Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §461

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 461 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

لَكَ الحَمْدُ يا إِلهِي بِمَا وَفَيْتَ بِمَا رُقِمَ مِنْ قَلَمِ أَمْرِكَ فِي الأَلْواحِ الَّتِيْ أَرْسَلْتَهَا إِلى خِيرَةِ خَلْقِكَ الَّذِينَ بِهِمْ فُتِحَتْ أَبْوابُ رَحْمَتِكَ وَأَشْرَقَتْ شَمْسُ هِدايَتِكَ، وَلَكَ الحَمْدُ يا إِلهِي عَلَى ما أَظْهَرْتَ مَا كانَ مَكْنُونًا فِي أَزَلِ الآزَالِ فِي سُرَادِقِ العِزَّةِ وَالعَظَمَةِ وَالإِجْلالِ، وَبِهِ زَيَّنْتَ سَمَاءَ أَمْرِكَ وَأَلْواحَ كِتَ

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praised be Thou, O my God, that Thou hast been true to what the Pen of Thy Revelation hath inscribed upon the Tablets sent down by Thee unto Them Whom Thou hast chosen above all Thy creatures, and through Whom Thou hast unlocked the doors of Thy mercy, and shed abroad the radiance of the light of Thy guidance. Glory to Thee that Thou hast laid bare what had from eternity been wrapped up within the Tabernacle of Thy majesty, Thine omnipotence and glory, and through which Thou hadst decked forth the heaven of Thy Revelation and adorned the pages of the book of Thy testimony.

Translation Notes

لَكَ
l → “His is”

literal: but; however; yet

الحَمْدُ
ḥ-m-d → “Praised”

literal: praise; to praise

يا
y-ʾ → “O”

literal: O; or

إِلهِي
ʾ-l-h → “my God”

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

وَفَيْتَ
w-f-y → “fidelity” Distinctive

literal: faithfulness; loyalty; fulfillment; fidelity; to be faithful; faithful, loyal

رُقِمَ
r-q-m → “inscribed” Distinctive

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

مِنْ
m-n → “of”

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

قَلَمِ
q-l-m → “Pen”

literal: pen; writing instrument

أَمْرِكَ
ʾ-m-r → “Revelation” Distinctive

literal: command; cause; matter; affair; Cause (of God); to command; to order

فِي
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

الأَلْواحِ
l-w-ḥ → “Tablets”

literal: tablet; panel; divine decree; revelation

الَّتِيْ
ʾ-l-l

literal: who; which/that; which

أَرْسَلْتَهَا
r-s-l → “sent down by Thee”

literal: to send; dispatch; transmission

إِلى
ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

خِيرَةِ
kh-y-r → “chosen” Distinctive

literal: goodwill; benevolence; kindness; good; goodness; benefit; better; best

خَلْقِكَ
kh-l-q → “creatures”

literal: character; moral traits; disposition; conduct

الَّذِينَ
l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

بِهِمْ
h-m → “all”

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

فُتِحَتْ
f-t-ḥ → “unlocked”

literal: opening; opening up; conquests; revelations; disclosure

أَبْوابُ
b-w-b → “doors”

literal: door; gate; chapter; way; manner

رَحْمَتِكَ
r-ḥ-m → “mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

وَأَشْرَقَتْ
sh-r-q → “shed abroad” Distinctive

literal: radiance; splendor; dawn; illumination

شَمْسُ
sh-m-s → “light” Distinctive

literal: sun; daystar; manifestation of divine light

هِدايَتِكَ،
h-d-y → “guidance”

literal: guidance; to guide; direction; leading rightly; this; this one

عَلَى
ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما
m-ʾ → “that”

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

أَظْهَرْتَ
ẓ-h-r → “laid bare” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

كانَ
k-w-n → “had” Distinctive

literal: to do; to make; to perform; to be; was

مَكْنُونًا
k-n-n → “hidden”

literal: to do; to make; to perform

أَزَلِ
ʾ-z-l → “from eternity”

literal: eternity; pre-eternity; without beginning; eternal; everlasting; from eternity

سُرَادِقِ
s-r-d-q → “Tabernacle”

literal: pavilion; tabernacle; canopy; tent

العِزَّةِ
ʿ-z-z → “Thine omnipotence” Distinctive

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

وَالعَظَمَةِ
ʿ-ẓ-m → “majesty”

literal: greatest; supreme; mightiest

وَالإِجْلالِ،
j-l-l → “glory”

literal: majesty; glory; exaltation; magnificence

وَبِهِ
b-h → “as”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

زَيَّنْتَ
z-y-n → “decked forth” Distinctive

literal: to adorn; ornament; beauty

سَمَاءَ
s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

كِتَ
k-t-b

literal: book; books; write

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 ¶