Prayers and Meditations — §54

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 54 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحانَكَ يا إِلهِي كَيْفَ أَشْكُرُكَ بِما اخْتَصَصْتَنِي بَيْنَ عِبادِكَ، وَاصْطَفَيْتَنِي لِعِرْفانِ نَفْسِكَ بَعْدَ الَّذِيْ أَعْرَضَ كُلٌّ عَنْ جِمالِكَ، أَشْهَدُ يا إِلهِي لَوْ أُقْتَلُ فِيْ سَبِيلِكَ فِيْ كُلِّ حِينٍ أَلْفَ مَرَّةٍ لا يُعادِلُ بِقَلِيلِ ما أَعْطَيْتَنِي

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Praised be Thou, O my God! How can I thank Thee for having singled me out and chosen me above all Thy servants to reveal Thee, at a time when all had turned away from Thy beauty! I testify, O my God, that if I were given a thousand lives by Thee, and offered them up all in Thy path, I would still have failed to repay the least of the gifts which, by Thy grace, Thou hast bestowed upon me.

Translation Notes

سُبْحانَكَ

s-b-ḥ → “Praised”

literal: glorified; the All-Praised; exalted; dawn; daybreak; morning

يا

y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهِي

ʾ-l-h → “O my God”

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

كَيْفَ

k-y-f → “How”

literal: how; in what manner

أَشْكُرُكَ

sh-k-r → “Render thanks”

literal: thankfulness, gratitude; to give thanks, be grateful; manifest; evident; apparent; clear

بِما

m-ʾ → “that” Distinctive

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

اخْتَصَصْتَنِي

kh-ṣ-ṣ → “singled me out”

literal: special; particular; specific

بَيْنَ

b-y-n → “above” Distinctive

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

عِبادِكَ،

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

وَاصْطَفَيْتَنِي

ṣ-f-w → “chosen me”

literal: chosen ones; chosen-ones; purity

لِعِرْفانِ

ʿ-r-f → “reveal” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

نَفْسِكَ

n-f-s → “Thee” Distinctive

literal: self; soul; psyche; person; essence

بَعْدَ

b-ʿ-d → “after”

literal: after; behind; distance

الَّذِيْ

l-dh-y → “which”

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

أَعْرَضَ

ʿ-r-ḍ → “turned away”

literal: to turn away; to avert; to abstain; heedless

كُلٌّ

k-l-l → “all”

literal: for us; to us

عَنْ

ʿ-n → “from”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

جِمالِكَ،

j-m-l → “Thy beauty”

literal: beauty; comeliness

أَشْهَدُ

sh-h-d → “testify”

literal: witnessed; observed; seen; evident; manifest

لَوْ

l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

أُقْتَلُ

q-t-l

literal: kill; killing; killed

فِيْ

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

سَبِيلِكَ

s-b-l → “Thy path”

literal: path; way; road; cause; means

حِينٍ

ḥ-y-n → “moment”

literal: time; moment; while; season

أَلْفَ

ʾ-l-f

literal: word; expression; utterance; to reconcile; to compose; to compile; to unite

مَرَّةٍ

m-r-r

literal: to pass; to pass by; to go

لا

l-ʾ

literal: no; not; negation particle

يُعادِلُ

ʿ-d-l → “justice” Distinctive

literal: justice; just; equal

بِقَلِيلِ

q-l-l → “least” Distinctive

literal: little; few; scanty; small in quantity

أَعْطَيْتَنِي

ʿ-ṭ-y → “of Thy bounty” Distinctive

literal: bounty; gift; bestowal; grace; bountifulness

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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268 ¶

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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 ¶

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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 ¶