَ العُلْيا وَما تَجْذِبُهُمْ إِلاَّ نَفَحاتُ قَمِيصِ ذِكْرِكَ يا مالِكَ الأَسْماءِ وَفاطِرَ الأَرْضِ وَالسَّماء

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Lauded be Thy name, O my God! Thou beholdest how the tempestuous winds of tests have caused the steadfast in faith to tremble, and how the breath of trials hath stirred up those whose hearts had been firmly established, except such as have partaken of the Wine that is life indeed from the hands of the Manifestation of Thy name, the Most Merciful. These are the ones whom no word except Thy most exalted word can move, whom nothing whatever save the sweet smelling fragrance of the robe of Thy remembrance can enrapture, O Thou Who art the Possessor of all names and the Maker of earth and heaven!

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Lauded”

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

يا

y-ʾ → “O ye”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou beholdest”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look; to see, to observe, to behold; to view; vision; dream; sight; ل is prefix; verb تری (you see) is from ر-ا-ي

كُلَّ

k-l-l → “steadfast in faith” Distinctive

literal: for us; to us

ذِي

dh-w-y → “and” Distinctive

literal: possessor; possessor of; possessor/owner

اسْتِقامَةٍ

q-w-m

literal: station; people; place

حَرَّكَتْهُ

ḥ-r-k → “move”

literal: movement; motion; trembling; activity; حراک is unusual; possible typo or dialectal. Standard Arabic would be حرك or اهتزاز for ‘trembling’

أَرْياحُ

r-w-ḥ → “tempestuous winds”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility

الامْتِحانِ،

m-ḥ-n → “of tests”

literal: trial; tribulation; affliction; test

اسْتِقْرارٍ

q-r-r → “firmly established” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

انْقَلَبَتْهُ

q-l-b → “hearts” Distinctive

literal: to turn; to overturn; to reverse

نَفَحاتُ

n-f-ḥ → “breath” Distinctive

literal: breeze; fragrance; whiff; breath; emanation

الافْتِتانِ،

f-t-n → “of trials”

literal: to give a legal judgment; to decree; to issue a fatwa

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

الَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “such as” Distinctive

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

أَخَذُوا

ʾ-kh-dh → “have partaken” Distinctive

literal: to take; to seize; to grasp

خَمْرَ

kh-m-r → “Wine”

literal: to drink; to imbibe

الحَيَوانِ

ḥ-y-w → “is life indeed”

literal: life; living being; animal

مِنْ

m-n → “from the hands”

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

يَدِ

y-d-y

literal: hand; power; strength; (plural) hands; agents; helpers; to assist, to support, to aid, to strengthen

مَظْهَرِ

ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

اسْمِكَ

s-m-w → “name”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

الرَّحْمنِ،

r-ḥ-m → “the Most Merciful” Distinctive

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

أُولئِكَ

ʾ-w-l → “first” Distinctive

literal: first; beginning; at first; the first; former; possessors of; those who have; masters of

لا

l-ʾ → “no”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يُؤَثِّرُ

ʾ-th-r → “signs” Distinctive

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

فِيهِمْ

f-y

literal: in it; in them

كَلِمَةٌ

k-l-m → “word”

literal: words; utterances; locutions; word; utterance; speech; sayings; verses

العُلْيا

ʿ-l-w → “most exalted”

literal: highest; most high; supreme

وَما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

تَجْذِبُهُمْ

j-dh-b → “can enrapture”

literal: to draw, attract, pull; to be enraptured

قَمِيصِ

q-m-ṣ → “robe”

literal: garment; shirt; tunic

ذِكْرِكَ

dh-k-r → “of Thy remembrance”

literal: remembrance; mention; memory

مالِكَ

m-l-k → “Possessor” Distinctive

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

وَفاطِرَ

f-ṭ-r → “Maker”

literal: creator; the one who splits/creates

الأَرْضِ

ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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 ¶

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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 ¶