Prayers and Meditations — §5

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 5 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

تَحْرِمْنِي عَنْ عِرْفانِكَ فِيْ أَيَّامِكَ، وَلا تَجْعَلْنِي عَرِيًّا عَنْ خِلَعِ هِدايَتِكَ، فَأَشْرِبْنِي كَوْثَرَ الحَيَوانِ الَّذِيْ جَرى عَنِ الرِّضْوانِ الَّذِيْ فِيهِ اسْتَقَرَّ عَرْشُ اسْمِكَ الرَّحْمنِ، لِتُفْتَحَ بِهِ عَيْنِي، وَيَسْتَضِيءَ بِهِ وَجْهِيْ، وَيَطْمَئِنَّ بِهِ قَلْبِيْ، وَيَسْتَنِيرَ بِهِ صَدْرِيْ،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Suffer me not, O my Lord, to be deprived of the knowledge of Thee in Thy days, and divest me not of the robe of Thy guidance. Give me to drink of the river that is life indeed, whose waters have streamed forth from the Paradise (Riḍván) in which the throne of Thy Name, the All-Merciful, was established, that mine eyes may be opened, and my face be illumined, and my heart be assured, and my soul be enlightened, and my steps be made firm.

Translation Notes

تَحْرِمْنِي

ḥ-r-m → “deprived”

literal: deprived; deprive; sanctuary

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “of”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

عِرْفانِكَ

ʿ-r-f → “knowledge”

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

فِيْ

f-y → “in”

literal: alas; woe; oh

أَيَّامِكَ،

y-w-m → “Thy days”

literal: day; age; period; era

وَلا

w-l-y → “and”

literal: no; not; negation particle

تَجْعَلْنِي

j-ʿ-l → “divest me not” Distinctive

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

عَرِيًّا

ʿ-r-w

literal: naked; bare; stripped

خِلَعِ

kh-l-ʿ → “robe”

literal: robe; garment of honor; investiture

هِدايَتِكَ،

h-d-y → “Thy guidance”

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

فَأَشْرِبْنِي

sh-r-b → “Give me to drink”

literal: drink; drank; to drink

كَوْثَرَ

k-w-th-r → “river”

literal: abundance; river of paradise; the Kawthar

الحَيَوانِ

ḥ-y-w → “is life”

literal: life; living being; animal

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “that” Distinctive

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

جَرى

j-r-y → “have streamed forth”

literal: trade; commerce; business; to flow; to run; to be in effect; flowing

الرِّضْوانِ

r-ḍ-w → “the Paradise”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction

اسْتَقَرَّ

q-r-r → “was established” Distinctive

literal: to settle, to be established, to remain fixed

عَرْشُ

ʿ-r-sh → “throne”

literal: of the Throne; companion of the Throne

اسْمِكَ

s-m-w → “Thy Name”

literal: to name, to nominate, to designate, to appoint; name; noun; to name, to appoint, to designate

الرَّحْمنِ،

r-ḥ-m → “the All-Merciful”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

لِتُفْتَحَ

f-t-ḥ → “may be opened”

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

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

عَيْنِي،

ʿ-y-n → “mine eyes”

literal: eye; fountain; spring; essence; to appoint; to designate; to specify; to determine

وَيَسْتَضِيءَ

ḍ-w-ʾ → “shineth” Distinctive

literal: light; illuminated; light/radiance

وَجْهِيْ،

w-j-h → “my face”

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

وَيَطْمَئِنَّ

ṭ-m-n → “be assured”

literal: tranquility; confidence; tranquil

قَلْبِيْ،

q-l-b → “my heart”

literal: heart; to turn; to overturn

وَيَسْتَنِيرَ

n-w-r → “be enlightened”

literal: light; lights; luminous

صَدْرِيْ،

ṣ-d-r → “breasts” Distinctive

literal: to issue, emanate, proceed; issued, emanating

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

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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 ¶

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 ¶