Prayers and Meditations — §582

Arabic source with Shoghi Effendi’s authorized English translation. Paragraph 582 of 858.

Source (Arabic)

عَبْدُكَ وَابْنُ عَبْدِكَ اعْتَرَفْتُ بِكَ فِي أَيَّامِكَ وَأَقْبَلْتُ إِلى شاطِئِ تَوْحِيدِكَ مُعْتَرِفًا بِفَرْدانِيَّتِكَ وَمُذْعِنًا بِوَحْدانِيَّتِكَ وَآمِلاً عَفْوَكَ وَغُفْرانَكَ وَإِنَّكَ أَنْتَ المُقْتَدِرُ عَلَى ما تَشاءُ لا إِلهَ إِلاَّ أَنْتَ العَزيزُ الغَفُورُ.

Shoghi Effendi Translation

I am, O my God, Thy servant and the son of Thy servant. I have recognized Thy truth in Thy days, and have directed my steps towards the shores of Thy oneness, confessing Thy singleness, acknowledging Thy unity, and hoping for Thy forgiveness and pardon. Powerful art Thou to do what Thou willest; no God is there beside Thee, the All-Glorious, the Ever-Forgiving.

Translation Notes

عَبْدُكَ

ʿ-b-d → “Thy servant”

literal: servant; slave; worshipper

وَابْنُ

b-n-y → “and the son”

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

اعْتَرَفْتُ

ʿ-r-f → “have recognized” Distinctive

literal: to confess; to acknowledge; to recognize

فِي

f-y → “in”

literal: in; in-it; in it

أَيَّامِكَ

y-w-m → “Thy days”

literal: day; age; period; era; a day

وَأَقْبَلْتُ

q-b-l → “have directed my steps” Distinctive

literal: group; company; tribe; sort; kind

إِلى

ʾ-l-y → “towards”

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

شاطِئِ

sh-ṭ-ʾ → “shores”

literal: shore; bank; coast

تَوْحِيدِكَ

w-ḥ-d → “Thy oneness”

literal: Divine unity; monotheism; belief in the oneness of God

بِفَرْدانِيَّتِكَ

f-r-d → “Thy singleness”

literal: unique; singular; incomparable

وَمُذْعِنًا

dh-ʿ-n → “acknowledged His truth”

literal: to know; to be aware

وَآمِلاً

ʾ-m-l → “hope”

literal: hope; expectation; aspiration; desire; wish; to hope; to wish

عَفْوَكَ

ʿ-f-w → “Thy forgiveness”

literal: to pardon; to efface; to forgive

وَغُفْرانَكَ

gh-f-r → “and pardon”

literal: to forgive; forgiveness

وَإِنَّكَ

ʾ-n-n

literal: that; those; he; she; it

أَنْتَ

ʾ-n-t → “Thou”

literal: you (masculine singular)

المُقْتَدِرُ

q-d-r → “Powerful”

literal: power; might; decree; measure; worth

عَلَى

ʿ-l-w

literal: highest; most high; supreme

ما

m-ʾ → “that”

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

تَشاءُ

sh-y-ʾ → “Thou willest”

literal: thing; something; to will; to wish; to desire; to open; to unfold; to reveal

لا

l-ʾ → “no”

literal: no; not; negation particle

إِلهَ

ʾ-l-h → “God”

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

إِلاَّ

ʾ-kh-r

literal: end; hereafter; other

العَزيزُ

ʿ-z-z → “the All-Glorious”

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

Model Translations by Shoghi Effendi

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Gleanings

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16 ¶

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291 ¶

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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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5 ¶

Tablet of the Holy Mariner

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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 ¶

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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 ¶