Prayers and Meditations — §401

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 401 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

أَيْنَ رَاياتُ نَصْرِكَ الَّتِيْ وَعَدْتَها فِي أَلْواحِكَ، فَوَعِزَّتِكَ لا يُصْبِحُونَ أَحِبَّائُكَ إِلاَّ وَيَرَوْنَ كَأْسَ البَلآءِ فِي مُقابَلَةِ وُجُوهِهِمْ بِمَا آمَنُوا بِكَ وَبِآياتِكَ، وَلَوْ إِنِّي أَعْلَمُ بِأَنَّكَ أَرْحَمُ بِهِمْ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَما ابْتَلَيْتَهُمْ إِلاَّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Thy glory is my witness! At each daybreak they who love Thee wake to find the cup of woe set before their faces, because they have believed in Thee and acknowledged Thy signs. Though I firmly believe that Thou hast a greater compassion on them than they have on their own selves, though I recognize that Thou hast afflicted them for no other purpose except to proclaim Thy Cause, and to enable them to ascend into the heaven of Thine eternity and the precincts of Thy court, yet Thou knowest full well the frailty of some of them, and art aware of their impatience in their sufferings.

Translation Notes

أَيْنَ

ʾ-y-n

literal: this; these

رَاياتُ

r-w-y

literal: banner; banner/flag; banners

نَصْرِكَ

n-ṣ-r

literal: aid, help, succor, victory, support

الَّتِيْ

ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

وَعَدْتَها

w-ʿ-d

literal: promised; promise; to promise

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَلْواحِكَ،

l-w-ḥ

literal: description; tablet; manifesto

فَوَعِزَّتِكَ

ʿ-z-z → “Thy glory is my witness” Distinctive

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

لا

l-ʾ → “or”

literal: no; not; negation particle

يُصْبِحُونَ

ṣ-b-ḥ → “morn” Distinctive

literal: morning; lamp; morning, dawn

أَحِبَّائُكَ

ḥ-b-b → “they who love Thee” Distinctive

literal: love; affection

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

وَيَرَوْنَ

r-ʾ-y → “wake to find” Distinctive

literal: to see; to perceive; to look

كَأْسَ

k-ʾ-s → “cup”

literal: cup; chalice; goblet

البَلآءِ

b-l-w → “woe” Distinctive

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

مُقابَلَةِ

q-b-l → “before”

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

وُجُوهِهِمْ

w-j-h → “their faces”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

بِمَا

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

آمَنُوا

ʾ-m-n → “they have believed”

literal: to believe; to have faith; to be secure

وَبِآياتِكَ،

ʾ-y-y → “Thy signs”

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof; sign, verse, miracle, token, indication; ayah; he; him; it

وَلَوْ

l-w → “If”

literal: were it not for; if not for; save for

إِنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “that” Distinctive

literal: I, verily; behold I

أَعْلَمُ

ʿ-l-m → “knowledge”

literal: to see; to perceive; to look

أَرْحَمُ

r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

بِهِمْ

h-m → “all”

literal: them (feminine or general); by them; through them

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

أَنْفُسِهِمْ

n-f-s → “their own selves”

literal: self; soul; psyche

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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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

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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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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

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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

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

‘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 ¶