Prayers and Meditations — §537

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 537 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ اللَّهُمَّ يا إِلهِي تَرَى وَتَعْلَمُ بِأَنِّي ما دَعَوتُ عبادَكَ إِلاَّ إِلى شَطْرِ مَواهِبِكَ وَما أَمَرْتُهُمْ إِلاَّ ما أُمِرْتُ بِهِ فِي مُحْكَمِ كِتابِكَ الَّذِيْ نُزِّلَ مِنْ قَدَرِكَ المَحْتُومِ وَقَضائِكَ المَرْقُومِ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praise be to Thee, O Lord my God! Thou seest and knowest that I have called upon Thy servants to turn nowhere except in the direction of Thy bestowals, and have bidden them observe naught save the things Thou didst prescribe in Thy Perspicuous Book, the Book which hath been sent down according to Thine inscrutable decree and irrevocable purpose.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ

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

literal: O; or

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

وَتَعْلَمُ

ʿ-l-m → “knowest”

literal: world; universe; the worlds

بِأَنِّي

ʾ-n-n → “that I”

literal: building, structure, edifice; to build, construct; structure, edifice

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

دَعَوتُ

d-ʿ-w → “have called upon”

literal: call; invitation; claim

عبادَكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r → “end”

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

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

literal: to; to, toward; to, until

شَطْرِ

sh-ṭ-r → “direction”

literal: side, direction; half; to split

مَواهِبِكَ

w-h-b → “Thy bestowals” Distinctive

literal: gift; grant; bestowal

أَمَرْتُهُمْ

ʾ-m-r → “have bidden them”

literal: command; cause; matter; affair

بِهِ

b-h

literal: by it; by him; with it

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

مُحْكَمِ

ḥ-k-m → “Thy Perspicuous” Distinctive

literal: government; rule; governance; wisdom

كِتابِكَ

k-t-b → “Book, the Book”

literal: book; scripture; writing

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

نُزِّلَ

n-z-l → “hath been sent down”

literal: to descend, to be revealed

مِنْ

m-n → “from”

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

قَدَرِكَ

q-d-r → “Thine inscrutable decree” Distinctive

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

المَحْتُومِ

ḥ-t-m → “irrevocable”

literal: to be necessary, inevitable; determined

وَقَضائِكَ

q-ḍ-y → “decree”

literal: requirement; exigency; what demands or calls for; to require; to necessitate; to demand

المَرْقُومِ.

r-q-m

literal: written; inscribed; marked; recorded

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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16 ¶

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291 ¶

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17 ¶

Tablet of Carmel

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5 ¶

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57 ¶

The Hidden Words

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160 ¶

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59 ¶