Prayers and Meditations — §49

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 49 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي تَرَى عَبَراتِي وَزَفَراتِي وَتَسْمَعُ حَنِينِي وَعَوِيلِي وَضَجِيجِي، أَيْ رَبِّ أَنَا الَّذِيْ تَمَسَّكْتُ بِحَبْلِ رَحْمَتِكَ الَّتِيْ سَبَقَتِ الأَشْياءَ كُلَّها وَتَشَبَّثْتُ ب

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou seest my tears and lamentations, and hearest my sighing, my cry and bitter wailing. I am the one, O my Lord, that hath held fast the cord of Thy mercy which hath surpassed the entire creation. I am the one that hath clung to the hem of Thy loving-kindness, O Thou in Whose hand is the empire of all names!

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Praise be to Thee” Distinctive

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 → “O”

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “seest”

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

عَبَراتِي

ʿ-b-r → “tears”

literal: expression; phrase; utterance; statement; passage; wording

وَزَفَراتِي

z-f-r → “sighing” Distinctive

literal: sigh; sob; lamentation

وَتَسْمَعُ

s-m-ʿ → “hearest”

literal: heard, hearkened to, acceptable, worthy of attention

حَنِينِي

ḥ-n-n → “lamentations”

literal: trial, tribulation, ordeal, testing

وَعَوِيلِي

ʿ-w-l → “wailing”

literal: howling; wailing; crying out

وَضَجِيجِي،

ḍ-j-j → “sighing” Distinctive

literal: clamor; outcry; noise; tumult

أَيْ

ʾ-y-y → “signs” Distinctive

literal: O; vocative particle; oh (vocative particle)

رَبِّ

r-b-b → “my Lord”

literal: by, with, through (preposition)

أَنَا

ʾ-n → “to”

literal: that; those; he; she; it

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

literal: who; which; that which; the one who

تَمَسَّكْتُ

m-s-k → “hath held fast”

literal: hold fast; clinging; cling

بِحَبْلِ

ḥ-b-l → “cord”

literal: cord; rope; bond; connection

رَحْمَتِكَ

r-ḥ-m → “of Thy mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

الَّتِيْ

ʾ-l-l → “which”

literal: who; which/that; which

سَبَقَتِ

s-b-q → “hath surpassed”

literal: to precede; to surpass; to excel

الأَشْياءَ

sh-y-ʾ → “the entire creation” Distinctive

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

كُلَّها

k-l-l → “all”

literal: all; every; whole; entirety; entire; completely

وَتَشَبَّثْتُ

sh-b-th → “hath clung”

literal: cling; clinging; clinging/holding fast

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Gleanings

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16 ¶

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291 ¶

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17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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57 ¶

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160 ¶

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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 ¶