Prayers and Meditations — §529

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 529 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي تَرَى مَقَرِّي وَمَقامِي وَتَشْهَدُ اضْطِرابِي وَاضْطِرارِيْ وَضُرِّيْ وَابْتِلائي بَيْنَ عِبادِكَ الَّذِينَ يَقْرَئُونَ آياتِكَ وَيَكْفُرُونَ بِمُنْزِلِها، وَيَدْعُونَ أَسْمائَكَ وَيَعْتَرِضُونَ عَلَى مُوجِدِها وَيَسْتَقْرِبُونَ بِاسْمِكَ الحَبِيبِ وَيَقْتُلُونَ مَحْبُوبَ العالَمِينَ، إِلهِي وَسَيِّدِي

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou beholdest my low estate and the habitation wherein I dwell, and bearest witness unto my perplexity, my crying needs, my troubles, and the afflictions I suffer among Thy servants who recite Thy verses and repudiate their Revealer, who call on Thy names and cavil at their Creator, who seek to draw nigh unto Him Who is Thy Friend and put to death Him Who is the Best-Beloved of the worlds.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Glorified art Thou”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted

اللَّهُمَّ

ʾ-l-h → “O Lord” Distinctive

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

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

تَرَى

r-ʾ-y → “Thou beholdest”

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

مَقَرِّي

q-r-r → “acknowledged” Distinctive

literal: village; town; hamlet

وَمَقامِي

q-w-m → “habitation wherein I dwell” Distinctive

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

وَتَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “and bearest witness”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

اضْطِرابِي

ḍ-r-b → “tremble” Distinctive

literal: to be disturbed; to tremble; to be troubled; to be shaken

وَاضْطِرارِيْ

ḍ-r-r → “harm” Distinctive

literal: to be troubled, shaken, agitated; to tremble

وَابْتِلائي

b-l-w → “and the afflictions I suffer” Distinctive

literal: trial; affliction; tribulation; testing

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “among”

literal: to manifest; to make clear; clear, evident; in; among; between; at this moment

عِبادِكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

الَّذِينَ

l-dh-y → “which” Distinctive

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

يَقْرَئُونَ

q-r-ʾ → “read”

literal: Quran; read; reading

آياتِكَ

ʾ-y-y → “Thy verses” Distinctive

literal: verse; sign; miracle; proof

وَيَكْفُرُونَ

k-f-r → “repudiated” Distinctive

literal: to disbelieve, reject; unbelief, ingratitude; to deny, to disbelieve, to reject

بِمُنْزِلِها،

n-z-l → “their Revealer”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

وَيَدْعُونَ

d-ʿ-w → “summoned” Distinctive

literal: call, invocation, summons; to call, invite, summon

أَسْمائَكَ

s-m-w → “Thy names”

literal: name; title; designation

وَيَعْتَرِضُونَ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “and cavil at”

literal: objection, protest, denial; cavil

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مُوجِدِها

w-j-d → “being” Distinctive

literal: to find; to discover; to obtain

وَيَسْتَقْرِبُونَ

q-r-b → “who seek to draw nigh”

literal: nearness; near; bring near

الحَبِيبِ

ḥ-b-b → “love”

literal: love; affection

وَيَقْتُلُونَ

q-t-l → “and put to death”

literal: kill; killing; killed

العالَمِينَ،

ʿ-l-m → “of the worlds”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

وَسَيِّدِي

s-w-d

literal: master; lord; chief; my master

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

Fire Tablet

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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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16 ¶

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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 ¶