Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §417

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 417 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي أَسْئَلُكَ بِمَطْلَعِ آياتِكَ وَمَظْهَرِ أَسْمائِكَ وَمَخْزَنِ إِلْهامِكَ وَمَكْمَنِ عِلْمِكَ، بِأَنْ تُرْسِلَ عَلَى أَحِبَّائِكَ ما يَجْعَلُهُمْ ثابِتِينَ عَلَى أَمْرِكَ وَمُذْعِنِينَ بِوَحْدانِيَّتِكَ وَمُعْتَرِفِينَ بِفَرْدانِيَّتِكَ وَمُقِرِّينَ بِأُلُوهِيَّتِكَ، ثُمَّ أَصْعِدْهُمْ يا إِلهِي إِلى مَقامٍ يَنْظُرُونَ فِي كُلِّ الأَشْيآءِ آياتِ قُدْرَةِ مَظْهَرِ نَفْسِكَ العَلِيِّ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! I pray Thee, by Him Who is the Dayspring of Thy signs and the Manifestation of Thy names, and the Treasury of Thine inspiration, and the Repository of Thy wisdom, to send upon Thy loved ones that which will enable them to cleave steadfastly to Thy Cause, and to recognize Thy unity, and to acknowledge Thy oneness, and to bear witness to Thy divinity. Raise them up, O my God, to such heights that they will recognize in all things the tokens of the power of Him Who is the Manifestation of Thy most august and all-glorious Self.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ
s-b-ḥ → “Glorified”

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

اللَّهُمَّ
ʾ-l-h → “O Lord” Distinctive

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

يا
y-ʾ

literal: O; or

أَسْئَلُكَ
s-ʾ-l → “I pray Thee” Distinctive

literal: ask; ask/request; ask/beseech

بِمَطْلَعِ
ṭ-l-ʿ → “Dayspring”

literal: rising; appearance; countenance; manifestation

آياتِكَ
ʾ-y-y → “signs”

literal: sign; verse; miracle; token; verses; signs; proofs

وَمَظْهَرِ
ẓ-h-r → “Manifestation”

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

أَسْمائِكَ
s-m-w → “names”

literal: name; title; designation

وَمَخْزَنِ
kh-z-n → “Treasury”

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

إِلْهامِكَ
l-h-m → “inspiration”

literal: them (pronoun + object marker)

وَمَكْمَنِ
k-m-n → “repository”

literal: repository; treasury; hidden place; to hide; to conceal; latency; concealment

عِلْمِكَ،
ʿ-l-m → “wisdom”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بِأَنْ
ʾ-n-n → “that”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

تُرْسِلَ
r-s-l

literal: messenger; send; messengers

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w → “upon” Distinctive

literal: highest; most high; supreme

أَحِبَّائِكَ
ḥ-b-b → “loved ones”

literal: love; affection

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

يَجْعَلُهُمْ
j-ʿ-l → “will enable them” Distinctive

literal: to make; to cause; to render; to appoint

ثابِتِينَ
th-b-t → “cleave steadfastly”

literal: firm; steadfast; established; fixed

أَمْرِكَ
ʾ-m-r → “Cause”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

وَمُذْعِنِينَ
dh-ʿ-n → “acknowledged His truth” Distinctive

literal: submitting; acknowledgment; acknowledging

بِوَحْدانِيَّتِكَ
w-ḥ-d → “unity”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

وَمُعْتَرِفِينَ
ʿ-r-f → “to acknowledge”

literal: knowledge; know; knower

بِفَرْدانِيَّتِكَ
f-r-d → “oneness”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

وَمُقِرِّينَ
q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: stability; firmness; establishment

ثُمَّ
th-m-m

literal: then; thereafter; next; moreover

أَصْعِدْهُمْ
ṣ-ʿ-d → “Raise them up”

literal: ascent; ascension; rising; elevation

إِلى
ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

مَقامٍ
q-w-m → “heights” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

يَنْظُرُونَ
n-ẓ-r → “recognize” Distinctive

literal: sight; view; spectacle; appearance

فِي
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

كُلِّ
k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

الأَشْيآءِ
sh-y-ʾ → “things”

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

قُدْرَةِ
q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

نَفْسِكَ
n-f-s → “Self”

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 cover

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 cover

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 cover

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 cover

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 ¶