Skip to main content

Prayers and Meditations — §542

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 542 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

سُبْحَانَكَ يا إِلهِي قَدْ قَدَّرْتَ لِعِبادِكَ المُقَرَّبِينَ فِي رِضْوانِكَ الأَعْلَى مَقاماتٍ لَوْ يَظْهَرُ مَقامٌ مِنْها لَيَنْصَعِقُ مَنْ فِي السَّمَواتِ وَالأَرْضِ، فَوَعِزَّتِكَ لَوْ يَرَوْنَهُ المُلُوكُ لَيَنْقَطِعُنَّ عَنْ مَمالِكهِمْ وَيَتَوَجَّهُنَّ إِلى المَمْلُوكِ الَّذِيْ اسْتَظَلَّ فِي جِوارِ رَحْمَتِكَ الكُبْرى فِي ظِلِّ اسْمِكَ الأَبْهی،

Shoghi Effendi Translation

Glorified art Thou, O Lord my God! Thou hast, in Thine all highest Paradise, assigned unto Thy servants such stations that if any one of them were to be unveiled to men’s eyes all who are in heaven and all who are on earth would be dumbfounded. By Thy might! Were kings to witness so great a glory they would, assuredly, rid themselves of their dominions and cleave to such of their subjects as have entered beneath the shadow of Thine immeasurable mercy and sought the shelter of Thine all-glorious name.

Translation Notes

سُبْحَانَكَ
s-b-ḥ → “Glorified”

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

يا
y-ʾ

literal: O; or

إِلهِي
ʾ-l-h → “O Lord my God”

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

قَدْ
q-d → “We have been”

literal: verily; indeed; certainly (particle of emphasis)

قَدَّرْتَ
q-d-r → “power”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

لِعِبادِكَ
ʿ-b-d → “unto Thy servants”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

المُقَرَّبِينَ
q-r-b

literal: place of sacrifice; altar

فِي
f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

رِضْوانِكَ
r-ḍ-w → “in Thine all highest Paradise”

literal: good-pleasure, consent, satisfaction; satisfaction; pleasure; approval; contentment

الأَعْلَى
ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

مَقاماتٍ
q-w-m → “stations”

literal: rising; standing; uprising; resurrection

لَوْ
l-w → “If”

literal: if; would that; O that

يَظْهَرُ
ẓ-h-r → “unveiled” Distinctive

literal: manifestation; appearance; to appear; to manifest

مِنْها
m-n

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

لَيَنْصَعِقُ
ṣ-ʿ-q → “dumbfounded”

literal: to be thunderstruck; to be dumbfounded; to swoon

السَّمَواتِ
s-m-w → “heaven”

literal: heaven; sky

وَالأَرْضِ،
ʾ-r-ḍ → “earth”

literal: earth; land; ground; country

فَوَعِزَّتِكَ
ʿ-z-z → “By Thy might”

literal: glory; might; honor; dignity; power; majesty

يَرَوْنَهُ
r-ʾ-y → “Thou 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

المُلُوكُ
m-l-k → “kings”

literal: kingdom; dominion; realm; sovereignty; possessions; property; ownership

لَيَنْقَطِعُنَّ
q-ṭ-ʿ → “rid themselves”

literal: detachment; detached; severed

عَنْ
ʿ-n → “of”

literal: from; about; concerning; away from

وَيَتَوَجَّهُنَّ
w-j-h → “face” Distinctive

literal: face; countenance; direction; aspect

إِلى
ʾ-l-y → “to”

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

الَّذِيْ
l-dh-y → “which”

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

اسْتَظَلَّ
ẓ-l-l → “entered beneath the shadow”

literal: to take shelter; to dwell in shadow

جِوارِ
j-w-r

literal: to neighbor; to adjoin; to dwell near

رَحْمَتِكَ
r-ḥ-m → “Thine immeasurable mercy”

literal: merciful, compassionate; pertaining to divine mercy

الكُبْرى
k-b-r → “grandeur” Distinctive

literal: great; grand; mighty; large; greatness; majesty; sovereignty; arrogance

الأَبْهی،
b-h-w → “glory” Distinctive

literal: splendor; glory; magnificence; Bahá (Proper Name in Bahá’í texts)

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf cover

Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Fire Tablet

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Gleanings

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Kitáb-i-’Ahd

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Kitáb-i-Íqán

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Tablet of Aḥmad

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Tablet of Carmel

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

The Hidden Words

Bahá’u’lláh

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 cover

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 ¶