Prayers and Meditations — §386

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 386 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

عِزِّكَ وَاعْتِزازِكَ، هذا سِراجٌ اشْتَعَلَ مِنْ نُورِ ذاتِكَ لا تُطْفِئُهُ أَرْياحُ النِّفاقِ مِنَ الآفاقِ، وَهذا بَحْرٌ ظَهَرَ بِسُلْطانِكَ، لا تَمْنَعُهُ سَطوَةُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بِيَوْمِ الطَّلاقِ، وَهذا شَمْسٌ أَشْرَقَتْ عَنْ أُفُقِ سَمآءِ مَشِيَّتِكَ لا تَمْنَعُها سُب

Shoghi Effendi Translation

This is the Lamp which the light of Thine own Essence hath lit, and whose radiance the winds of discord can never extinguish. This is the Ocean that moveth by the power of Thy sovereign might, and whose waves the influence of the infidels that have disbelieved in the Judgment Day can never still. This is the Sun that shineth in the heaven of Thy will and the splendor of which the veils of the workers of iniquity and the doubts of the evil doers can never cloud.

Translation Notes

عِزِّكَ

ʿ-z-z → “might” Distinctive

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

هذا

h-dh-ʾ → “This is the”

literal: this; that

سِراجٌ

s-r-j → “Lamp”

literal: lamp; light; illuminator

اشْتَعَلَ

sh-ʿ-l → “kindled”

literal: to kindle, burn, be inflamed; to blaze

مِنْ

m-n → “of”

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

نُورِ

n-w-r → “light”

literal: light; illumination

ذاتِكَ

dh-w-t → “Thine own Essence”

literal: essence; self; being

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تُطْفِئُهُ

ṭ-f-ʾ → “extinguish”

literal: extinguish; extinguishing; to extinguish

أَرْياحُ

r-w-ḥ → “winds”

literal: rest; ease; comfort; tranquility

النِّفاقِ

n-f-q → “sacrificed” Distinctive

literal: hypocrisy; sedition; discord; betrayal

بَحْرٌ

b-ḥ-r → “Ocean”

literal: sea; ocean

ظَهَرَ

ẓ-h-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest; to display; to reveal; ظهور here means ‘backs’ (plural of ظهر), different semantic use than manifestation

بِسُلْطانِكَ،

s-l-ṭ → “by the power of” Distinctive

literal: dominion; authority; power; sovereignty; control

تَمْنَعُهُ

m-n-ʿ → “hinder”

literal: forbidden; prevented; deprived

سَطوَةُ

s-ṭ-w → “dominion”

literal: might; force; severity; oppression; tyranny

الَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

كَفَرُوا

k-f-r → “have disbelieved”

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بِيَوْمِ

y-w-m → “in the” Distinctive

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

الطَّلاقِ،

ṭ-l-q → “applied” Distinctive

literal: divorce; release; freeing

شَمْسٌ

sh-m-s → “Sun”

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

أَشْرَقَتْ

sh-r-q → “that shineth”

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “in” Distinctive

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

أُفُقِ

ʾ-f-q → “heaven” Distinctive

literal: horizon, direction, region; horizon; sun

سَمآءِ

s-m-w

literal: heaven; sky

مَشِيَّتِكَ

sh-y-ʾ → “of Thy will”

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

سُب

s-b-b → “cause” Distinctive

literal: cause; reason; means; instrument

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 ¶

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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 ¶

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‘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 ¶